Baton Rouge is known for its Cajun flair, culture and its attraction of young adults to the Louisiana capital.
Langford resident Shae Zamardi will soon call it home as the athlete, who turned 18 on Wednesday, will join the Louisiana State University Tigers鈥� gymnastics team, heading south on Aug. 9.
鈥淚鈥檓 very excited for that,鈥� she said over the phone from her home-away-from-home in Port Coquitlam as she trains at the Flicka Gymnastics club in Vancouver.
She was first recruited at nationals in P.E.I. in 2011 and received an email from the school, asking whether she would be interested in a scholarship.
鈥淲e just went from there,鈥� said Zamardi, who agreed to the four-year full-ride scholarship last year after considering similar offers from Penn State, Iowa and Utah. Zamardi hopes to eventually earn a degree in mass communications journalism or kinesiology.
鈥淪hae competes all-around, but the event we really recruited her for was bars,鈥� LSU coach D.D. Breaux said in the statement announcing the Canadian recruit. 鈥淚 would compare her uneven bars to Annie Gagnon, who was a three-time All-American for us in that event. Shae does that high quality of work.
鈥淪hae will contribute in the other three events, but she is a stellar bar worker,鈥� Breaux added. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 the event that we need to create a little more depth, so we are excited to sign her.鈥�
Zamardi 鈥� formerly of the Victoria Gymnastics Club 鈥� has earned numerous top-10 finishes on bars in her career, including a silver medal at the 2011 sa国际传媒 Winter Games, sixth at the 2011 Canadian Championships and seventh at the 2012 Canadian Championships.
At the 2010 Wild Rose Invitational, Zamardi recorded a second on bars to go along with seventh place on vault and eighth in the all-around.
Zamardi, who will graduate from Terry Fox Secondary next month, is currently preparing for nationals, slated for May 24 in Ottawa, where she will be competing in all-around.
At a meet in Los Angeles in February, she finished second in all-around against American challengers.
鈥淚t was a little harder competition so I was really proud of myself, how I came second,鈥� said Zamardi, who placed first on bars, second on floor, second on vault and fourth on the beam.
At the Kyle Shewfelt competition in Calgary in March, she finished third in all-around on the first day and then first all-around on the second day, along with first on bars, second on floor, third on vault and fourth on beam.
鈥淭he big goal was to go to the 2012 Olympics in London. I did get to compete in one of the Olympic trials, but I just missed it,鈥� said Zamardi. 鈥淎fter that, the schedule was hard because that鈥檚 what I was going for.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 why I moved [to the Mainland]. When I didn鈥檛 make it, it was upsetting a bit, but I knew I had an amazing opportunity ahead of me 鈥� a four-year, full-ride scholarship.
鈥淚 couldn鈥檛 be more blessed, so I鈥檝e set my goals for that, looking ahead to the next year,鈥� she said of joining LSU. 鈥淩ight now, I鈥檓 focusing on my scholarship. I鈥檓 still going to be doing my gymnastics and my routine, so [Olympics] will always be in the back of my mind 鈥� 2016, you never know. There鈥檚 always a chance I could go for that.鈥�
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