Kim Hamilton Anthony (00:00:00) – The views, thoughts and opinions expressed by hosts and guests on this podcast are their own and do not represent the views, thoughts and opinions of UCLA Athletics or UCLA Gymnastics. The content of this podcast is strictly for informational purposes only and should not be considered professional advice.
Tasha Schwikert (00:00:19) – Having, you know, deep, deep discussions on different issues about athlete safety and making sure everyone has a voice, making sure all the different stakeholders in USA Gymnastics are heard, making sure we could get as much information as we can, right to be able to use and learn that from that information and and use it to make the organization better and safer for athletes.
Kim Hamilton Anthony (00:00:46) – Welcome to the Black Gymnast Olympic Dreams edition of the Resilience to Brilliance podcast, where you’ll be inspired by the history and eye-opening accounts from Olympians who live the dream. I’m your host, Kim Hamilton Anthony.
Kim Hamilton Anthony (00:01:01) – Here we go.
Kim Hamilton Anthony (00:01:05) – The Black Gymnast Olympic Dream edition of the Resilience to Brilliance podcast is a short podcast series dedicated to the young black gymnast and their families out there who have that Olympic dream.
Kim Hamilton Anthony (00:01:16) – In the 2024 Olympic Trials, you will likely see more black gymnasts competing at this level than ever before, so I thought I’d bring on some individuals who can provide some encouragement and advice for those young athletes who will be watching and their families on how to navigate the gymnastics world while embracing the skin they’re in. Also, I want to bring on those who can help us learn a bit more about the history of black gymnasts and those who can share their own personal stories about what it took for them to achieve their own Olympic dreams. On this episode, we have Tasha Schwikert Moser. Tasha Schwikert Moser was on the U.S. women’s gymnastics team that won the team bronze medal at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney. She also served as the team captain of the women’s team that won the USA’s first world team title. After representing the U.S. around the globe, she continued her gymnastics success at UCLA, where her accomplishments included winning two NCAA National All-Around titles. Well, I had a very special time with Tasha and our conversation took what I felt was an unexpected turn when she began to share what it was like behind the scenes at the 2000 Olympics, and she also talked about what she is currently doing to make gymnastics a safe space for all athletes at all levels.
Kim Hamilton Anthony (00:02:50) – Let’s listen. Tasha, welcome to Resilience to Brilliance. So glad to have you here.
Tasha Schwikert (00:03:02) – I’m excited to be here.
Kim Hamilton Anthony (00:03:04) – Well, I figured we just go ahead and get started right from the beginning of your gymnastics career. When did you start taking gymnastics very seriously.
Tasha Schwikert (00:03:14) – Very seriously? I think I was seven, so I got into it when I was three mommy and me classes. But when I started competing at age of seven, I remember my first gymnastics meet, you know, just excited to be there. I wasn’t sure like how how things would, would navigate through the day, but in the end, I ended up winning every event in the all around. And I think that was like my first taste of like, dominance right there. And then I was hooked.
Kim Hamilton Anthony (00:03:43) – That’s all it took. Was that one dominating me.
Tasha Schwikert (00:03:47) Yeah.
Kim Hamilton Anthony (00:3:48) Now, once you dominated that first meet, was the Olympics your immediate goal or did that come somewhere else along the way?
Tasha Schwikert (00:03:57) – Yeah, it definitely came along the way.
Tasha Schwikert (00:04:00) – I was a pragmatic kid. And so I just remember, you know, because my, my aunt loved to brag about, you know, how well I was doing in gymnastics to all her friends and her neighbors. And I remember one time we were I was at her house and she was with her friends, and she said, oh, Tasha is so great at gymnastics. She’s going to the Olympics. And I had to stop her. I think I was like nine or something. And I looked at her and I was like, do you know? Only you know, I think at that point it was like seven girls go every four years. Do you know that only seven gymnasts make the Olympic team every four years? You know, like, my chances of it are very, very slim. Like, don’t tell people I’m going to the Olympics. Like, you just don’t know. And so, you know, but I think it became more of a oh, wow. This I mean, honestly like about 13, 14, you know, when I was an elite gymnast competing as elite, competing internationally for, for the US at that point it was a dream, but I just didn’t
Kim Hamilton Anthony (00:04:56) – Mhm
Tasha Schwikert (00:04:57) – I didn’t know if it was feasible but but that wasn’t where my head was at you know. It wasn’t just like Olympics or bust. I was just really trying to be the best gymnast that I could be you know at whatever like age category I was in, whether it was junior, senior or, you know, that year. Right. Just maybe trying to make to trying to win the the state meet, wanting to win the national championship, really just winning at every milestone.
Kim Hamilton Anthony (00:05:22) – Right.
Tasha Schwikert (00:05:22) – Because, you know, I was I was the underdog going into Olympic trials. I wasn’t really supposed to be on the Olympic team. I was, you know, an alternate and then, you know, happened. Right. And then I was asked to be part of the team.
Kim Hamilton Anthony (00:05:36) – Now, let’s talk a little bit more about that. Explain to those who have not heard that detail about your career, what actually happened.
Tasha Schwikert (00:05:47) – In 2000, you know, parts of it are even fuzzy to me because it’s been 24 years.
Tasha Schwikert (00:05:51) – But, in a nutshell, at the end of Olympic trials, they were naming the team the Olympic team. I was named as an alternate. And then I believe they they actually like ranked the alternates. And so I was not the first alternate. And then after Olympic trials, I was told that I was I would be invited to train with the Olympic team as part of the Olympic training squad at the Károlyi Ranch. so I was very excited just to be there. Dominique Dawes was like my all-time idol gymnastics idol. And so being able to train alongside of her was just like a dream come true. But again, in my mind, I wasn’t there to compete for the US in the Olympics. I was just there to be part of the training squad, and for me it was, you know, I took it as like, hey, this would be a great learning opportunity and just experience for me, you know, because I was 15 at the time and I knew I had a lot of gymnastics in front of me.
Tasha Schwikert (00:06:51) – And then right before I was leaving to the train, the Olympic training camp that they were having before they would depart to Sydney, I was told that I was going to travel to Sydney as one of the alternates, and I was thrilled about that. Right, like, here I get to go with the Olympic team. And you know, they’re telling me, you know, you might not get all the gear and things like that, but I didn’t even care. I just was happy to be there, you know? So got all packed up and we traveled to to the ranch and we’re there for about three weeks training. And then we did like a send off to Sydney, where we did a like a little exhibition meet for a small audience and like a small gym, I think that was in was either in San Antonio or in Austin, some, some smaller like well, Austin is huge now, but back then it wasn’t, you know, it wasn’t like Houston or Dallas. It was it was a smaller town.
Tasha Schwikert (00:07:46) – I think it was San Antonio. And then, then we went to Sydney and, you know, the training was intense and, you know, but it’s the Olympics and I’m just happy to be there. I’m following all the directions, like you let me know what you need to do. I’ll train like I’m on the team, but I’ll hit all my routines in practice. But I’m just here to, you know, be a support system.
Kim Hamilton Anthony (00:08:11) – So. You talked about the training being intense. What do you mean by intense? Give us some examples.
Tasha Schwikert (00:08:19) – We trained. We were training two four-hour sessions. Approximately four-hour sessions. Lots of conditioning. The I guess vibe in the gym was, like, stoic and intense. And, you know, there was not a lot of energy. It was just lots of numbers. And, you know, you felt like every repetition that you would take, someone was watching and using it as, you know, one more consideration for where you’re going to be out in the lineup, you know, like how they’re going to craft, you know, lineups and who’s competing on one event.
Tasha Schwikert (00:08:57) – Uh, and again, I was the alternate that at that point. So I didn’t, I wasn’t worried about, you know, where I was going to be in the lineup. I didn’t have to worry about those things. But at the same time, I mean, I was there to also impress Béla Károlyi and Marta Károlyi and the national staff because, you know, I knew that after 2000, I was going to continue. And what I was doing at the Olympic training camp, like, would impact my future.
