Chimo Gymnastics runs as a non-profit organization with a board of directors and volunteers. (Jeannie Lin / CHLY 101.7FM)

A Comox Valley gymnastics club is celebrating a successful season that saw its athletes compete at the provincial and national level.

Chimo Gymnastics Club, based out of the Comox Recreation Centre, is celebrating four Gymnastics B.C. awards recognizing achievements from the 2025-2026 season.

Kyna Fletcher, the club’s general manager, said the awards recognize both athletes and coaches.

Some of the coaching team and staff at Chimo. (Jeannie Lin / CHLY 101.7 FM)

“Chimo's been very fortunate, and we're receiving four of those awards. We are receiving the Level 9 National Women's Artistic Gymnastics Athlete of the Year award. That's going to Taelynn Stuve, and that's called the Sandra Hartley Award,” said Fletcher.

At the 2026 Western Canadian Championships in April, Taelyn Stuve helped B.C.’s Level 9 team capture gold, while finishing second in the All-Around with a personal-best score.

In May, at the Canadian Championships in Ontario, she helped Team B.C. earn bronze in the team competition. In the All-Around final, she finished third in Canada, and became the National Champion on beam. She also placed fifth on bars and eighth on floor.

Fletcher said Stuve has been training at Chimo for almost her whole life.

“She’s been in our club for, since she was, I think, three. So she’s worked her way through the system. She’s been persistent, for sure. She’s fought through some adversity around injury and just different things that happen with athletes at that particular level. We're incredibly proud of her as an athlete of our club, and she's been a great role model and a very, very good teammate to some of the younger ones that are coming up as well,” said Fletcher.

Stuve has wrapped up her gymnastics career and just started her first year with cheerleading at the University of Victoria.

Fletcher said the coaching team at Chimo are being recognized for their efforts as well.

“And we're also receiving the Sev Heiberg National Award for Women's Artistic Gymnastics Coach of the Year, and that's going to the coaching team, and that's a group of coaches here at Chimo who have had success at the national level with an athlete,” said Fletcher.

Coach Kailey Dubienski is also receiving the Women’s Artistic Gymnastics Coaching Impact Award. Dubienski said her approach is about developing the athlete as a person, not just improving their skills.

“The way I coach is, I encourage our entire team to coach, is that it’s about coaching the athlete first and instilling all the amazing things you can learn about life through gymnastics and through sport in general. I think that I coach with that in the forefront every single day, and I think that, I guess, that was recognized with this award,” said Dubienski.

The club is also receiving the Gymnastics for All Club Excellence Award. Fletcher said the award recognizes Chimo’s inclusive programming to make the sport accessible to people with different goals and abilities.

“Recreation and particularly gymnastics at the recreational level is really a core sport, and it provides physical literacy for life. So it gives you all of the core basics that you need to, in order to do all the other sports. I think it's important to recognize that we offer an absolutely phenomenal gymnastics for all program, and that's been recognized again through our Club Excellence Award because we have great inclusive programming and great community engagement and lifelong participation in gymnastics,” said Fletcher.

The club has about 800 members throughout the year, including about 40 competitive athletes, with programs for everyone from toddlers to adults. The club focuses on keeping people involved in gymnastics throughout their lives.

Dubieski said that the right programming and coaching team are vital for athletes to reach their potential.

“ I think that it's really neat to see that in the sport of gymnastics, it doesn't matter where you are, there's talent everywhere. And if you have the proper programming and the proper team, who come together and work really well together and are passionate about what they do, it can be done anywhere. So it doesn't have to be the big clubs on the mainland or with the biggest facility or the most money. It can be a smaller club on the island. It just takes hard work and perseverance,” said Dubienski.

The four Gymnastics B.C. awards will be presented at the Awards and Scholarships Celebration in Vancouver on September 26.

Funding Note: This story was produced with funding support from the Local Journalism Initiative, administered by the Community Radio Fund of Canada.

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