The Group Portrait: Gymnasts of Gowanus

Where talented girls train to become elite.

- Bindu Bansinath

ON A SIDE STREET in Gowanus, inside what was once an abandoned fish market, ten girls spend four hours six days a week practicing vault, bar, beams, and floorwork. They get breaks for snacks, homework, and bonding, then it's back-happily-to the grind. "What I love about gymnastics is you're basically doing what other people can't do," says 12-year-old Sylvia Bradford. "You're basically flying in the air."