An Interview with 2006 Women's World Vaulting Champion Megan Benjamin

Reprinted from the October 2006 issue of Vaulting World. For more information on how to join the AVA and get your own subscription to Vaulting World, click here.

	Megan on her long-time US horse, Faronia (Ronin), during the 2006 selection trials.

Vaulting World recently caught up with newly crowned Women's World Vaulting Champion Megan Benjamin. Here's what she had to say:

Your summer was certainly a whirlwind, with non-stop training in Europe and Nationals sandwiched in between. Tell us about your summer.

The summer was definitely full of vaulting. I left for Munich in June, trained, competed at CVI-Munich, came back for Nationals, competed, then went back to Pfaffenhofen, Germany where I trained some more. I even sandwiched in three days practicing on my European individuals horse, Leonardo, in Denmark. It was a perfect summer for improving, because I ended up getting so much horse time this summer. If I hadn't been training so often or so hard, I don't think I could have won the gold.

What was it like going into Nationals this summer as the favorite?

At first, it didn't seem to be too much pressure, but when I was in second place after compulsories, and then fell off in my first round freestyle and ended up round one in fourth, well that wasn't so good. My favorite pony was missing in action (editor's note: Faronia, Megan's usual equine partner, was out with an injury), and I was vaulting on horses that I had practiced on for a total of about three minutes before going into the arena. On top of that, I pulled a groin muscle in team compulsories and considered scratching individuals, because I didn't want to aggrevate the injury before the World Equestrian Games.   

So, trust me, when I made the decision to go out there and vault individually in the second round anyway, I was plenty nervous. I didn't want to go out there, compete with an injury on a borrowed horse and come in second. Even more scary, I certainly didn't want to make my injury worse, and jeopardize my and the team's chances at WEG two weeks after. So I just vaulted with my whole heart, and a healthy amount of adrenaline, and I guess it worked!

Tell us more about the American horses you competed on this season.

Ronin is an older guy, 19, and he's my constant companion. My mom claims that he's my first boyfriend, and that my human boyfriend, Mike, is only second in line. He's a 17.3-hand Dutch Warmblood that I've had since I was 13. We spend most of my free time together—vaulting, doing dressage, and taking long trail rides high up in the Saratoga Hills. Ronin carried me throughout the selection trials, and then was injured for six weeks before Nationals. And even though he was starting to be sound again a week before, we just weren't confident that he could perform at his best for Nationals. So on the first day of Nationals, Ingrid Hamar offered me Paradox (Perry) for compulsories, and Carolyn Bland offered Mozart for my freestyle, and I just went with the flow, hoping I could pull it of with no practice.  

Tell us about your coach, Emma Garrod Seely.

Emma has been my coach for going on 10 years now, and she has been there for me every step of the way. She put me on her A Team as a flyer when I was barely six months into trot, and I only wish that she could've stood up on the podium with me at WEG, because she deserves a medal just as much as I do. She's put up with so much! I am not an easy person to deal with. I think of it as goal oriented—I make a decision and I go for it. Emma calls it stubbornness! Emma has always found a way to coach me and guide me; even when I'm being stubborn, she'll get her opinion in there and improve everything. And she's always so unassuming that I don't think she ever quite gets the credit she deserves for her incredible technical and coaching talents. She's a "gentle shove from behind" coach—not one of those who likes or needs the limelight. I couldn't have done it without her.

How did you come to have Lasse Kristensen as your European longeur and horse trainer, and Leonardo as your mount?

Emma brought Lasse and his family into Mt. Eden in 2001 from Denmark, when she took a year-long sabbatical after 20 years of coaching. Our families became close. When I started to vault internationally, we bought a horse together, Leonardo, which I believe is the best vaulting horse in the world! Lasse worked so hard to make Leo perfect at worlds; he got a professional rider, started feeding him different food, made a schedule—a plan—and followed it to a T. It worked amazingly, with Leo getting some of the highest scores of WEG. I'm so impressed with Lasse's personal dedication to the sport, and to me and my vaulting. I'm glad he got a gold medal, too. He most certainly deserved one.