Kim Hamilton Anthony (00:09:23) – I remember Mary Lou Retton saying that one of the coaches took off her wig and was banging it on the beam while she was doing her beam routine right before the Olympics in training camp. Did you have any experiences like that where they were just seriously testing your concentration, your focus, and trying to throw you off and see what happened?
Tasha Schwikert (00:09:47) – So I think I know the coach she’s talking about with the wig, because I remember there was a coach there with a wig. We will not name names, but.
Kim Hamilton Anthony (00:09:56) – I loved her.
Tasha Schwikert (00:09:58) – She was so nice.
Kim Hamilton Anthony (00:09:59) – Wasn’t she?
Tasha Schwikert (00:10:00) – Yeah, but she wasn’t really coaching like in my generation. So, you know, Mary Lou, she probably was coaching. She just was there to be a support system like the mother hen. When I, when I was, when it was my time. But no, I don’t remember any, like, banging on the beam situations, but I do know I’m, like, in, at my gym at home, Cassie, you know, we would she’d have some of my teammates line up and, you know, like, bang, like little instruments and things like that, just to recreate, like what it might be to feel like an international crowd because international crowds are intense. And I never competed in a like World Championships or Olympics prior to that. So, and I only had a few, I mean, I had I had a good amount of international meets, but like, not super big ones. So I think it was just really trying to get me prepared for like the crowd.
Tasha Schwikert (00:11:00) – Right. And which is interesting because then I look back at my career and we went to compete in Belgium in 2001 at the Worlds, and there were people, like, dressed up in like basically Halloween costumes, right? And had instruments like full on, like drum sets. Right. And when, when we would compete, they would make all the noise. So that I think back to that time when Cassie had, you know, my teammates standing there with like little, you know, baby instruments and things like that. And I’m like, oh, it all makes sense. Like, this is what she was trying to prepare me for. So, so no, you know, going back to the ranch. No, but I think they did it in different ways. So there was a day, not a day, like, if we were doing this a lot, they thought that like basically being able to do a cold beam set with, like, never stepping foot on the beam, like that day was going to be helpful.
Tasha Schwikert (00:11:52) – So we had to, warm up all of our skills on the floor, like on a line, and then get up on the beam and do a full beam set, like no warm-ups, no back handsprings, no, like roundoff layout dismount to prep you for your double. Nothing, just get up on there and do a cold beam set, which is terrifying for one. And because I hated beam so it was like my worst nightmare really, because it was like I hated beam and then stack that on top of that, a cold beam set with no warm-up whatsoever. Umm, but it’s also dangerous. Like, I look back now, I’m like, that’s crazy. And, like, you don’t have to, like, the Olympics they give you, or any meet, they give you time to warm up. Like, what are we doing? Like, why are we doing this? But, yeah. So they would do it in different ways.
Kim Hamilton Anthony (00:12:53) – I can’t imagine doing a beam routine without having had that touch, that 32nd touch.
Kim Hamilton Anthony (00:13:02) – That’s amazing. So what was your mindset as you are going through this rigorous training leading into the Olympics? I know you were there as an alternate, and so maybe you felt that you didn’t have as much pressure, and you mentioned earlier that you knew that you still needed to impress because you were going to continue your gymnastics career after the Olympics. But what were you thinking? Were you ever nervous, or were you just so focused and you were just knew you were going to do your very best?
Tasha Schwikert (00:13:33) – Yeah. So just focused. Right. And I think my age impacts a lot of like how I was feeling back then because I was so I was 15. I’m just happy to be there. Right. So, 18-year-old Tasha would have approached that situation very differently. Right? Or 19-year-old Tasha, but 15-year-old Tasha. I was happy to be there, like aware of my surroundings, but like so tunnel vision and the fact that like, I just want to impress and I just want to do my best and, you know, of course, like I didn’t have the pressures of like, you know, we’re competing in the Olympic prelims and, you know, in a week or two weeks or whatever.
Tasha Schwikert (00:14:12) – But I still wanted to impress. And so for me, that was just as important as if, you know, I probably, you know, I would maybe at that my at that time, if I had the mindset of I’m competing on the Olympic team, my wanting to impress at that point was just as important. But I mean, it was it was laser-focused. I mean, whatever, whatever Béla told you to do, whether it was, you know, ten bar routines in a day, which is what we did. that’s what we were doing. And our personal coaches had zero say in the plan for the day. It was, you know, Béla’s plan for the day, you know, national staff coaches plan for the day. And they were just there as, like, supporting cast members, just completely laser-focused. But also, you know, like, I’m a human and I have emotions. And I remember being at the Olympics, like crying myself to sleep because I felt like I was starving.
Tasha Schwikert (00:15:09) – Right? Because we weren’t being fed enough too. So yeah, laser-focused. You know, I wanted to impress, but it was it was rough. It was really rough.
Kim Hamilton Anthony (00:15:20) – Tasha, I had not heard that story. I don’t know if you’ve shared it before, but you literally cried yourself to sleep because you were hungry.
Tasha Schwikert (00:15:29) – Yes. Yes. multiple. Yep. Multiple days. I remember feeling so hungry and starved that I cried. Yeah. I mean, I don’t know, like how much we want to get into that on, on today’s podcast, but, no, the, the Olympic experience in Sydney with that team. You know, we we weren’t in the Olympic Village. We were in a women’s boarding college, away from Sydney. and they told us they were putting us there because it was too loud in the, in the village and they wanted us to focus. Which I get all that, but at the same time, you’re taking away the experience of the Olympics, right? You know, for for it’s it’s so much more than just being so focused about the winning.
Tasha Schwikert (00:16:18) – You know, that experience of being in the village and being around other athletes and like feeling the energy of the Olympics, in the village, we didn’t we didn’t get that. but and also, I do think part of them putting us in a women’s boarding school in a controlled environment away was also a their way of being able to control like our food intake. Right. Because you could go and get, you know, there’s eating halls and things like that. We had a kitchen in our boarding college and they would actually lock the doors after we ate a meal because they were worried that we would go in there and take the food because we were starving so.
Kim Hamilton Anthony (00:17:01) – That you would be doing the human thing to do is when you are hungry, you eat. Wow, Tasha, I just didn’t expect to hear that. So you go into the Olympic Games, when did you know that you would be competing?
Tasha Schwikert (00:17:17) – It’s been a long time. I think it’s I think it was about 3 to 5 days.
Tasha Schwikert (00:17:21) – Maybe it was like 3 to 5 days before the first round of prelims, Cassie came into my room. It was like late at night after treatment, after training and treatment, she came into my room. She was like, I want to talk to you. And so we were sitting there and I was like, you know what’s going on? And she said, as you know, you know, Morgan is injured, right? We all knew Morgan was injured. Her ankle was had been hurting her for a long time, but she was still trying to train through it in a boot. You know, take it off to train, go back in the boot. because she’s like, you know, at this point, like her, her stress fracture has gotten so bad that she can, like, no longer put weight on her foot. And so she’s going to, she’s done, and we had a coaches meeting as to which alternate was going to move into her spot. And all the coaches, there were there was a meeting and like at the end of the meeting, like we decided on you.
Kim Hamilton Anthoy (00:18:23) – Wow
Tasha Schwikert (00:18:24) – And at that point she’s like, so you will you were on the Olympic team. I, I’m like, I’m like looking at her and I’m like, like tearing up a little bit because I remember that feeling and it was like I went from like, I’m just like, happy to be here. And, you know, I want to do my best to impress Béla and Marta. And I’m like, how cool is it that I get to, you know, train alongside Dominique Dawes and be it like the chalk box with her because she was like, even Gianna, right. Like, I think back to when I was 10 or 11 and, you know, they were in 96, you know, I watched Atlanta and I had my mom like, video record on, like my VCR and those like, big tapes don’t exist anymore. And I would sit there and, like, come home from school and rewind it and start from the beginning and learn everyone’s, you know, choreography. And I just, I mean, for, for months I was rewatching the Olympics, right. And learning everyone’s floor routine and beam routine, like the whole team. And, uh
Kim Hamilton Anthony (00:19:22) – That’s amazing.
