AOTM: Sasha Ivashkevich

SASHA IVASHKEVICH

ATHLETE OF THE M NTH

2021 National Bronze Champion shares her trials and tribulations with the sport

JOLIE HAN

podcast editor

Sasha Ivashkevich, a sophomore at Cupertino High School, is one of the nation’s most extraordinary rhythmic gymnasts, having earned 3rd place in a national competition. She was first introduced to the sport after realizing ballet was not the right fit. Said Ivashkevich, “I felt that it wasn’t challenging enough, and it wasn’t really interesting. [Ballet] uses no equipment.”

She recalls being around 7 years old and not feeling as much pressure when competing in her first rhythmic gymnastics tourna-

“MAKE SURE YOU

HAVE A BALANCE BE-

TWEEN WORKLOAD AND

HAVING FUN IN YOUR

SPORTS. YOU’LL DO GREAT. ” “ [RYTHMIC GYMNAS-

TICS] BUILDS CHARACTER [...] THERE’S A LOT OF DE-

TERMINATION AND PUSHING

PAST YOUR LIMITS. ”

ment, mentioning, “I wasn’t [very] nervous because it was my first time doing it, so I didn’t really care how I did.”

Now, she looks up to Ukrainian rhythmic gymnast Vlada Nikolchenko and sees the sport as one that is “fun, builds character […], and pushes [her] past [her] limits.” Said Ivashkevich, “a Ukrainian national team member [once] joined us for coaching and had us do intense conditioning for hours on end. You had to be [extremely] determined.”

When recalling her hardships with the sport, Ivashkevich added, “I think the only thing is sometimes you might not want to go to practice and that’s understandable. But then you have to remember that you [need] to keep pushing because otherwise you’re gonna [fall] behind.”

Despite this, she still spends hours practicing. Said Ivashkevich, “It used to be [20 hours] a week. And during the summer, there are camps that are 12 hours a day, every day.” However, because of marching band, she practices 6 hours a week during the season. The effort she put into her rhythmic gymnastics career has led her to win 3rd place in a national tournament in 2021, place 1st in multiple local and international tournaments and win the 2020 Northern California State Championships.

Outside of rhythmic gymnastics, Ivashkevich participates in marching band and debate. She is a highly skilled trumpet player, being the youngest member of the Santa Clara Vanguard Cadets, a professional marching band, and spends over 14 hours a week practicing during the season. In regards to whether she has had a positive experience with band, she answered, “For sure [I enjoy band]. I don’t think I could [partake in] this much band without liking it.” In order to juggle all her activities, she said, “I always find windows of time to do work, and I’m never really resting until the weekend on Sunday [...] you have to have a [tremendously] good work ethic and time management.”

In the future, Ivashekvich hopes to get into an Ivy League university and continue both rhythmic gymnastics and marching band.

However, she believes that the U.S. should pay more attention to rhythmic gymnastics. Said Ivashkevich, “I think we should definitely spread more awareness about rhythmic gymnastics in the U.S. [...] When I talk about it, [essentially] no one knows [what it is].” Despite its low

recognition, rhythmic gymnastics is still an extremely competitive sport, and her accomplishments are far from easy. Said Ivashkevich, “Make sure you have a balance between workload and having fun in your sports. You’ll do great”