The sport of gymnastics takes mental strength, physical fitness and lots of dedication. To junior Kaitlyn Schwab this comes off as natural to her. Schwab started gymnastics at the age of two and began to compete at the age of seven. After all of the hours in the gym, they paid off when Schwab qualified to the USAG level 10 National Championships in Mesa, AZ.

Carly Wade is one of Schwab’s coaches at Aspire Gymnastics Academy in Joliet, IL. Wade coaches her mainly on beam and talks about how special Schwab is.

“Kaitlyn is special because of her incredible talent and toughness. She has made remarkable comebacks after multiple injuries and even managed to finish her first two full seasons of level 10 as a national qualifier after being hurt. Qualifying to level 10 nationals is not an easy task when your body is healthy, let alone after an injury and missing other preparatory competitions. She’s the total package–she just doesn’t know it,” Wade said.

Spending over 20 hours in the gym to perfect routines and skills is a weekly occurrence for Schwab. It has not always been as easy as she makes it look, having multiple setbacks in her career. It has taught her that everyday isn’t going to be perfect.

“I’m so injury prone for some reason, I have broken both of my arms, my elbow and my thumb. I had to get surgery for those injuries. I’ve sprained my ankles multiple times and have had many other injuries,” Schwab said.

Although having all of these setbacks has not stopped her from reaching her highest potential, now going into her third year as a level 10. Staying in the loop of everything going on kept her motivated. Going to practices hurt to watch while being injured, but helped her stay connected to teammates.

“It’s not as easy as it looks…it gets hard mentally and physically, my body hurts all the time,” Schwab said.

Wade describes Schwab as resilient, trustworthy and independent.

“She is intelligent because she understands corrections, constructive criticism and communicates well. She is hardworking because she doesn’t often miss practice and she’s working when she’s there. Her talent shows in her tumbling and her effortless vaults; she swings on bars beautifully and truly has beauty and grace in her lines and dance skills,” Wade said

She has been training hard on her off season to prepare for her upcoming season. Schwab is preparing to show her consistency on events since she has gotten stronger over the summer. She hopes to bring a new vault in by the end of the season that she has been working on for months.

Schwab plans to compete at multiple competitions this season and is most excited to compete in Alabama this year. She is also currently talking to many colleges to continue her career. She has gone on three unofficial visits to University of Maryland, Central Michigan University and Michigan State University.

“I hope to get a division one scholarship for gymnastics,” Schwab said.