ROCHESTER — Eric Chmiel remembers a time when the Roca Climbing and Fitness rock climbing team was still waiting for its first young climber to qualify for the U.S. Climbing National Championships.
Those days are long gone now, with Cmiel playing a major role.
Now, he and a program-high four other players from Roca are headed to Utah.
“My first time going to nationals was in 2019,” said the 19-year-old, who will graduate from Mayo High School in 2023. “I was the first person from Roca to go to nationals and now we have five. We’ve had at least three every year for the past four years. It’s incredible, especially coming from a small gym like Roca. Now Roca is a nationally known gym.”
Chmiel, along with Lily Thome, Addie Scheid, Ben Edwards and Nick Dewhirst, are part of a group of five climbers competing in the USA Climbing Youth National Championships in Salt Lake City from July 7 to 14. Thome and Scheid are the first women from the Roca Club to compete in the national championships.
The three qualified for the trip by placing in the top six at last month’s Division 6 championships in Arlington Heights, Ill. Thome finished seventh but earned a spot because he had the sixth-best score among U.S.-born climbers.
The five were among 10 Loca Team qualifiers and helped the club finish third out of 25 teams from 12 Midwestern states.
“I’m so excited for our kids to be competing at nationals,” Chmiel said, “especially Nick, Lily and Addie – they’re all players I’ve known for a long time and they’re such strong kids on our team and it’s just incredible to see them work so hard.”
For Cmiel, it seems like everything is back to normal.
Lily Dozier / Post-Bulletin
At 19 years old, this will be his final year competing at the youth level before the age limit. He has been a regular at nationals since 2019. His best results are 15th in lead climbing/top rope in 2023 and 15th in the bouldering competition in 2022.
Bouldering is a type of free climbing done on small rock formations or artificial rock walls without the use of ropes or harnesses.
This year’s national competition will be held at USA Climbing’s National Training Center in Salt Lake City, a facility Chmiel is familiar with.
In fact, he’s been spending a lot of time there over the past year. Chmiel recently finished his freshman year at Westminster College, a private university in Salt Lake City, where he did a lot of climbing. He’s currently ranked in the top 20 in the country in the sport in which he’ll be competing in his second Olympic Games. Chmiel did his best to make the U.S. team, competing in World Cup qualifiers last fall and making it to the semifinals in the roping event, and this spring he also competed in the Olympic team qualifiers.
“If I continue to climb competitively, I think I can definitely make the World Cup team in the future,” Chmiel said.
That’s why he’s been so valuable since returning to Roca this summer as both an athlete and a coach, and Chmiel has made a huge contribution to the development of his fellow climbers, along with Edwards and the others.
“They’re really inspiring and motivating for me,” Dewhirst said, “basically pushing me to be better and more consistent in my climbing. I also really enjoy hanging out with them and climbing with them.”
Dewhirst was content with just qualifying on the second day of the Division 6 Championships, but before he knew it, he was competing in his first national championships.
Lily Dozier / Post-Bulletin
“I was really surprised that I made it,” the 14-year-old said with a laugh. “It was a really fun day.”
Thome and Scheid also had work to do after the first day of the divisional game.
Thome qualified in eighth place and Scheidt in 11th place in their respective divisions, but both surpassed their efforts on Sunday, with Scheidt finishing fifth and Thomet finishing seventh, each earning a ticket to Utah.
“We were really impressed,” Chmiel said. “On Saturday, Lily, Addie and Nick all advanced to the next day, but if they had placed the same as they did on the first day, they wouldn’t have advanced. Then in the finals they all came together and performed really well, and we were just like, ‘What is going on?’ We knew they were all talented, so it was really exciting to watch. It’s really exciting to see all the hard work they’ve put in pay off and get to nationals like this.”
Chmiel took first place in Saturday’s qualifying round and finished third in his division. Edwards led Roca in second. Now they head to Utah looking to make the most of it, especially Chmiel.
“It’s really awesome to be able to cheer on Roca at this final national tournament and at least see my youth series come to an end,” Chmiel said.
Lily Dozier / Post-Bulletin
Lily Dozier / Post-Bulletin
Lily Dozier / Post-Bulletin
Lily Dozier / Post-Bulletin
Lily Dozier / Post-Bulletin
Lily Dozier / Post-Bulletin
