Hawaii’s Super Students




Saturday, January 25, 1997

Name: Sarah Fong
Age: 11
School: Maryknoll Grade School
Pastime: Gymnastics
Future: Undecided

The Maryknoll Grade School sixth-grader recently got a taste of the high-pressure world of championship gymnastics, and while she felt right at home, she's keeping her ambition in check.

"First,I have to go through everything else before I do that," she says of a possible Olympic bid.

Her coach thinks she has the talent to go for the gold, but he's not pushing. "That's pretty much up to her," said Joe Rapp, coach of the Hawaiian Island Twisters.

Sarah survived a series of tough tryouts to earn a spot on the USA Gymnastics National Training Team. She was among 87 girls ages 9 to 11 - and the only one from Hawaii - who traveled to Tulsa, Okla., for a five-day training camp in December.

"I was overjoyed," said the daughter of Greg and Janet Fong. "I was crying because I was so happy."

It was the highlight of a sporting career that began at age 3. Dubbed a natural by her coaches, she has stuck with gymnastics ever since, at one point attending four-hour practice sessions six or seven times a week.

She's cut back to three or four times a week to allow more time for school and friends.

Besides physical education, her favorite classes are math, English and Hawaiiana. She wants to attend the University of Washington after having fallen in love with the campus on a trip to Seattle.