Sophomore Dorian White is flying high with his acrobatic gymnastics team. 

White will be representing team USA at the FIG (Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique) World Cup – Geneva International Acro Cup in Switzerland at the end of the month. 

He has been involved with acrobatic gymnastics for four years now and is more than ready to perform in the biggest competition of his life, while representing his home country.  

“My  favorite thing about this sport is being able to compete and perform in front of judges,” White said.

White has recently won gold medals in all his local competitions in Las Vegas, Sacramento,  San Jose, Milwaukee and more. 

His inspiration came from his younger sister, Caitlyn-, who had been participating in acrobatic gymnastics, a competitive gymnastics where partners work together to perform hand balancing, dance and tumbling set to music.  

“He would go see his sister doing acrobatic gymnastics and that brought Dorian to the sport,” said Dorian’s father Andrew White, who teaches Cal High’s AP Biology and forensic science classes

White’s road to the National Team was not easy, as he consistently spends three and a half hours a day practicing at the West Coast Training Center in Livermore. These workouts take place four times per week.

“He is very athletic, expressive, balanced, and has good body awareness,” said Andrew White.  

Dorian White will be going to the competition in Switzerland with his partner Carina Newlin, who he has been paired with for three years. 

White and Newlin have been working with their coach Michael Rodrigues for three years as well. Rodrigues was the first American champion of the World Games.

Rodrigues and his partner later performed in Cirque de Soleil’s Viva Elvis in Las Vegas. This is now Rodrigues’s fourth year coaching. 

White and his partner are working toward joining the Senior Elite, an open age division, in a few years. Athletes in this division would be eligible to compete in the Olympics as long as the sport gets approved for Olympic competition. 

White really enjoys the sport and believes he’s well prepared and ready for the international competition.

“The hardest part is trying to do well under pressure,” Dorian White said.

He and Rodrigues have been working hard for the past few years and are ready to showcase their work on the international stage. 

White and his mother will be leaving at the end of May and couldn’t be more excited.