Tasha Schwikert (00:19:23) – Yeah. And so, you know, like, I was just happy to be there. And then when she says, like, you’re, you’re you’re on the Olympic team, I just felt like the weight of the world came, came down on me. And I’m like, oh, my gosh. Like, this is for real now. Like, not that it wasn’t not that I wasn’t doing my best because I was. And that’s why they picked me. That’s that’s why the coaches had a meeting and they said, you know, we’re going to put Tasha on the team because I was training well and I was hitting my routines and I was consistent. But the mindset for me was different. It wasn’t. I’m doing this because we’re competing in five days in the Olympics. It was like, I’m just happy to be here. And so it was different. The mindset changed. And, you know, thankfully I’m a competitor and I love pressure. And so when the mindset changed of I’m just happy to be here too.
Tasha Schwikert (00:20:18) – now I’m on the Olympic team. Like, you know, thankfully like the gymnastics didn’t change. I mean, if anything, I just like kept kept getting better and my consistency increased every day, right? It didn’t didn’t change anything in my gymnastics, but, I just felt like the weight of the world just came crashing down and, it was like go time. And I was like. And then I also remember feeling like. So it was like initial like, oh my gosh. And then I remember the second feeling was like, I was heartbroken for Morgan because I was like putting myself in her spot, like so empathetic. Like, I know she had worked her whole career for this opportunity and with the injury, like, wasn’t able to, like, fulfill that dream. So I was like devastated for her. And also because, you know, we were closest in age on the team. You know, I was 15. She was she was the next closest in age to me. She was 17.
Tasha Schwikert (00:21:16) – And and we were friends and I really liked her. And so I just like I felt heartbroken for her. And then it was just like, okay, like, so what do I, you know, and then all like the questions like, are you guys in my mind? I’m like, are they are they sure like, you know, they want me. And then it was like immediate was like, you know, Cassie was like, we got to get your your family here. So then we had to they had to start making plans, right, to get them there, to be able to watch. So, yeah. No, it was, it was like a crazy moment.
Kim Hamilton Anthony (00:21:55) – I can’t imagine. So when you first walked out onto that floor as a part of that Olympic team, what went through your mind?
Tasha Schwikert (00:22:05) – So it was chaos. It was. Well, let’s move back even before, like, walking out into the Olympic podium or stadium. So we are we were in the back gym.
Tasha Schwikert (00:22:14) – We are, warming up for prelims for the Olympics. Side note I had a partially torn, I found out after the fact, that I had a partially torn groin tendon that I was just, like, dealing with and working through. Yeah. they, you know, gave me a shot of painkiller and, like, so I was, I was also in pain. But I remember, you know, we’re, we’re we’re warming up and I’m, you know, I’m in pain my whole. Oh everyone’s in pain, right? Because like, a lot of overtraining. But I just remember no one had told us the lineup yet, so we’re, like, warming up events that we may not be competing because we don’t have a lineup yet until like, I remember, like warming up vault, even though I didn’t compete vault. But I’m like warming it up in the back gym because like, no one’s saying like, okay, Tasha, you’re going to start, you know, you’re going to start this event and you’re going to be. For nobody.
Tasha Schwikert (00:23:08) – So it’s kind of like it’s a cluster. It’s a cluster back there, right? It’s chaos. So I remember like it was time warmups were over. We all kind of, you know, line up in front of Béla and he’s got the paper. It’s like supposed to be the lineup. And he’s like trying to figure it out. And the music starts and we still don’t know who. So like I just remember walking as he’s being like, okay, like you’re actually going to, you know, so she’s telling me you’re going to compete, you know, bars beam and floor. And at that moment, that’s when I found out that I was not competing vault, even though I was in the the back gym in the prelims, like, you know, messing around with the vault. And then I was told I was going to start on all the events, you know, I was going to be the first athlete up. So. So it’s already a cluster. I’m like panicking because it’s like, you know, I’m I’m, you know, in like I’m just a little whippersnapper.
Tasha Schwikert (00:23:58) – I’m like 15. I’m just like, okay, tell me what you need me to do and I’ll do it right? And I was taking it all in. And so I’m like, okay, I’m starting. And you told me, I said on beam, we’re going to floor. And we’re then we’re doing our, then we’re doing bars and that’s it. And I’ll be the first athlete up. And because this is my first big international competition, I’ve never dealt with like the electronic scoreboards on the, like podiums and like how you’re supposed to salute to the judges. So and then I remember, like, Márta coming in and saying to me, hey, like, when the judges salute you, you’re not going to salute them facing them. You’re going to turn around and show them your number, and you’re going to, like, throw your arms up and salute. And that’s how you like, you don’t look at them. They need to see your number. And I’m like, okay. So like I just remember being more concerned about screwing up the salute with the number thing than anything else because I didn’t want to mess it up.
Tasha Schwikert (00:24:57) – But I was like worried that I would get up there and I’d be so tunnel vision like in wanting to, like, focus on my morning routine that I would forget when they would say salute. I would just like, do my normal thing and look at them and I would forget to turn around. So I was like very, very worried about making sure I didn’t screw up the salute, which like, like looking back, like maybe that helped me focus because maybe it made me not so focused on the routine. And I was, you know, like, I don’t know. But it was I just remember it being a cluster and then looking back like, oh, that was so unnecessary. Like, why, why did we do that? Like why, why wasn’t there a line up? Why were we warming up events that we weren’t really going to compete on? What was happening?
Kim Hamilton Anthony (00:25:42) – And to this day, you still don’t know why it went down that way?
Tasha Schwikert (00:25:47) – No, I think we all laughed and we just.
Tasha Schwikert (00:25:48) – No one asked any questions, we just
Kim Hamilton Anthony (00:25:50) – Yes
Tasha Schwikert (00:25:51) – went home and dealt with the trauma.
Kim Hamilton Anthony (00:25:53) – You just made it through.
Tasha Schwikert (00:25:54) – Yep.
Kim Hamilton Anthony (00:25:55) – You said you went home and dealt with the trauma. You just competed in the 2000 Olympics. And what I would think you would say is you go home and you celebrate the fact that the team won a bronze medal and you just performed on the largest stage for the sport of gymnastics in the world. But you said we went back home and then dealt with the trauma.
Tashha Schwikert (00:26:20) – Mhm
Kim Hamilton Anthony (0026:21) – What did. What do you mean by that?
Tasha Schwikert (00:26:23) – it was a lot because, you know, like I said, we didn’t, the training was excessive, like it was. We were so overtrained. So overtrained. I mean, looking back at it, we were doing hard landings every day. Full routines, every day, twice a day, full sets, hardly any full routines, twice a day. I look back and I, you know, I think right after the Olympics, we counted the days of training that we did like and how many breaks we had.
Tasha Schwikert (00:26:58) – We trained two and a half months straight with a few half day breaks. Right? There was no. Like being on the plane, like the plane ride. The plane ride to Sydney. They called it a break and even on the plane. Granted, it was like a you know, it was a it was a chartered plane. So there was it was only athletes. But even on the plane ride, they made us get up and do like a, an aisle workout. Okay, we’re on the plane and we’re like doing conditioning
Kim Hamilton Anthony (00:27:38) Oh my goodness, Tasha.
Tasha Schwikert (00:27:39) in the aisles. And you see all of the other athletes from like baseball and the other teams looking at us like, what is happening? And we’re just like, you know, like these little robots, like doing what we’re told, doing the plane aisle workout. Yeah. And then, you can’t make me seem sorry. It’s okay. And then when we get there, like, as soon as we land, we go, like, straight to a gym because they’re like, oh, you need to, like, shake out your legs.
