Hailey Bridgewater, rockclimber

By Dave Mable

 

Hailey Bridgewater, 17, of Johnston, was patiently waiting for her brother’s baseball practice to end at Sportsplex West in Waukee when she was offered to give the nearby climbing wall a try. She quickly made her way to the top… and hasn’t looked down since.

Dylan Huey, the Sportsplex Climbing Coach, saw the natural talent in Bridgewater and asked her to join the Jr. Climbing Team. With Huey’s encouragement, Bridgewater started climbing competitively her first year, making it to the Bouldering National Championships. (Bouldering is climbing close to the ground, but without a rope for safety.) She finished 10th in her division after only a couple months of climbing.
Bridgewater has taken to climbing on a nearly full-time basis now. Her parents, Gary and Diane Bridgewater, wanting to encourage their daughter and seeing the opportunity and need for a full-scale rock-climbing gym in Des Moines, built Climb Iowa, the largest indoor climbing facility in the state.

With great support and coaching, Bridgewater has risen to the top of climbing in the U.S. Competing in events from coast to coast, she has qualified for the National Championships seven times, finishing second in the 2009 National Championships in Virginia.

Still pushing the limits of her abilities, Bridgewater has bumped up the training in 2010 with hopes of qualifying for the World Climbing Championships in Scotland at the end of the summer. After winning the Midwest Regionals in May, she must now make it through the Regional Competition in June and the National Championships in July before booking a flight to Scotland.

Bridgewater is a member of the Climb Iowa Youth Adventure Climbing Team, which is open for anyone 18 or younger who wishes to learn and practice rock climbing. For more information and to follow Hailey Bridgewater on her quest to Scotland, visit www.usaclimbing.net.

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