By Brady Bateman

P.A. gymnast heading to Winter Games

Jan 17, 2019 | 10:00 AM

Jessie Georget has spent the past seven years of his life chasing one goal, to be the best gymnast he possibly can be.

Since he was nine years old, Georget has meticulously honed his craft. Most days have been spent in the gym practicing or rehearsing new techniques. Any time not spent in the gym was filled with recovering from the day before or preparing for the day ahead.

His hard work has recently paid off, as Georget was selected to be a member of the Saskatchewan Winter Games team. The selection makes Georget the first Men’s Artistic Gymnast (MAG) from Prince Albert to be selected in more than 20 years, according to Georget’s coaching staff.

“It’s definitely a lifestyle for me, when I come to the gym … it’s gym, when I go home it’s physio and rest and repair from the day,” said Georget. “When I go to school I’m doing school but in my head, I’m working on routine composition and programming and all different kinds of ways to improve at the sport, so it’s definitely a lifestyle.”

Bryce Elliot, the men’s head coach with the Prince Albert Aerials Gymnastics Club, has been coaching Jessie since his first day with the club nearly eight years ago. Elliot said he knew from the beginning that Georget would go far in the sport.

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“Right from the first day, he came in and he was just very strong compared to all the other boys in the class,” said Elliot.

“I didn’t even have room for him in my competitive class, but he learned a couple of skills in his first day and was just so strong that I made room for him and overfilled my group just so I could fit him in there.”

Elliot noted that for the entirety of Georget’s gymnastics career he has had to travel 45 minutes just to get to the gym to train, adding that he is always willing to go above and beyond and dedicate himself fully to his craft.

“His whole career he has had fewer hours in the gym than the boys he’s competing against across the country,” said Elliot.

“The reason he does so well is I’m able to give him things like condition or physio to do at home so we can focus more on what he has to do in the gym when he’s here, so it’s just a real testament to his work ethic.”

According to Georget, the ultimate goal is to continue with gymnastics as a career and a lifestyle. He told paNOW he one day hopes to compete in world-class competitions such as the Olympics, something Elliot said isn’t far from reality.

“I do think that Jessie is easily within a year away from at least a world level of competition on at least two events, floor and vault for sure. He has a lot of potential on the other events as well but those are his strongest for sure,” said Elliot.

“As a coach, the Olympics are something that people always ask if it’s something we’re training for, but they only happen every four years and very few kids get to go, so we don’t try to sell the kids on something like that, but Jessie is definitely close to that world level.”

Georget has dedicated himself entirely to his craft. While other teenagers are thinking about upcoming school projects or weekend plans, Georget is busy training or preparing himself for upcoming competitions.

“Gym is really my everything. Like when I want to go relax my ideal relaxation is lying in bed icing everything that hurts and thinking about next year and the skills that I need and planning it all out,” said Georget.

“It’s really just my bread and butter, it’s my everything, it’s my passion and it’s really what I live for.”

Georget’s 2018 was a difficult year for his gymnastics career. He suffered a serious injury in his hand and wrist that saw him unable to train for nearly six months, but he has now fully recovered and is once again chasing his dreams.

“I got injured last December at a training camp,” said Georget. “So 2018 was a pretty rough year, but getting out there this season and on my first trials I was last up on the flair and I nailed my routine and won it at trials and it felt amazing to get back out there and show them what I can do again.”

After Georget’s recent selection to be a member of the Saskatchewan Winter Games team, he has been following a strict schedule of training and recovery in preparation of the event according to Elliot.

“We’re trying to be in recovery mode,” said Elliot.

“The games are four weeks away, and out of those four weekends he already has two events booked, and a training camp during one of them. Gymnasts don’t really get time off.”

brady.bateman@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @TheDigitalBirdy