Tasha Schwikert (00:28:11) – You know, we’ve been on a plane and it’s like, how about we rest and get acclimated to the new time change? Because, like, I’m pretty sure it’s like daylight here and it’s like nighttime there or like, you know, whatever it is. and we need to rest.
Kim Hamilton Anthony (00:28:25) – Rest is good.
Tasha Schwikert (00:28:26) – Yeah. No, not that’s not what they thought. Yeah. So we got there and like, worked out right away. And so you have you see you have you been you feel like you’re overtrained then you know, like I said, I had a partially torn hamstring that I was dealing with the whole time that Larry was treating as he was also abusing. Everyone was injured, right, in some capacity. You know, like I said, we weren’t being fed enough. I remember our parents got to come visit us. We had like like they I think they it was like visitation day, right? They’re like, your parents can come visit you. We were so excited. They made us all go outside on the grass to spend time with our parents.
Tasha Schwikert (00:29:07) – Our parents were not allowed to come in to like our rooms or even in the house that we were like staying because they were like worried. And they didn’t say this, but it was obvious why they didn’t let us. They were worried that our parents would like, bring us food or really food, and so they wouldn’t let our parents. And they were like watching. They were like, watch. It was like it was like the craziest. Like it was like a supervised visitation on the grass outside of the boarding call, like the ladies boarding school, we were at supervised visitation with our parents.
Kim Hamilton Anthony (00:29:43) – What did your parents think about this supervised visitation? Did they think anything was weird about it? Strange?
Tasha Schwikert (00:29:49) – I don’t know. We’ve never talked about what they felt about, you know, this supervised visitation. I just think they were just these my parents, you know, they were just excited to see me. Right? It had been a long time. And, you know, like, we’re at the Olympics.
Tasha Schwikert (00:30:06) – So even if it is weird to you, you’re not going to, like, say anything. They’re going to tell someone that this is kind of unacceptable because your kid’s about to compete in the Olympics. So whatever feelings you had negative feelings about anything regarding the situation, no parent was going to speak up because they all, they all knew, like how intense and how intense the situation was with the training. And so everybody was walking on eggshells. You don’t say anything. You just do keep your head down and you do your job. And if you have any feelings or opinions about it, like you’re not going to share it, like keep it to yourself, because we’re out here to try to win a medal.
Kim Hamilton Anthony (00:30:50) – Now, did you actually keep it to yourself, or did you and your teammates ever talk about some of these things that were going on, or was even that taboo?
Tasha Schwikert (00:31:00) – Yeah. you know, I think so, me being 15 and significantly younger than the rest of them, it was weird.
Tasha Schwikert (00:31:08) – So there were like it was taboo because, you know, everyone had their individual coaches and everyone was in fear of being like pulled out at any moment right off the team at any moment. So there was that, dynamic. So there wasn’t a lot of like, let’s confide in each other because we were all worried about, well, and again, I wasn’t I was an alternate, so I wasn’t really worried about anything at first. But I could feel that people were maybe, you know, would be worried about what would happen if people were confiding with with one another, but also to, you know, there was three of them that were actually heading to college after the Olympics. So I felt like they had a closer bond and had more in common and could relate more because they were, you know, similar age all about to like, head out, head out to college and compete. And so, I felt on the island a little bit in terms of like having being able to have someone to confide in because, you know, so much younger.
Tasha Schwikert (00:32:12) – I wasn’t I wasn’t going to college. So I didn’t understand that dynamic. I didn’t have a teammate on the team. Right? I know that, you know, Morgan, and Alyssa were teammates, so I didn’t really have a teammate. I will say I probably spent the person I felt like closest to and that I could connect to was Dominique Dawes, even though she was 23 and I was 15. Right? So there was a big age gap. So in terms of like conversations, she probably didn’t feel like, you know, we were on the same page. But, and this was her third Olympics, so, you know, wasn’t her first time, not her first rodeo, but. At least I just felt she was helpful. She was helpful because, you know, I, I were telling her one time that I was like, starving. I was so hungry. And she was like, well. And I needed energy because I felt like sluggish. And she had mentioned that she would sometimes drink coffee to help with that.
Tasha Schwikert (00:33:03) – And so I remember and I had never drunk coffee before. So I remember one time I, I went to go grab a cup of coffee and Béla looked at me and he’s like, what are you doing? And he like, pulled it out of my hand. And he was like, you’re too young to drink coffee. And then I just remember, like, tearing up, like so turning around so he couldn’t see me, but like, tearing up because I’m thinking, like, well, you guys aren’t giving us enough food. I’m starving. So obviously caffeine, you know, I’m aware that that’s probably could help. And here you are like taking that away, so
Kim Hamilton Anthony (00:33:34) – My goodness, my heart breaks for 15 year old Tasha living under those circumstances. The one thing you’re like, okay, this is going to help me. And it’s taken away from you even. Oh wow.
Tasha Schwikert (00:33:48) – Yeah. So I just in terms of being able to like, confide in another person, you know, I appreciate Dominique.
Tasha Schwikert (00:33:53) – She was like really trying to help guide me and just like give me like little, you know, nuggets of wisdom here and there. At least for me. I didn’t feel like I had, like, anyone really to confide in. So Cassie, my coach, was actually, you know, her and I when there was like a break in between the two workouts, I’d rest, obviously, but like, a lot of times I would just, like, hang out with my coach because I just felt like, I don’t know, I just, like, made the most sense in this situation.
Kim Hamilton Anthony (00:34:18) – Right. Well, you you two had an amazing relationship as well
Tasha Schwikert (00:34:22) – Yeah, and we still do
Kim Hamiton Anthony (00:34:23) – and you were closer to her than you were with anyone else. And you still do. Yeah. Which I love. Yeah.
Tasha Schwikert (00:34:28) – So she’s like, totally like a second mom and yeah, we I, I was talking to her. We were texting the other day. It’s always like she tells me she loves me and I love her. And so yeah, we’re.
Tasha Schwikert (00:34:37) – Oh, I know I’m getting emotional over here now.
Kim Hamilton Anthony (00:34:43) – Now tell me what that means for you to have a coach like that. There are quite a few gymnasts back in the day who may not have that type of relationship with their coach, but yet you talk about her and it brings you to tears in a positive way. Tell me about that.
Tasha Schwikert (00:35:00) – She’s just been a like a a guiding light in my life throughout all of that. I mean, she had, you know, when she I was actually at a gym in Las Vegas when I was, you know, six years old and her and her husband moved to Las Vegas so he could be in Cirque du Soleil, and she they bought the gym. She had never, like, been a gym owner before. She had coached before for her mother’s gym in New York, I believe. But, and I think I’m pretty sure if I remember the story right, she was just coming from, like, Wall Street, right? So it’s not like she was like, you know, deep into coaching at that at that time in her life, but took it, took the gym over and, you know, built her business and identified that I was, you know, talent and identified my sister being, you know, one of the more talented ones in the gym as well.
Tasha Schwikert (00:35:51) – And, you know, just just like grew up with her, right? I mean, she was my coach at every level that I competed. And obviously I had other coaches who who also coached me as well. But she was always my main coach, you know, and she sacrificed a lot with her, with her own kids. Right? Because we travel around the world competing in international competitions, and she’d have to leave for weeks at a time and like, her two babies and I just, you know, as a as a mom now, looking back at the sacrifices that she made for her own family, being able to be with me to support my dream. Just like, super appreciative of her. You know, but that’s what that’s what coaches do, right? That’s what coaches do. But even more than just a coach, she, you know, like, taught us life lessons. And, for her, it was always about, you know, trying to be a good human being.
Tasha Schwikert (00:37:00) – and she realized there was life after gymnastics because she competed in college, and she. Education was so important for her. And I just remember her always stressing, like, look, you know, wherever you go for college, like, I really do think you should take an opportunity to go to a school that’s going to give you, like, a great education, right? Because, it’s so important for like, your life after gymnastics, you know, just like, you know, the bumps along the way. I remember at some point in my career, like I moved in with her for a couple months and she took me in and, like, just no questions asked, right? And, you know, she would take me to school, and she just was. She’s always had my back with anything. And, you know, when you’re a kid, you’re going to going through that. You’re like, it’s nice to feel loved by someone and and your coach and, you know, being supported from your coach, that’s one thing.
