Different paths but same target for Galway gymnasts Emma Slevin and Bláthnaid Higgins
Emma Slevin on moving to the University of Arkansas: "Arkansas had everything and more to offer. The coaching staff are really experienced, a lot of them are Olympians and Olympic medallists." Pic: ©INPHO/Dan Sheridan
Different strokes work for different folks, even if they are fellow Galwegians.
While Emma Slevin's US collegiate gymnastics career is on the up and up, her Ireland team-mate Bláthnaid Higgins is happy to pursue her sporting and work ambitions closer to home.
The pair, along with Mimi Moloney and Maeve McGuinness, are competing in the European Gymnastics Championships in Zagreb from tomorrow.
Slevin took a leap of faith last year after completing a Health and Performance Science degree in UCD. She was looking at continuing further studies while finding a way to sustain her career as an elite sportswoman, but then decided at the last minute to take up the offer from the University of Minnesota.
She hasn't looked back. Minnesota, known as the Golden Gophers, were ranked 13th in the country. Remarkably, with Slevin on board, they made the NCAA 'Four on the Floor' final - the first team seeded outside the top 10 to achieve the feat.
The 23-year-old thrived in the collegiate environment and, on a personal level, claimed the Big Ten Conference uneven bars title in March.
Lots of offers came in from other colleges for her second year. It was tough to leave Minnesota, but she recognised what she was looking for in Arkansas.
"Arkansas had everything and more to offer," she explained. "The coaching staff are really experienced, a lot of them are Olympians and Olympic medallists and are really willing to take me down that path too, willing to help in that way.
"I just really enjoyed it when I went to visit. I just really thought, 'This is where I want to be.' The atmosphere is great."
While visiting the campus, she got to meet Kyla Ross, an associate head coach who also happens to be a former Olympic gold medallist and has been a hero of Slevin's for years.
"That was really cool and really inspiring," Slevin smiled. "It's really just understanding how competing internationally works. So that was really cool.
"I know exactly what to expect. Towards the end of last season, I really started to elevate and I think I can start a bit higher up at the start of the season and just keep that momentum going from an earlier stage."
For Higgins, meanwhile, going to America is not something that she really considered. She has just finished her second year in UCD and hopes to graduate as a physiotherapist in 2027.
"You only have a certain amount of time to go and it's really suiting Emma, it's really suiting Jane (Heffernan), who went on her year abroad. They've loved it and it looks like a great experience, but it's not something I think that I'd get into."
Higgins has a lot of physiotherapy placements scheduled for next year, on top of what she has done already, and is narrowing down what area she will specialise in for her final year.
Like Slevin before her, Higgins is on an Ad Astra scholarship in Belfield, and that has been very helpful in terms of managing college deadlines and exams and being accommodating for competition demands.
"To be honest, I'm just happy I've been able to do a degree and train at the same time because they're both so important to me," said the 22-year-old.
"Like, you can't do gymnastics forever, so I'm really happy that I've been able to balance both and have something I can fall back on after I'm finished competing."
Higgins has made an important move in terms of joining Phoenix, a club in Dublin, rather than splitting her training between the capital and Renmore Gymnastics in Galway.
"It's been really helpful to have everything in one county," she said. "That's helped a lot with trying to balance everything."
As for the Europeans, Higgins' plan is to have a good, clean competition and showcase good routines. The WAG vault should be her best chance to shine as the Irish team targets qualification for the Worlds in October, with the top 13 teams going through.
"We're probably closer than ever before to achieving the goal and I think everyone believes that as well, which makes a huge difference," she said.
"It would be amazing, but I don't want to get too far ahead of myself because it's the training we put in and how we prepare to compete on the day that counts.
"To qualify would be a bonus. I let myself get a bit stressed in the past, but the more competitions you do, the more experience you gain."
For her part, Slevin is hoping to produce a career-best performance in her sixth Europeans. "Competing so much this year has helped with confidence, too," she said.
"When I was a junior, I was just so scared to compete, I wish I enjoyed it a bit more; it would have made my performances better.
"Now I definitely have the potential to rank higher than I ever have before. I just want to do my best work and I think if I do that, I'll be ranked quite high."
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
