.post-content img { padding: 10px; } After a year in the NCAA at Oklahoma, Brenna Dowell said she had some “unfinished business in the elite world.” That unfinished business drove her to defer her sophomore year with the Sooners and return to her previous club gym GAGE to train with longtime coaches Al and Armine Fong. Dowell called the decision the toughest choice she has ever made, and is currently in the process of making her decision worth it—putting in enormous time and effort to be a contender for the 2015 World Championships team. After two big national competitions since she returned to elite training in May, Dowell has proven she is hungry to reach her goals.  

The comeback was made official at the 2015 Secret Classic, where Dowell had a disappointing showing. While she added back in big difficulty, her hand slipped on her Shaposh, and her foot slipped on her double back beam dismount, causing a scary fall to her neck. Dowell noted that those were fluke mistakes, and actually the best mistakes she could’ve made. “It was definitely really frustrating, but I was thinking back…and if I had missed something else it would’ve shown that I wasn’t ready, but missing those I was like, ‘okay I know I can hit these [routines]. I just have to make sure I go out and do what I know how to do.’”

After Classics, Dowell worked a lot of timers on beam to ensure she knew where to put her hands, so she wouldn’t take a fall like that again. A broken blood vessel in her eye from the dismount didn’t slow her down one bit, and she got right back in the gym with something to prove.

Less than a month later, Dowell came out strong in Indianapolis to compete the all-around in both days of competition at the 2015 P&G Championships, hitting almost every routine. Just one final bar dismount on the last event of day two robbed Dowell of her goal for the competition—hitting eight for eight. She tapped the low bar on the giant before her dismount and came up short, putting her hands down on the landing. It shocked Dowell as much as it did everyone else. “I never miss my dismount. It was so weird,” she said.

Despite the fall, Dowell made huge improvements since Classics, and absolutely astounding progress for less than three months of training her elite-level skills again. “I’m definitely proud of getting back out here, and hitting 7 for 8. I definitely had a lot of things I could’ve done better, but I surprised myself with how well I did the first night, and I know I have a lot of improvements to make, so it’s good to just know where I’m at.”

Dowell said her experience in college has helped her enjoy competing much more. “I kind of look forward to it because in elite, you only compete five competitions a year, whereas in NCAA you compete 15 in a row.” She has more fun now that she knows how to embrace competition as a chance to show off her skills. She may not have her team behind her, but the motivation is still there for Dowell. “Now everything I do I know is for myself—so it helps me push myself harder.”

Unsurprisingly, pushing hard is nothing new to Dowell. She said the return to elite has called for many more hours in the gym, and a lot more numbers of skills, but that didn’t surprise her. “I’ve always trained with Al and Armine my whole life, so I knew what I was getting into.”

After the 2015 P&G Championships, Dowell was named to the 2015 World Championships training squad and will attend the upcoming training camps at the Karolyi Ranch. Dowell is excited for the road ahead, and is happy about a successful P&Gs performance. “It felt really good just to get back out there.”


Related:
Brenna Dowell Aims For Worlds
2015 World Championships Training Squad Announced