Tasha Schwikert (00:37:51) – But like, now is like a mom looking back, like she had her own family. She had a husband, she had kids, she was running a business, and she still was able to make me a priority. And, just super appreciative of that. And then beyond just all of that, you know, I knew she was doing the best she could with the tools she had in terms of our training, the elite training. And, you know, how she approached my training and how it intersected with, you know, training at the camp, or on the national team at the Károlyi Ranch during the national team camps. I mean, I was lucky to have her because of all the coaches. Like, she was the most reasonable. She was the most empathetic coach in the circumstances. Right? So I’m not saying, like, everything she did was perfect. And I know now, you know, she she’s educated herself on, you know, healthy coaching. And I mean, she’s really made that like her life mission now to like make sure that like any, any coaching is like healthy coaching because she doesn’t want to mentally, you know, really like screw up, you know, gymnast that she’s coaching.
Tasha Schwikert (00:39:06) – But, I just remember, like, during the Olympic camps, she was the most reasonable. So she’d look at me and know that I was in pain and know that I was exhausted and tired, and she, you know, she looked, she’d look at me and say, like, you know, I know you’re tired and you know, you’d have Béla Károlyi saying, hey, we’re doing ten beam routines today or 12 beam routines, you know, ten bar routines, you know, 3 or 4 floor routines and, you know, there’s I just there’s this one particular moment. So we did five bar routines in the morning. I did my five bar routines, but I modified them because my partially torn hamstring, I was in excruciating pain. And it was a it was a stalder up to the high bar, a straddle stalder up to the high bar. And it really bothered my groin. And so I modified it by just doing a, just like a stoop circle, like jump, you know, to the to the high bar and
Tasha Schwikert (00:40:16) – Cassie said, okay, we’re going to modify in your routines like, I know you’re in pain, so we’re going to modify. so I did the modification.
Kim Hamiton Anthony (00:40:26) – Makes sense
Tasha Schwikert (00:40:27) – She told me, even though it wasn’t blessed by Béla, but I did my five bar routines, right? And I said, I said, okay, I’m done with my routines. And he said, well, I didn’t see your, you know, stalder connection to the high bar. And I said, yeah, my, you know, my leg’s hurting me. And I was even scared to tell him that my leg was hurting. And I said, you know, my leg’s hurting me. So we just decided to do the stoop circle. But it’s like the easiest skill in my routine. It’s not an issue. you know, I’ll do it like when we do a, like, an actual verification. And he said, nope. All none of your routines count and you’re going to start over
Kim Hamilton Anthony (00:41:03) Oh, Tasha
Tasha Schwikert (00:41:04) – and you’re going to do it with your stalder connection. Five more. And so I remember like being at the chalk box just like, yeah. And then Elise Ray had gotten in trouble that day too on bars. So like, we’re both in trouble, right? And we both have to, like, start the assignment over. And I just remember us both, like, being there, like, chalking up and, like, tears, you know? Just like we’re trying to, like, hold back the tears, but we’re both just crying. And I’m looking at Cassie, and she’s, like, helpless because there’s nothing that she can do. Like, Béla clearly has, you know, veto power over everything. So I have to do five bar routines. And she knows, like, how much pain I’m in. So I do five more bar routines. Well, no no, no. So so I said, you know, in my mind I’m like, hey, I’m doing five bar routines. Cassie comes over and whispers to me, she’s like, look, when you do one bar routine.
Tasha Schwikert (00:41:56) – I’m going to call out loud like, hey, two, good job. Like you’ve done two, because I see Béla’s walking around and he’s not, like, completely looking at me the whole time. So she like, legit helped me cheat, right? So I think I ended up only doing three bar routines, but she kept counting out loud like these, you know, fake numbers to make him think that we did five and it worked. And he thought I did five. And he said, okay, now you can move on. But so it was like moments like that where I’m like, Cassie had my back, right?
Kim Hamilton Anthony (00:42:29) – She was looking out for you big time
Tasha Schwikert (00:42:30) – and no other coaches there were doing that for their athletes at least. You know, to my understanding, I don’t think any other coaches were doing that for other athletes. So just really grateful for her, understanding, you know what what I was dealing with, she, you know, she was living at two as a coach. I mean, you know, she saw it.
Tasha Schwikert (00:42:49) – She was a gymnast so she could empathize. So yeah. No, I just I love her.
Kim Hamilton Anthony (00:42:54) – I remember seeing you at those national meets. I would be in the arena because I had a specific job as an announcer during that time. And I would watch the two of you, you and Cassie. And there was definitely a love and respect there. She had such a love for you. I had talked with her about you, and I had met you like when you were just coming into the scene, and, and I just remember seeing something very special that I did not necessarily see with other athletes in their coaches. And now that you are explaining what that relationship was like, it all makes sense,Tasha. It really does. I’m so glad that you had that experience with her. I’m so glad that she was with you. Even though the 2000 Olympic experience wasn’t ideal for you to have Cassie there with you, supporting you, and doing what she could to help you get through that time is priceless.
Tasha Schwikert (00:43:54) – Yeah, yeah. No, I mean, she was she was incredible. Again, like, she did the best she could with the tools she has. And looking back she’s like, oh my gosh. Like the way I trained you, it was, you know, I was I was horrible to you and this and that. And I’m like I was like look like don’t don’t get so down on yourself. Don’t be so hard on yourself. Literally like you did the best you could. You’re in this environment where you know, you have all these coaches who have had athletes at other Olympic Games, and you’re watching them and they’re supposed to be like the status quo for like what how you should be training your Olympian, right? So you’re like watching them trying to learn because you’re a young coach yourself, but at the same time you’re realizing, like, what they’re doing is totally insane and crazy, right? Like abusive. Really. Like I was going to say borderline abusive, but it’s actually like abusive.
Kim Hamilton Anthony (00:44:43) – It is
Tasha Schwikert (00:44:44) – and so no, I mean, she really was just doing the best she could. And I just like, I think it’s incredible how she’s looked in the mirror, you know, and decided, like, you know, I will not be part of the problem any longer, right? Like, I’m going to change my ways. I’m going to educate myself. I’m going to, you know, get other coaches to onboard with this, like, new way of coaching, which is like, we don’t need to completely destroy an athlete in their emotions. In their mind and their, you know, and their bodies. Right? Like, we can we can do soft landings a lot, and it’s okay. you know, we can do half routines. We can do drills. Like, we don’t have to do full routines on hard landings, you know, crazy numbers all the time, every day, twice a day, like we we don’t. You don’t need to do that to be great. so.
Tasha Schwikert (00:45:39) – And then she, I don’t know, like, she also she always tried to keep in mind and always made me, think about the big picture and what always just talk about, you know? Yes, the Olympics are great, but there’s more to life than gymnastics. Even though, you know, the goal at that time was, you know, the Olympics and, you know, being the best in the country. But, like, I remember being young and in the gym, and she’s a young mom. She’d have her kids in the gym with us, and, you know, Taylor and Lauren with their babies, like, you know, crawling around. And so I kind of grew up with them alongside. And I think that kind of brings you down to reality and, and, makes you realize there’s more to life than gymnastics. You know, I remember I was training at Gymcats and sometimes, you know, I’d be training with like the level ten or the level nines, and we’d be in the middle of a, of an assignment.
Tasha Schwikert (00:46:33) – And then, vividly. I remember one time as being on bars, she stopped the stop the workout and said, okay, everyone, I want you to everyone to come here and gather around. And she had like, these cans with like and then like pennies and nickels and dimes and she’s like, okay. And she gave a couple people some cans and some other, some change. And she said, we’re going to practice our public speaking like we like legit stopped the practice. And she was like, public speaking is like so is like important, important skill. And I want you guys all to be really good at it. And so she’s like, I’m going to pick a topic and you know, someone’s going to talk about it for two minutes. So someone else had a timer. And every time you say it, which I’m, I’m really bad at and I’m still doing so. Cassie I’m sorry. Like, I need to get better at this, but every time you say an um, or or like, like someone’s going to drop the penny or the, you know, into the can and.
