May 27, 2009 - 03:15 PM

By Brad Kelly

PICKERING -- Vicky Dobson has learned a number of valuable lessons already through her participation in gymnastics and diving, including how to overcome some adversity.

Earlier in the competitive season, the Pickering resident broke her hand, but that didn't deter the member of the Gemini Gymnastics club in Oshawa. Coming off the injury and with only one week to prepare, she finished fifth at the Ontario Cup to secure a place at the Provincial Championships.

Fully healthy, the better the competition got, the better she did.

At provincials in Windsor, her third-place finish overall (bars 2nd, beam 9th, floor 3rd, vault 9th) earned her a trip to Newfoundland for the Eastern Canadians, where she did one better with a silver medal finish in the Tyro 3 category based on a 2nd on bars, 3rd on beam, 2nd on floor and 5th on vault.

"I think I was probably more excited than nervous," said the 11-year-old of competing in a couple of prestigious events at such a young age.

The Grade 5 student at Frenchman's Bay Public School started gymnastics at the age of two in Pickering, but switched to Gemini three years ago and is under the tutelage of former Olympic gold medallist Elena Davydova.

"I'm not really sure, but, I guess because flipping around and all that stuff would be really fun to do, so I just chose to do gymnastics," recalls Dobson of taking a liking to the sport at an early age. "It's really active and just really fun to do, because you get to swing on the bars and get to do all sorts of things on the floor.

"It's really hard work, but after, it all pays off and it's really fun to do."

The experience she earned with the trip to provincials in gymnastics is something she can draw from when she competes at the same level in diving. A member of the Scarborough Diving Club, where she trains once a week, she will represent the club in the 1- and 3-metre springboard at the Provincial Championships as well as qualifying for Diving Canadian Nationals next month.

Initially, she thought the skills learned in gymnastics would transfer well to diving.

"At first I didn't even think I would be competing, but then I ended up being really good at it," she said with a hint of surprise in her voice.

Her ultimate goal is to obtain a university scholarship for gymnastics, where she says her best events are beam and bars.