Jan. 10, 2011
ANNAPOLIS, Md. - With the Navy men's gymnastics season set to get underway on Friday, NavySports.com had a chance to catch up with senior captain Dylan Parrott. The Rockwell, N.C., native talks about his offseason surgery and his desire get back to the pinnacle of collegiate gymnastics- the NCAA Championships.
Talk about your offseason and what you did?
"As soon as we were done with the NCAA Championships, I got shoulder surgery. I recovered for most of the summer, so that definitely affected my training. I was off for about two months, and even when I got back I was doing heavy physical therapy.
"Right now, I'm not competing as much as I was at this point last season, but it's getting a lot better. By the end of the season, I should be back to where I was before the surgery."
Describe what it means to be named captain of the team?
"It's a big privilege. It means that I'm the one the guys can look to for not only gymnastics, but also other things going on at the academy."
Talk about last season and the success you had?
"I was really happy to be able to make it to the NCAA finals last season. Making it there was a lot more than I ever wished for. I was definitely disappointed in how the last meet turned out, but hopefully this year I can get back to where I was on the high bar and become an All-American."
What does the team need to do to be more successful this season?
"I think we need to be a lot more consistent. Last year, we were plagued with a lot of injuries. We were all healthy at the beginning of the year and hit it hard, but that seemed to hurt us later in the year because it wore us down. Everyone had to compete in every meet and it took its toll."
Describe the strengths of this team.
"I would say we are younger than we've ever been, so we've got a lot of guys that can get some valuable experience. With me being the only senior, there is a lot of room for growth."
How does your finish at the NCAA Championships last season motivate you for this season?
"Being there for the first time really motivated me to want to get back there. I've told all my teammates what it feels like - you don't get a lot of spectators in gymnastics, so I told them how great of an experience it was to be there. Hopefully, they get motivated too."
Why did you choose Navy?
"I've been doing gymnastics for 14 years or so and when I was about 11 years old, I had a national meet at the Air Force Academy and that kind of got me interested in the service academies. Ever since then, I was interested in the Air Force Academy. The summer after my junior year of high school, I attended the summer seminars at both Navy and Air Force. I was pretty split between the two, but I decided to choose Navy based on the service options I would have. I was just more interested in the options the Navy offers."
What's the best part about attending the Naval Academy?
"Doing gymnastics all through when I was younger, it was more of a solo thing. I never really had a team - every competition I went to, it was just me. When I first got here, that was one of the biggest things that hit me. Gymnastics had always been an individual thing and it turned into a team sport. Even early on in my career here when I was doing just one event, I was more worried bout how I was going to affect the team than just my individual score alone.
"It really hit me at the All-Academy Championships as a freshman. It was the biggest team feeling I've had and it was really exciting."
Talk about your career aspirations?
"I service selected aviation. I'm hoping to get into flight school early next summer. I don't know what I'll fly yet, but I'll go to flight school and go from there."
What is your most memorable moment so far at Navy?
"Sophomore year at the All-Academy Championships. We were down by five points or so early on and our team captain, Adam Stanton, brought us together and gave a pretty rousing speech. We came back and won the meet - it was a great experience."
Is there a venue you like competing at the most?
"This might sound weird, but I like competing at West Point. We go there usually twice per year and you get to know the Cadets better. There is definitely the rivalry, but they also know what we are going though here, more so than at a civilian school."