Tasha Schwikert (00:47:27) – Yeah. And so there were just, like, fun little moments like that or it’s like, okay, there is more to life than gymnastics, right? And I love that she will pop in here and there and remind us that, like, you need to have a really good bar set, but also I want you to be really good at public speaking too, you know, all in the same workout. So I am so grateful that Cassie was my coach. I don’t know, I can’t. Yeah. I’m. I’m so grateful. And I don’t know if you ever heard the story, but they actually the national team staff, we were at one of the camps in 2000, the Olympic training camps. Kathy Kelly called my mom and didn’t tell me that she was calling my mom, didn’t tell Cassie she was calling my mom. So she called my mom back at home in Vegas and said, you know, like Béla and the national team were really impressed with Tasha, and we think that she should probably go to another gym to be with another coach who has more experience, who has been to the Olympics before.
Tasha Schwikert (00:48:30) – And so
Kim Anthony Hamilton (00:48:31) – What a hit.
Tasha Schwikert (00:48:32) – Yeah. And then, so Cassie, I guess later that day found out. Okay, so my, my, my mom called Cassie and said, you know, Kathy Kelly called me and told me that we should take Tasha to another gym. I remember seeing Cassie later that night. She was like, crying. And I’m like, what’s happening? And they didn’t tell me. And she was like, they called your mom without me knowing and suggested that you go to another gym to and to a coach with more experience, even though she had been like, you know, coaching me since I was six years old. And it got me to this point, right. Got me to this point where you’re so impressed. National team staff, right? You’re so impressed. She’s obviously doing a good job, but now you want to to. You want me to go somewhere else? No, no. So my mom, you know, being the vocal Joy Schwikert does not hold back, as we’ve seen over the years.
Tasha Schwikert (00:49:33) – I remember being like, so what did you say to Kathy Kelly after she said that? She’s like, I told her to.
Kim Hamilton Anthony (00:49:41) – Oh, wow.
Tasha Schwikert (00:49:43) – Okay. She’s like, we’re not going anywhere. We’re not going to like, you know, run our life around like your gymnastics. Like I’m not going to, like, move my whole life for, like, your training. I’m not going to do it. And I’m not going to, like, send you to live with, like, another family. But it was things like that where it’s like, wow, USA Gymnastics like really? At that time, USA Gymnastics, like, you know, during those years, I think I’m very impressed with where we’re at now, as an organization.
Kim Hamilton Anthony (00:50:15) – And I would love to talk about that. So you are in the middle of a four-year term of serving on the board for USA Gymnastics, and there is a great reason. Great meaning behind why you’re serving there. Can you talk about that?
Tasha Schwikert (00:50:32) – So when the Larry Nassar bankruptcy came to a conclusion, through the bankruptcy, we were requesting non-monetary items to be put in the order.
Tasha Schwikert (00:50:50) – You know, that would help the current athletes. now and then, the future athletes going forward to make the organization better. Right? Because the whole goal of this whole thing was to we got to protect children. We’ve got to protect children, kids, athletes from being abused for this ever happening again. And, so we asked for a board seat, and we also asked for two places on two different committees to have a voice in the organization going forward. So I am the survivor representative on the board USA Gymnastics currently, and when that position came open, I just I raised my hand, I said I want to do it very vocal. I have no problem with telling anyone in that boardroom how I feel. At this point, I have nothing to lose, right? I’m not involved in gymnastics. I’m a corporate M&A attorney. You know, at a at a firm in Texas. So I, you know, I have nothing to lose. I’m not I’m not coach. I’m not worried about athletes. And, you know, they’re going to get picked for a team this and that.
Tasha Schwikert (00:51:54) – and so I’ve you know, after the bankruptcy concluded, I started my term, working very closely with Li Li in the executive management team and the other board members. It’s been super like eye-opening and interesting to be on this side of things and, and to see, like, how much thought and discussion goes into everything. And, you know, from the stories I hear from them at least, like the current board, because the current board was brought in, you know, after the Larry Nassar scandal happened, right? So they came, they were brought in to fix things and pick up all the pieces. so really, like, none of those people were there when the abuse and all the things were happening. But I mean, the stories they tell me of just, you know, coming on as a new board and learning that like discussions about, like the well-being of athletes were not being had. Right? It wasn’t it. They were not policies and procedures in place to protect athletes. You know, prior to let’s pick up the pieces and move forward.
Tasha Schwikert (00:52:58) – So, you know, I think it’s they’ve changed a lot of the policies, a lot of the procedures, you know, everything now, everything with all of our board meetings is athlete safety top of mind. We’re having, you know, deep, deep discussions on different issues about athlete safety and making sure everyone has a voice, making sure all the different stakeholders in USA Gymnastics are heard. Making sure we could we could get as much information as we can right to be able to use and learn that from that information and, and use it to make the organization better and safer for athletes. And, you know, I mean, a lot of times, I love it to the discussions because everyone has different opinions. You know, you have, you know, you have some former of athletes like myself, some former athletes that, you know, went through like that, that whole Olympic era. You know, obviously I was abused by Larry, and so I experienced that as well. So I have that experience.
Kim Hamilton Anthony (00:54:05) – And. Tasha, I’m so sorry.
Tasha Schwikert (00:54:07) – I’m just glad that I could use, like, what happened because I obviously can’t change it. Right? I can’t change what happened. But I’m just glad that I could use it to help people going forward and just making sure, like, never happens again, right? Yeah. That’s I mean, that’s all I can say right on that. Like, I don’t even know, like there’s like no other way to put it. It was terrible. But, and I wanted to I didn’t really want the world knowing about it, but, I think it’s important that I started talking about it. And I’m glad that I’ve been able to be a voice because, that generation and even just beyond gymnastics. Right. Like that generation of, like, hidden abuse, you know, like before, you know, prior to this, this new generation where we’re just we’re airing everything, right? We’re airing all the skeletons now or we’re, you know, mental health is important.
Tasha Schwikert (00:55:01) – We’re talking about everything. Like this generation wants to talk about everything. And I think that’s great. but that older generation, you know, everything was kept in the closet. You didn’t talk about it. If it was, it was. It was an ugly topic. No one. You didn’t talk about it and no one wanted to hear it. You kept it hidden, and you put a smile on your face, and you keep your head down and you just go to work or live your life. And so I’m just glad that, we’re in a time in life where we can talk about these things and we can feel supported, and we can feel like we’re not the only one. And through social and different things like that, there’s communities where you can feel supported. So I’m just glad that I can take all of the bad things that happen and use that to talk about it and, to be a support system for somebody else.
Kim Hamilton Anthony (00:56:00) – Tasha, I appreciate you even being willing to talk about this.
Kim Hamilton Anthony (00:56:05) – I know that there probably people out there who would say, you know what, he’s in jail, it’s over with let’s just move on and forget about everything. But there are women like yourself who you just can’t forget about it. It. Is something that you’ve chosen to use to help other people. Your experience, your voice, the representation that you have on the board for USA Gymnastics. What is it that needs to happen to ensure that nothing like the Larry Nassar abuse can happen again? What needs to happen?
Tasha Schwikert (00:56:55) – Communication, right? Communication. You know, I get this question all the time. Like, how do you think it happened? I mean, it happened because there were there was this environment that I explained earlier like that, that Olympic training environment where you weren’t allowed to have emotions or opinions about things. Right? If you were sad or tired or hurting like you, you were not allowed to show it on your face or in your gymnastics that day. You, any like an opinion on whether you know you feel good enough to for for floor routines for full floor routines on the hard surface, you’re not allowed to have an opinion about that.
Tasha Schwikert (00:57:42) – You’re going to go do those four floor routines because they told you to do that, right?
