Coach of Iowa's Olympic favorite: Help save Shawn Johnson's gym
6/13/2008

NANCY STOCKDALE • REGISTER STAFF WRITER • June 12, 2008

Liang Chow, coach for world champion gymnast Shawn Johnson, put out a call for immediate help tonight to save his gym from the overflowing Raccoon River in West Des Moines.

“We need plastic, duct tape, sandbags and manpower,” Chow pleaded. “The building in front of us is getting water in the parking lot and it is threatening our gym.”

Chow’s Dance and Gymnastics Institute is at 2210 Park Drive, in an industrial park south of Grand Avenue and a short distance from Raccoon River Park.

If the gym floods and becomes unusable, it would impact Chow’s gymnasts of all ages, but especially Johnson, who will compete next week in Philadelphia in the U.S. Olympic Trials. Any disruption to her rigorous training schedule could be a big challenge.

“Any change would be a whole new environment,” Chow said. “I hope we can somehow keep her in her home gym.”