	Megan on her Danish Warmblood, Leonardo, during her WEG freestyle.

Tell us about your goals going into WEG. What were they?

My goals going into 2006 WEG were to perform at the highest possible level I could for that year—to peak, essentially. I really wanted to win a medal, any color—bronze would have been just fine. For team I really wanted to win the gold, and, if nothing else, I wanted us to perform our freestyle to its fullest capability. I wanted to make the audience cry and to have goosebumps. I think we achieved that.

Why did you decide to try out for WEG team and individuals this year?

I wanted to do team this year because I knew it would be my last opportunity to do both. I knew that FAME was the proverbial one-in-a-lifetime opportunity, so I seized it. Also, I figured that a team with such talent probably wouldn't come around again for a very long time. There is no doubt in my mind that a great team can exist without particularly incredible vaulters, but the opportunity to be around such great talent every other weekend was just too good to pass up.

Was doing both team and individuals difficult at WEG?

It wasn't easy. There was a lot of training and practice and time and bickering that went into that team. We were all so passionate about the team and the sport, and we all wanted to make sure it satisfied our own ideal of the perfect team. Once in Germany, it was actually nice to be part of a team instead of just being an individual. I don't think I would have trained nearly as much if I had just been vaulting individually. I think I didn't vault just eight days this entire summer!

How do you describe your vaulting style?

My freestyle "style" has to do with flow. Although I haven't mastered Matthias Lang's (former men's world champion) flow, I seem to have found my own. I like it to be seamless and elegant.

How do you choose your music each year?

Every year I go through major time and drama finding my music, making everyone around me miserable until I find the perfect selection. This year, my former MEVC teammate Alexis Garrod found my music for me—she just showed up with it one day, and it was perfect! And Devon Maitozo, our music wizard, edited it into the ideal piece. It was good music karma, that's for sure.

Tell us about your WEG freestyle uniform.

Ha! Another drama. Emma (and Sue and Adrienne) are always on me to get the uniform piece done. I competed in my team compulsories outfit throughout the selection trials, and only got my individuals freestyle uniform a few days before CVI-Munich!   Devon designed it, and it was made by Devon's seamstress, Melanie, over at FreeForm Fashions in Santa Cruz. He actually edited one of the team uniforms he had designed that turned out to be just a bit too risqué for 10-year-old Lizzie. He added rhinestones for WEG for some extra flair. I really love that uniform.  

At WEG, you were the leader after each go. How did that feel?

It did make me a bit more nervous each time. I didn't, by any means, expect to win compulsories, so that was just a nice little boost. But when I was in the lead after the first freestyle, I was incredibly nervous for round two, and by the time the last go came...

Tell us about that final go. You were the last competitor of the entire world vaulting championships, and the stadium was packed with 8,000 screaming fans. The stands were literally shaking. What were your thoughts when you entered the arena with Lasse and Leonardo?

I was so nervous before going in. In the warm-up arena I couldn't even do my simplest moves because I was shaking and felt like I could puke from nervousness. And the fact that I couldn't vault added to my huge fear of messing it all up at the last go.  

But when I ran into the arena with everyone screaming, I kind of just let it all go. I had to say to myself, "I am the best vaulter in the United States, and I'm the best vaulter after three goes." As crazy as that sounds, it gave me confidence. The judges thought I was good earlier in the competition—now I was going to show them that they made a good decision. I talked to myself a lot, in my own head, of course. And it helped.

	Megan shares a hug with coach Emma Seely and longeur Lasse Kristensen after being named world vaulting champion.

Tell us what it was like to stand at the "Kiss and Cry" area and wait for your scores while everything was on live German TV.

