Brits Aim High for 2010 Olympics

British athletes with gymnastic and trampoline experience are being recruited by the national team freestyle coach to morph into winter aerialists and make a serious run for medals at Vancouver.

The theory is that you don’t have to be a skier first to become an accomplished skiing aerialist. By taking an accomplished gymnast or diver and teaching them to ski down to the jump, you probably save many years over teaching an accomplished skier to become an aerialist. This theory, in practice, may turn out to be the best avenue for British Olympic medaling, especially since the island is rather vertically challenged when it comes to places to practice alpine skiing events.

Britain's top aerialist is Sarah Ainsworth who was originally a trampolinist. She leads a team that spends most of its time practicing on a water ramp and have spent very little time training on snow.

While some may think there is something unpure about this approach, I think we should see how it plays out. Right now the British strategy is to catapult (pun intended) Ainsworth into the Europa Cup circuit in 2006-07, and then move up to World Cup level and capture a top-10 slot in the 2008-09 season. The crown jewel will be a Olympic podium finish in 2010. The crown jewel may be as elusive as the Holy Grail. We will see.