It will be an aerial show of a different kind at the Kingston Memorial Centre this weekend.
More than 600 athletes from across the province will compete in the Ontario Cup Trampoline championships scheduled for April 27-29.
The high-level competition is a warmup for the Canadian championships, which will be held in July in Lethbridge, Alta.
“There’s a huge range of ability,” says Sonya Bianchet, the president of the Kingston Aeros Trampoline club. “It’s level one, right up to national calibre athletes like Rosie MacLennan, our gold medal Olympic athlete from Toronto.”
The club was founded in 1973 by Dave Ross. The Kingston native is the head coach of Canada’s national trampoline team and he’s expected to be at the centre to evaluate the talent on hand.
A number of Kingston athletes will use the event as a springboard to improving their overall scores and performances in time for the nationals.
“I’m hoping to complete two clean routines in the preliminaries and land all my mini-double passes in the box,” said Rachel Minor, a Grade 12 student at Bayridge Secondary School.
Anthony Bianchet is using the competition to improve his overall performance in preparation for the national tournament in Alberta.
Last week in Montreal, he won a silver medal at the Canada Cup, Eastern Canadian championships.
“You have to go through the qualifying process,” said the 15-year-old student at Kingston Collegiate.
“I’ve been successful to this point and now look forward to showcasing my talents on the Canadian stage.”