Kim Hamilton Anthony (00:57:46) – Right.
Tasha Schwikert (00:57:48) – You know, I remember we used to start our workouts with Béla, with like, this 45 minute, like, run. Like, like in, like 40 minutes into it, we were doing, like, tuck jumps, like, around in a circle. And I mean a 45 minute run before, like, you know, a 3.5 hour of, like, training on, on each event and then and then a rest and then like three and a half to four more hours of training, event training. Like, that’s insane. Like you’re killing everyone’s legs before we even get started. So you weren’t allowed to have opinions and that. And then we were. Everyone was hiding injuries, right? Like I said, like no one knew I had a partially like, to the outside world, no one knew how to partially torn groin tendon, or partially torn groin tendon. Because I’d talk about it. I’d hide it.
Tasha Schwikert (00:58:47) – I even had to hide, like going to Larry to get more pain medication. I’d hide. I remember going to Larry one day and saying, can I please get like, I’m in so much pain. Can I please have more, more painkillers, more pills. And he’s, like, giving it to me. And then Béla comes over and he’s like, what are you doing? And I looked at him and I was like, oh, nothing. Like I really had to, like, play it off. Like I wasn’t like trying to get, like, you know, Ibuprofen, eight hundreds for my pain. Because he didn’t even know. Béla didn’t know because I couldn’t tell him. And then he looked at me when I was trying to get the the medication and he said, you better knock it off or I’m going to pull you out of the lineup. And so it was then I was, okay, well, we gotta like, really keep this on the down low. Like, I absolutely can’t tell him that anything’s hurt because I.
Tasha Schwikert (00:59:42) – He just told me he was going to pull me off, you know? And this this was at this point this. I had already been named to the team. Right? This was like that 3 to 5 day period. I’m not sure if it was 3 or 5 days, three or 4 or 5 days, but, yeah. And so I was like, oh, okay. Well, we’re just going to pretend that I am healthy.
Kim Hamilton Anthony (01:00:03) – So surely if you can’t even tell the coach that you need more painkillers so that you’re not in as much pain as you have been. Telling them about abuse. I could see where there would be fear in that. Will they believe me? Is this even abuse? I’m not even sure what this is about. So you’re talking about the culture that has been created over the years that has stolen the voice of young girls in many cases.
Tasha Schwikert (01:00:35) – Yeah, yeah. So I mean, yeah. So you have that whole dynamic going on where there’s just fear. There’s fear in this environment.
Tasha Schwikert (01:00:41) – And then you have, you know, like Larry who is he was grooming right back then. We I didn’t know what it was, but grooming techniques, you know, we go we were able we felt like we were able to go into the training room and shut that door, and we were able to tell him anything, and he would say he would basically, like, be like, look at I am. I am your safe place. I’m your safe place. You can tell me anything because I’m not going to go tell the coaches, I’m not going to go tell Béla and Marta. But then I was also hearing stories from my teammates where some things that he would tell Larry would get back to their coaches. So I don’t mean this. That really wasn’t true, in all regards. But he made us feel like this is a safe place. I’m not telling anyone anything. You can complain about your coaches, you know, you can tell me. You know, obviously, I know about I know about all the injuries because I’m over here trying to treat them.
Tasha Schwikert (01:01:32) – He knew we were starving. He would sneak us food. He really became like, our confidant and like, our best friend. You know, it’s like a weird thing to say, but, like, from, like, the food perspective, like we needed Larry. He because he really was like, after the after 2000, like I didn’t get any food snuck to me in 2000. But after 2000, like, we go on these international competitions and like he would sneak us food, he put like Nutri-Grain bars and like power bars and things like that, and like our bags like, secretly or like, keep them in our room, like, put them in our rooms for us, you know. But then of course, you cross the line and, you know, would ask about our boyfriends and then, you know, we’d have like, little girl talk about boys. And he wanted to get involved in the conversation and as a little kid, I didn’t think that was weird. But as an adult, I’m like, are you kidding me? Like, what? Grown man wants to get all up in the conversation of little girls talking about their little boy crushes? But, you know, again, like, you know, in addition to, you know, all the all the abuse and all the, you know, I’m doing this manipulation, this vaginal floor manipulation, it’s going to help you, you know, as a, as a cover for really just being a pedophile.
Kim Hamilton Anthony (01:02:45) – So is it about giving the athlete’s voice?
Tasha Schwikert (01:02:48) – Yes, yes. So I mean, yeah. Main goal now giving athletes a voice, you know, making sure that, you know, now they have they have food tables set up at the meets and at the trainings and everywhere, you know, at the camps. and I remember as having, having a discussion, I was in a board meeting and, you know, they were like, no, we’ve heard all the stories. And, we have now, like put out snack tables. So the athletes, like, we want the athletes. No, go get the snacks, eat the snacks. We want them to feel we’re all about healthy and happy. Right. And and, hydrated and energized. Right. We want them to take the snacks. So then I had I had a further conversation. I said, you know, I love how far we’ve come to the fact that we now have snack tables at the meets and the training camps. But my question to you is, do the athletes feel like they can take those snacks? That’s the next step.
Tasha Schwikert (01:03:50) – Right now we need to get into the minutia of it. And they’re like, well, we tell them they can. And I said no, no. Like do they’re personal coaches. Are they on board to say like, go get that snack, go get that bag of cashews, go get that Nutri-Grain bar, go get that fruit. Go get that Gatorade, whatever it is like. Are we all encouraging everyone to eat the snacks? And I said, okay, like, let’s let’s work on that right now. Right. So I mean, in these meetings I have like I am I go hard, I go hard because I use all my horrible experiences as an athlete that I went through, all of the horrible experiences I went through to put myself in the shoes and say, look like I want to pick apart. I know you guys are doing amazing things and like, literally like the intent there, the intent of these people, I mean, the intent like they are doing, they are just wanting to do the best they can.
Tasha Schwikert (01:04:41) – They’re like, safety is the utmost importance at this point and I love that. But, I will use my experiences to pick apart, right? Because I know that as much as USA Gymnastics is still is pushing all of the good things. At some level, you can’t control a personal coach of an elite athlete even today, right? When it comes to like, let’s encourage an athlete to be able to kind of like, you know, let her eat. Right? Let her like, let’s hydrate all the time because, you know, when I was training, they wouldn’t even let us have have water, and I’m sure maybe with you. They told us water would would bloat us. Like, no, like hydration is a good thing. It helps muscles, right?
Kim Hamilton Anthony (01:05:23) – All kinds of things that weren’t true, right?
Tasha Schwikert (01:05:27) – Yes, yes
Kim Hamilton Anthony (0:1:05:28) – That were counterintuitive when it when it came to having the energy you needed. Yeah.
Tasha Schwikert (01:05:34) – Yeah. So yeah, I mean, and again, all of that, if there’s communication, if athletes are able to feel like they can communicate to their coaches and communicate to you as to gymnastics and say, look, I’m tired today, can we scale it, scale it back? Can I do drills today? You know what? Can I have an off day? I just I feel like I need to take a day off.
Tasha Schwikert (01:05:54) – Is that okay? Like, I need rest today.
Kim Hamilton Anthony (01:05:56) – But that was unheard.
Tasha Schwikert (01:05:57) – Unheard of
Kim Hamilton Anthony (01:05:59) – Unheard of, back in my day. Can I take a day off?
Tasha Schwikert (01:06:02) – Yeah, I heard so communication and a voice and people respecting that right saying like, oh like I appreciate you telling me how you feel. I’m gonna honor that.
Kim Hamiton Anthony (01:06:19) – Absolutely.
Tasha Schwikert (01:06:20) – What can we do to make sure? Right. You are healthy, healthy, happy, rested. Right? Energized. Motivated. Right. If I need you to, you know, take a day off today. So tomorrow you can come back and feel great. So, yeah, I mean, I think we’re definitely on the right path. And, you know, all those things I just mentioned. That’s, right now, that is all those things are on top goal of mind and the goal of the organization. But just knowing these in these board meetings, I mean, I go hard and I will I have no problem with voicing my opinions about anything I feel like should be different to be able to to help and protect the athlete.
