Maxwell finishes 14th in national championships
Oliver Maxwell has dreams of competing in men’s gymnastics at the collegiate level, and perhaps in the Olympics one day. The road for the 14-year-old Cornwall High School freshman hasn’t been an easy one thus far. Maxwell was born with three separate heart defects, as well as asthma. A broken wrist forced the young athlete to take a break from gymnastics, but he continues to endure through life’s obstacles. Last month he earned a spot at the 2023 Men’s Eastern National Champ-ionships where he finished first on the pommel horse and placed 14th out of 30 other kids in his division.
The soft-spoken teen said he felt, “pretty good,” about his performance, which also saw him place fifth on rings, and eighth on vault. At one point during the national competition he was tied for third, moved up to second, and held it until his fifth of six events. Although he rallied and finished with a high score on his floor routine, Maxwell couldn’t recover from a disappointing showing on the high bar.
With the gymnastics season complete, Maxwell will continue to practice until the new season begins in the fall, at which point he’ll move up to compete in a higher age group.
Maxwell began participating in gymnastics at the age of four. Although he was cleared for physical activity by his cardiologist, his mother was hesitant.
Maxwell was born with three separate heart defects and had two open heart surgeries before the age of one. Over a year ago he had a third procedure in the heart-cath lab.
Maxwell was born with Patent Ductus Arteriosus, a persistent opening between the two major blood vessels leading from the heart; a ventricular septal defect, a hole in the wall that separates the heart’s ventricles; and an atrial septal defect which is a hole in the heart between the atria. Maxwell still has a slight murmur, but it’s only detectable when he’s ill and if his heart is working hard.
He was also born with asthma, which left him susceptible to infections like bronchitis and pneumonia, but Maxwell was also physically strong for his age and loved sports. Once he was given the green light, he was rarely seen without some sort of sporting equipment in his hands.
He tried basketball, soccer, and flag football, but his passion was gymnastics.
“It seemed fun and a good way to stay in shape,” Maxwell said, adding he stuck with it because he “likes to compete and hang out with my friends.”
He began participating in gymnastics at West Point, just for fun, his mother, Rene, said.
“It was more of a tumbling class than anything, but his natural flexibility and strength made it clear that gymnastics was a great fit for him. He asked to try out for a competitive team so we moved him to Kennett Gymnastics in Goshen at six-years-old. Oliver put in hours of training each week and shined at competitions. Then at the age of nine he broke his wrist during a back handspring. He was forced to take extended time off and eventually stepped away from gymnastics.”
It wasn’t until a year-and-a- half ago that Maxwell resumed gymnastics saying he needed time to learn new skills and hone the ones he already knew. He practices three days a week, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, for three hours. He sits down to do his homework before he leaves and finishes whatever is left over when he returns home after 9 p.m.
“When Oliver isn’t in school or at the gym, he is doing handstands all over the house or seeing how long he can hold himself up between the kitchen cabinets,” Rene said. “The zipper scar running up his chest is a reminder of just how far he has come. He no longer requires a cardiologist. I believe because Oliver has never seen himself as limited he is able to just jump in and try things.”
Between the start of fall and end of winter, Maxwell typically competes in regular meets in the New York and Pennsylvania areas. This year he qualified for states in January, and regionals in mid-April. With the top 25 percent qualifying for the national competition, Maxwell found himself in some elite company.
Each meet requires the completion of six events: high bar, floor, rings, pommel horse, vault, and parallel bars. Competitors receive a score for each event, as well as an overall score.
Athletes are scored based on how well they complete each skill, if they successfully finish each event, their form, and landing.
Maxwell said his strongest event is the pommel horse while his weakest is the floor because he doesn’t know many tumbles.
With the national competition at the end of April, Maxwell’s coach had him focus on his stronger events to ensure he would place, but now that the season is complete, he has more time to practice his weaker ones.
Maxwell hopes to compete for a Division I college, possibly on a scholarship. He said it would be “awesome” if he could qualify for the Olympics one day, but is okay if his career ends in college. He understands trying to compete for a spot on the Olympic team would require more of a focus on gymnastics rather than academics.