I thought it was kind of silly, but I guess it was for TV since they were airing WEG live on German TV. I felt kind of figure-skaterish, but without the bunch of stuffed animals that skaters usually get to hold. It was a little awkward, standing there in full body spandex, just waiting for the score. Luckily I had Emma and Lasse to hold on to...

When did you actually realize that you had won the World Championship?

I kind of figured that maybe, just maybe, I might have won after I landed my final aerial, just because I was pretty far ahead, but anything can happen. I'm pretty superstitious so I didn't want to do any woot-wooting until I had heard my scores. At that point, I was just so overwhelmed by the fact that I'd won that I kind of shut down.

Do you remember what happened after you were officially announced as the World Champion?

I remember that there was a lot of group hugging by Lasse, Emma, and me. I was honestly just so amazed that I had won that all I could do was smile like an idiot. I think my body just shut down to real emotion altogether. I remember hearing (US Chef d' equipe) Sue (Detol) shouting in the background. And then I turned to leave the kiss and cry and all my American teammates were surrounding me, faces painted in red, white and blue, shoving American flags into Lasse and my hands and pushing us back into the arena. Lasse and I took a surreal victory jog around the stadium—everyone was on their feet cheering, and the stadium was rocking.  

And today?

I don't think it's hit me yet, no matter how many times I tell myself that I'm the world champion. I mean, the sun is still rising every day, right? Life goes on!

What did you think of the vaulting fans at WEG?

The vaulting fans were awesome. The American cheering section was great—everyone had their faces painted with stars and stripes in red, white and blue. And the Germans were absolutely wonderful. I have received many emails from German fans, which reassures me that all of Germany isn't upset with me being the first non-German woman to win in 20 years.  

Speaking of which, what does it feel like to be the first non-German national to win the women's world championships?

Amazing, what else! I did not expect to win, but to be the first is really quite an honor. I loved hearing our national anthem and watching the American flag being raised. I really didn't want to hear the German national anthem all three times at yet another World Championships. And, by the way, my great-great grandmother hailed from Aachen herself, and I'm a quarter German anyway.

What do you make of all the hubbub surrounding your win? Did you like all the attention?

The hubbub died pretty fast, but I enjoyed it while it lasted! The medal giving ceremony was pretty special—I was just wishing that my coach, Emma, could be up there along with Lasse and me. She's the one who's put up with me on a day-to-day basis for 10 years now!

The attention was pretty nice for that one day when I won—the Princess of Jordan gave me flowers, a medal (well, actually two, since we won the Team Silver!), a beautiful crystal trophy, prize money, and even a Rolex watch! And it was wonderful being asked to stay an extra week to be part of the closing ceremonies as one of eight individual gold medalists. Kai Vorberg (world men's champion) and I got to ride in horse-drawn carriages into the closing ceremonies, which were attended by something like 30,000 spectators, all of whom were waving white handkerchiefs to say good-bye.    

After the ceremony, we were driven around the city of Aachen in the same carriages, and taken to the City Hall, where the mayor had a special presentation for us, which was attended by even more spectators, all standing shoulder-to-shoulder in the town square, all waving handkerchiefs, and shouting their good wishes. People were even hanging out of their windows in the historic Aachen buildings in the middle of the square. And after that, Lasse and I—along with the other gold medalists—went to a black tie dinner attended by the Princess of Jordan, the Governor of Kentucky (for WEG 2010) and a lot of other dignitaries. The people of Aachen, and the WEG organizers, are incredibly gracious and hospitable people.  

What's next for Megan Benjamin?

I'm starting my freshman year at Santa Clara University, so I have new friends to make and new challenges ahead of me. I'm going to learn my fourth language this year: German!  If nothing else, this year I might do some fun CVIs and maybe teach some clinics if I'm asked. I figure I might as well share the wealth, right? It's no fun to keep it all to myself.

Editor's Note: You can reach Megan Benjamin at marzbarz111@hotmail.com. Be sure to put the word "vaulting" in your subject line!