By Lya Wodraska
Morris News Service
Web-posted June 29, 1996

BOSTON - One of the hottest topics during media day at the U.S. Olympic Gymnastics Trials was the number of female gymnasts planning to compete at the college level.

In the past, Olympic gymnasts competing at the college level was a rarity. Now, it's becoming the norm.

Joining Georgia signee Amanda Borden in the college ranks next year are fellow Olympic hopefuls Amy Chow, Larissa Fontaine and Kerri Strug. Chow and Fontaine will compete for Stanford. Strug has signed with UCLA.

Interestingly, Strug's former coach is University of Arizona coach Jim Gault. Strug, from Tucson, Ariz., was recruited by Gault, but chose UCLA instead because she wanted to live further from home.

Of those eligible for college next year, just three U.S. National Team members won't compete in college. Shannon Miller and Dominique Dawes lost their amateur status by participating in pro events.

Miller will continue her education at the University of Oklahoma, while Dawes, who committed to Stanford, but then turned pro, attends the University of Maryland.

``It was a decision I made because now I'm able to pay for college and I can concentrate on academics,'' Dawes said. ``It's going to be disappointing to end this part of my life, but hopefully I'll be able to carry over some of the things I've learned in gymnastics to the real world.''

NOT YOUR TYPICAL HABITS: Most of the biographies of the gymnasts participating in the Olympic Trials contain expected hobbies like shopping, listening to music, hanging out with friends and so forth.

But some have found rather different ways to spend their time. Rhythmic gymnast Alexsandra Chernenko, for instance, collects tubes of lip gloss. Her teammate, Lauri Illy, likes beading and Natalie Lacuesta relaxes by writing poetry and philosophical essays.

High-flying gymnastics isn't enough to thrill John Roethlisberger or Josh Stein, both of whom are regular bungee jumpers.

Jair Lynch, a graduate of Stanford with degrees in civil engineering and urban design, lists one of his favorite hobbies as ``exploring new neighborhoods and cities to appreciate different environments and architecture for understanding of success and failures.''

BY THE NUMBERS: A total of 310 gymnasts will compete in the Olympic Games. The breakdown is as follows: 108 men, 108 women and 94 rhythmic gymnasts.

Overall, 10,003 athletes from 195 countries are expected to compete in the Olympic Games.

The average age of the female gymnasts competing is 16.5 while the average for the men is 23.5. Chris Waller is the oldest competitor at the old age of 28 while rhythmic gymnast Lacuesta is the youngest at age 14.

LEADING ROLE: The Board of Directors of USA Gymnastics recently formed the USA Gymnastics Athlete Wellness Program with a goal of promoting safeguards to balance some of the problems elite athletes face.

Among the seminars being offered to coaches and parents of gymnasts here in Boston are the Athletes Wellness Coaches Course, which focuses on topics such as nutrition, injuries and eating disorders.

Also available are seminars for Parent Education and the Athlete Mentoring Program, which pairs former national team members with athletes who will retire this year after the Olympic Games in order to help them make the transition out of competition.