In the world of local national level trampolinist Jacob Costello, wiping the slate clean can be a very good thing ... just not all the time.

Having experienced hit and miss results at a pair of Ontario Cup events earlier in the season, Costello opted to switch things around prior to heading to Kamloops (B.C.) last week, site of 2025 TG Elite Canada.

“The two competitions before this one, they were not my best,” explained the 17 year old grade 12 student at St Benedict Catholic Secondary School. “At the first competition, I had some pretty good routines but I made some mistakes with the order of my skills. In my second competition, I fell in two of three routines.”

“I completely changed my routine and took out a skill that was giving me a lot of trouble.”

The key to this approach, which basically scrubbed much of the previous sequence, lay in the fact that from a degree of difficulty standpoint, the skills were essentially interchangeable. From the standpoint of the Sudbury Laurels’ gymnast, however, there would be vastly different results.

It was time to take the “Rudy Out” out.

“It’s a double twisting front flip with one and a half twists,” explained Costello. “The main problem I had with the first skill with more twists is the second flip. It’s very hard to see where you are going and hard to control, sometimes compared to a half, half pike.”

The latter, as it turns out, was far more manageable for the young man who earned bronze a year ago competing at his first ever nationals in the Level 5 - Age 17+ grouping. “It’s a double backflip with a half twist in each flip in the pike shape,” noted Costello.

Placing first in the preliminary rounds with both his first and second routines, Costello could not help but to be thrilled as the top ten of the 16 competitors moved on to the final.

“It was a completely new routine,” he stated. “I had never competed it before. It worked really well - I was very pleased with it.”

Clearly, starting from scratch had its advantages - at least right up until this particular point in time.

“At this particular competition, they do what is called a fresh start finals,” outlined Costello.

“The people who had the best scores going into the finals are now dealing with a completely clean slate.”

It wasn’t as though Jacob Costello fell completely out of contention as the finalist moved back to square one. Not even close.

His score of 48.10 in the finals actually topped his first two efforts of 40.53 and 47.51.

Unfortunately, it would not be enough to overcome the performance of Yaniv Benavida from Lac St Louis (PQ), sliding in ahead of the pride of Sudbury with a score of 49.32. Mathias Croteau, also from Quebec, would earn bronze with a score of 47.04.

“I was a full point higher than third place person, but the guy who won was very good,” admitted Costello. “He definitely deserved it.”

The consolation prize, however, for Costello was a big one - even beyond the silver medal that he would return home to Ontario with.

“The main goal for all of my competitions this year was to hit this Level 6 mobility score,” said Costello. The fact that he reached this standard was featured in pretty much the very first sentence he uttered during our recent phone discussion.

“I am very pleased with the results. I definitely have the skills to compete at Level 6; I have had for a while - so I am excited to finally do it.”

With coach Brent Farnsworth at his side, Costello has learned the value of patience, not forcing extra height or speed into his routines as he showcases an absolutely meticulous attention to detail in the air.

That may or may not change next year.

Both Costello and Farnsworth are looking at pursuing their post-secondary studies at the University of Ottawa, all while continuing to compete in a sport they continue to enjoy. Costello, however, is also open to still deciding to attend Queen’s University in Kingston, should that option arise in the next month or two.

Either way, he may have to wipe the slate clean as he readies himself for Level 6 competition next year - not that this is a bad thing at all.