Trinity Thomas graduated high school a year early and started competing in the NCAA for the University of Florida last year. At the same time, Thomas continued competing in elite gymnastics, which is relatively rare for US gymnasts. For example, MyKayla Skinner, who competed for the University of Utah for three years, opted to take a break from NCAA and her studies this season in order to concentrate on elite gymnastics.
Thomas, however, wants to do both, though not quite simultaneously. She was added to the US national team last summer after finishing 9th at the US Championships. She told ESPN her plan is to skip national team camps during the NCAA season but start going back to them once the season is over in April:
“So we’ve decided that I’m not going to attend the national team camps during NCAA season. I’m going to focus on the NCAA season, then after season I’m going to go to championships and hopefully make [Olympic] trials. We’ll see what happens.”
While there are several gymnasts representing other countries that combine their NCAA and elite careers (such as Shallon Olsen who competes for the Canadian national team and the University of Alabama), most US gymnasts opt to defer their college studies if they try to go for a national team spot. For example, Morgan Hurd, who also plans to compete for the University of Florida, said in November that she will start her studies in 2022, as she wants to compete in elite gymnastics for another year after the Tokyo Olympics.
Photo: University of Florida