Kim Hamilton Anthony (01:06:59) – I am so glad that you are there in that space, Tasha. You’re the perfect person for the job. Speak to the athlete. The gymnast who has that Olympic dream. And from your experience, what would you tell her when it comes to speaking up for yourself, using your voice with your coach and with anyone really in life? How important is that?
Tasha Schwikert (01:07:30) – So important. Oh my gosh. I mean, I think, you know, I’m going to be 40 this year. It’s crazy. I’m getting old. But I think, you know, at I think around 35 I became shameless. And and when I say that I’m just like unapologetically me. And I think what I would tell to an aspiring gymnast is be unapologetic, unapologetically you. Do what makes you happy. Do what you know is right for you. If you need that day off, speak up and tell your coach. Speak up and tell USA Gymnastics. If you need. If you guys need different snacks at the table because you want different snacks because you would enjoy different snack, say something.
Tasha Schwikert (01:08:20) – Right. And I think. I feel like there’s nothing wrong. There’s no detriment to you at this point in time with saying anything. I mean, you know, back when I was training, if I would have said anything, like I said, I was in fear of being pulled off the team. I was told I would be pulled off the team. Right. If I ruffled any feathers. So now we’re in a time where coaches and USA Gymnastics are encouraging athletes to speak up. So use your voice, speak up and it’s okay, and you will not be penalized for speaking up. And you will not be punished for speaking up. And your voice is powerful. And I think and just to know that people your athletes, the athletes, I’m sorry, the coaches and the organization, they want to hear from you, they’re not mind readers, right? So give them as much information as you can in order to like, do better with whatever that is what they’re doing, doing better for other athletes, doing better for the organization as a whole.
Tasha Schwikert (01:09:30) – But speak up. Your voice is really powerful, and we’re in a time now where it’s okay.
Kim Hamilton Anthony (01:09:38) – Tasha, I appreciate you sharing that advice, sharing that wisdom. And it would be wonderful for these athletes to take advantage of the opportunity to utilize their voices, because that is going to come into play. You mentioned earlier that there is more to life than gymnastics. So after your career is done, you’re going to need that voice. And I love what you’re doing. And and I have two more questions to ask you. The first one is you mentioned, you know, we talked about you being on the board of USA Gymnastics. But tell me what your personal and professional life look like.
Tasha Schwikert (01:10:16) – Personal life, complete chaos. I’ve got three children. My daughter, my oldest daughter, she’s eight. The most sassy, fun, social kid you’ll ever meet. She’s a little hip hop dancer. She actually dances for the Houston Rockets on their, dance squad. They’re called the Little Dippers, and she loves it.
Tasha Schwikert (01:10:38) – It’s so cute. Oh, I my son is six. He is. He’s probably my toughest kid. He is passionate and about everything. Loves basketball, is obsessed with basketball. But he is, he’s strong willed, like to a fault at this point where sometimes parenting is hard and you’re like, oh my God. But I know that he’s going to take that, like, strong willed personality and like, use it, you know, instead of like, using it to, like, not listen to mommy or clean his room. He’s going to use it one day for good. Right? So it’s like part of me when I’m like, oh, I love like, I love that little voice of yours. I love that you’re using that strong willed, you know, personality and voice. It’s hard as a parent, but like, it’s going to serve him well on life one day. And then my my daughter, my third child, my daughter, she’s three. and she just she just a cute kid.
Tasha Schwikert (01:11:36) – She’s a little she’s a baby sister, and she knows it. She’ll tell you I’m the baby. so she’ll just. Yeah, she gets whatever she wants. So that’s fun. You know, my husband is an NBA assistant coach. He’s one of the assistants for the Houston Rockets. And so, that whole life in itself is just crazy because we’ve moved a ton, to get to this point. We we’ve moved since 2019. We’ve moved four times, Dallas, Eugene, Oregon, Boston and then Houston. So, so personally, my life is crazy. Because. It’s funny, I talk to people and they’re like, what city are you living in today? It’s like last time we talked, you worked, somewhere else. And then, I’m I’m a corporate M&A attorney and chair of our sports law department at a law firm called Munck Wilson Mandala. so we’re based in Dallas, but we have, offices in Houston, Austin, Waco, Miami, Los Angeles, kind of all over, about 100 lawyers.
Tasha Schwikert (01:12:44) – And I’ve been with them for almost five years. Super grateful to be with them and super excited for the stuff that we’re doing now. Obviously, being an athlete, I was like, we need to add, and with NIL we need to add, a department, an NIL department. So I am chair of our sports department, sports and NIL department, and we help universities, brands, collectives. small sports agencies and even athletes just with NIL stuff. So, I love doing that. Obviously, sports is my passion, and I love working with athletes in universities.
Kim Hamilton Anthony (01:13:24) – Talk about life after gymnastics. I love it. Tasha, final question for today. What does living in BrillianceMode look like for you?
Tasha Schwikert (01:13:38) – Oh my gosh, I know it seems like so glamorous from the outside but I feel like I’m drowning every day, to be honest with you. a attorney, a full-time attorney, working mom with three kids and a husband with a career that, like, basically has some traveling about.
Tasha Schwikert (01:14:03) – He’s out of town about three months a year, like during the season. And then, you know, in the summer, you know, traveling as well for his job. It’s funny because, you know, people, oh, you know, you’re you’re amazing. Your life’s one. You know, it’s great. So accomplished. But I, I feel like I’m drowning every day. Honestly. I feel like I’m I’m like juggling a million things. And I’m trying to keep all the balls in the air and sometimes they fall, but I, I feel like I, I guess I, I know it looks like I’m doing a pretty good job at keeping the balls in the air, but at the end of the day, you know, you got to keep swimming. So what does it look like to be in BrillianceMode? Just keep swimming. Life is hard every you know. And it’s hard for everyone, you know, Whether whether you’re a stay-at-home mom, whether you’re a working mom or whether you have kids, whether you don’t like.
Tasha Schwikert (01:14:51) – We all have our hard. And I always tell myself, like, choose your hard, right? Life is hard. Choose your hard. And, and these days, I’ve decided to give myself grace. Right. So I’m not. I’m not, you know, used to be this perfectionist gymnast. And now, like, if someone’s if I didn’t do the kid’s hair and we’re going outside somewhere, I’m not going to get get down on myself for it. You know, if sometimes, if, you know, the laundry it doesn’t get done or some things don’t get done, I’m not I’m not going to I’m not going to get on myself for it. I’m going to give myself grace and realize, like, eventually things will get done and it’s going to be okay. So, I don’t know, like, I feel like I’m a hot mess, but I’m just I just keep swimming and do the best I can.
Kim Hamilton Anthony (01:15:40) – I love it because there’s so many people out there who feel the same way.
Kim Hamilton Anthony (01:15:45) – Tasha. And it’s like, really? This is, you know, you know, out front it looks like this. Wonderful. But then, you know, life is hard, but I love just keep swimming. Stay at it. You got it?
Tasha Schwikert (01:15:59) – Yep.
Kim Hamilton Anthony (01:16:00) – And I also like choose your hard. Keep swimming. Choose your hard. Tasha, thank you so much for being on today. I appreciate your time.
Tasha Schwikert (01:16:08) – Thank you. This is great.
Kim Hamilton Anthony (01:16:16) – Thanks for listening. If you want to learn more about Tasha Schwikert Moser, check out our show notes on Inbrilliancemode.com/podcast And to connect with Tasha on Instagram, follow her at TashaSchwikertMoser. If you’ve enjoyed this episode of Resilience to Brilliance, please share it with others who may be encouraged by it. And to make sure you don’t miss future episodes, follow us or subscribe on YouTube and your favorite podcast platforms. You can also follow me on Instagram at RealKimAnthony.
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