Lake County family proud of Olympic gymnast hopeful

WAUCONDA – When the 2012 Summer Olympics begin, residents of Wauconda and Fox Lake might have an extra special reason to root for the United States.

Lake County, meet 14-year-old Olympic hopeful Brenna Dowell.

Brenna is the daughter of 1974 Wauconda High School graduate and former Lake County resident Mike Dowell. She also is the granddaughter of 90-year-old Wauconda resident Jeanette Dowell; niece of Wauconda resident Sally Dowell; and niece of Scott Dowell, who lives within Fox Lake village limits.

She also happens to be a member of the U.S.A. Women’s Junior National gymnastics team and was part of the squad that captured a team gold medal in September at the 2010 Pan American Championships in Guadalajara, Mexico. At the championships, Dowell finished with the fourth-highest score on the uneven bars – an event she says is her favorite – out of 68 competitors, during the event’s qualifying rounds.

Brenna also was one of just six girls nationwide selected to represent the U.S. at the Pan-Am Games. When you also consider that every American gymnast in the 2008 Olympics, including now-famous American gold medalists Shawn Johnson and Nastia Liukin, were also at one point either Junior or Senior U.S.A. National Team members, it becomes easy to see why Dowell and her family have such incredible hopes and dreams.

“It makes you real proud [as a parent] to know that she’s representing the U.S.A.,” Mike Dowell said. “I think we must be really blessed, because sometimes I look back and I’m not exactly sure how we got to this point. When [Brenna was chosen for the Junior National Team], it almost makes you want to cry as a parent.”

“I went down there to the Pan-Am games and saw her win that team gold medal – it was just amazing,” he added.

According to her mother, Carole, Dowell began showing an interest in gymnastics as a toddler, so she was enrolled in a tumbling class at age 3. It also just so happened that they lived near the prestigious Great American Gymnastics Express – or GAGE – training facility in suburban Kansas City, Mo., close to where they currently reside.

“Brenna absolutely loves the sport,” Carole Dowell said. “It takes a lot of dedication on her part, but she’s calm. She’s confident, and she’s a good kid. It’s really very surreal to see your daughter representing the United States and winning a gold medal.”

“But really, we’re just an average family,” she added with a laugh.

Dowell also finished 11th overall at the 2010 Visa Championships in August and tied for fifth place on the uneven bars at that event. But just how hard is it to balance schoolwork, along with the rigorous demands of trying to become an Olympic gymnast?

For starters, Dowell maintains straight As on her report card, despite practicing 32 to 35 hours a week. She gets out of her regular school classes at 12:30 p.m. to train every day, then catches up on what schoolwork she’s missed through a combination of online and independent studies.

“Sometimes you have to miss some stuff, but it’s worth it,” Dowell said.

And even though she has made it to the most elite level a U.S. gymnast can achieve prior to becoming an Olympic athlete, Dowell has had her moments where she has felt “star-struck” when seeing others she looks up to.

“One day I was in a group working on the vault with [2008 Olympic silver medalist] Alicia Sacramone, which was really exciting,” Dowell said. “I learned [working with her] that with hard work, you can do and accomplish anything you want.”

If Dowell is to make the U.S. Olympic team in 2012, she will have to do so by qualifying at the U.S. Championships when she is 16 years old, about six weeks prior to the Olympic games, in the summer of 2012 – a goal that is a very realistic possibility. Back in Lake County, her aunt, uncle and grandmother have kept a close eye on her success, on some occasions even traveling to watch her compete in out-of-state events.

“I think Brenna’s perseverance is her biggest strength,” Scott Dowell said. “If she struggles to accomplish something, she just tries even harder the next time.”

Her aunt, on the other hand, gave her some words of wisdom at a young age that have become prophetic.

“I had Brenna sign a gymnastics program for me when she was 9 years old,” Sally Dowell said. “I told her, ‘Someday you’ll be signing autographs for everyone, so be sure to practice it.’”

“It’s hard to tell you just how excited we are as a family. Me, Brenna’s grandmother, her uncle, parents ... everyone,” she added. “We all hope she makes her dream come true in 2012.”