Trinity Thomas and ankle tape are not close friends.
“I don’t like ankle tape,” said the Florida gymnast.
But she had no choice this past summer. One bad landing in Tuscaloosa changed so many of her plans that instead became workouts and physical therapy with heavy tape on both ankles.
All of that, of course, is in the past and she is about as ready as you could ask for an elite college gymnast to be heading into Saturday’s SEC Championships.
“I’m super excited for the postseason,” she said. “Super duper.”
Thomas was peaking at the right time a year ago headed into the last regular season meet of the year against Alabama. But during warmups, she landed awkwardly on bars and sprained not one but both ankles.
She knew it was bad.
“I couldn’t walk,” she said.
Thomas sat out that meet and competed in only one event at the SECs and in the NCAA Regionals. She tried them all in the NCAA Championships, struggling with all of that tape and the confidence that gymnasts must have to do backflips on a four-inch-wide balance beam.
Florida finished a disappointing fourth in the country.
More than that, Thomas knew that the only way she would get better was with rest. As a result, in May she retired from elite gymnastics and passed up a chance to qualify for the Olympics.
“I had plans with my team and plans for the summer as well,” she said. “It was something I wasn’t ready for but I tried to work with the cards I was dealt.”
Gymnastics is one of those sports where what you do early isn’t the point. It’s how you build your routines as a season goes along and peaking at the right time.
Thomas was one meet away when her ankles changed everything.
But rather than sulk about the way her junior season ended and her lost chance to be an Olympian, she threw herself into rehab with personal trainers.
The result has been an incredible season where Thomas has become the all-time events winner in UF history and completed the “Gym Slam”, scoring a 10 in all four events.
One of the best to ever compete at Florida blew people away with how smoothly she came back. She even surprised herself… a little.
“Yes and no,” Thomas said. “I wasn’t sure what to expect because I never hurt my ankles before. I was a little hesitant.”
Hesitancy gave way to confidence which gave way to enthusiasm on a team that just finished an unbeaten regular season and certainly has a chance to win it all in April.
That postseason begins with the SECs in Birmingham where Auburn, the only team to tie Florida this season, will be a hill to climb.
But Thomas is just happy to be where she is — at full strength.
“I’ve enjoyed it so much,” she said. “This team has been awesome and I am so happy to be back on all four events.
“I had to be smart, taking care of my body in general, listening to my body about what I can do to be ready for the postseason. To not be able to do that last year to the best of my ability was tough, especially coming off a season where I was really building up to post(season).”
She still wears a little tape on the left ankle but was able to toss off the heavy tape before the season began. The results have been overwhelming as she broke the record for event wins with her 96th in the last meet of the season and is now up to 14 perfect 10s in her career.
She started slowly in 2022 with just two events in the opening quad meet but by the time Florida faced Alabama two weeks later she was ready to put on a show with a pair of 10s and became the 12th gymnast ever to pull off the Slam.
Now, the postseason. Trinity Time.
“I’m just excited for Trinity and to see her have the ability to contribute to the team,” said Florida coach Jenny Rowland. “I know that she felt that she wasn’t capable of doing that last season. So, for her to have that ability to go in and compete for the team is just going to bring her a lot of joy.”
But hold the tape.
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