'M' gymnast Vetere takes routine overseas By Dan Dingerson Daily Sports Writer Riding on the bullet train across the Japanese countryside and touring the ancient Nagoya Castle are not the most typical activities in the days leading up to final exams. But one Michigan athlete was traveling Asia instead of visiting the Grad. In December, sophomore gymnast Scott Vetere traveled to Nagoya, Japan to compete in the Chunichi Cup. The international competition featured many of the top gymnasts in the world amongst the 13 competitors, including five of the top 10. Although Vetere was not ranked as highly as some of his competition, he finished 11th in the all-around competition while qualifying for five event finals. Vetere was selected to compete based on his No. 12 ranking on the U.S. national team. He was invited after some of the higher-ranked Americans declined because of injuries and fatigue. The schedule that was set for the trip did not give Vetere the best chance to succeed in his first international competition as a member of the senior national team. Because of class schedules, and the lengthy 14-hour flight, Vetere could not maintain a standard gymnast's schedule. Michigan coach Kurt Golder, who accompanied Vetere on the trip, recommends four days of rest for a trip of that length to adjust to the time difference. The duo arrived in Japan the day before the competition, Dec. 10, only allowing for a light warm-up. Although international competitions are very important for gymnasts to improve, they are not always possible for college students because of class schedules. Vetere was able to make this trip because it came before finals and was over a weekend. "The reason that we thought it would be okay was because of the timing and because of the long flight," Golder said. "Fourteen hours stuck in one place makes a perfect environment to study, and is probably longer than he would have if he had stayed here." With jetlag, class stresses, and a world-class group of competitors, the prospects of Vetere being extremely successful in the meet were not great. Vetere showed that he belonged, though, in that class by excelling and qualifying for five event finals, only missing in his weakest event, the high bar. "For him to make five event finals with only one day of preparation was really a great performance," Golder said. Vetere's highest placing in the first day was sixth, which he achieved in both the floor exercise and parallel bars. His floor exercise was particularly impressive. "Our floors use a four-inch spring covered by plywood, then two inches of foam and then the carpet on top. It is a very springy surface that we use in the United States," Golder said. "The area in Japan was equivalent to rolling out a wrestling mat, that is a significant difference. Scott went out there, it was his first event, competing under the worst conditions, and he nailed the routine. It was good to see him handle that situation, and it set the tone for the rest of the competition." Vetere's 11th place finish in the all-around competition was mostly a result of his poor high bar performance, which kept him from a top-five finish. On the second day of competition, in the event finals, the conditions finally began to affect Vetere, and he was not able to perform at the same level that he did the day before. He failed to match any of the scores that he posted in the all-around competition. "I didn't really feel anything negative until Sunday, and the fatigue finally got to me," Vetere said. The trip was a resounding success though, measured by Vetere and Golder. It was an impressive showing, and will help him in both future international competitions and collegiate competition. "It should give him a lot of confidence, seeing that he can compete with those guys," Golder said. "It was a really great experience," Vetere said. "It was frustrating because I wasn't quite at the level of the guys I was competing against, but it will inspire me. I think that I can use this to help myself and my teammates to make us work harder." Originally on page 3B in the 1-10-2000 issue of the Daily.