Nicole Clemens is a super-mom who has impressed the pants off the internet. The late-thirties mom of two is a high school English teacher and former gymnast. Gymnastics is back in Nicole's life now that her teen daughter is taking her own career to the next level. A total gymnastics mom, Nicole has taken up an adult class while also coaching a small competitive team. Nicole recently shared a video on Twitter of herself crushing stunts she was terrified to try as a teen.
Nicole's return to the sport after nearly 20 years away from it speaks to every mom. So many moms have left a hobby behind in their teenage years that they can't picture going back to. Seeing Nicole celebrate her accomplishments gives us all some hope. Her video is one of those wonderful reminders that it's never too late. What makes it even better is seeing Nicole celebrate what her body can do while acknowledging that she no longer has the body of a teenage gymnast. It reminds moms everywhere that your physical capabilities can blossom at any time in life.
This story first appeared on LittleThings in February 2020.
Nicole Clemens is a proud gymnastics mom. The 37-year-old mom of two was a gymnast in her own teen years. Now gymnastics has come back into her life as her teenage daughter pursues the sport more seriously in her high school years.
The high school English teacher talked to BuzzFeed News about her previous experience in the sport. "I was a pretty mediocre competitive gymnast from about ages 10-15," she said. "I loved the sport but I started training late by gymnastics standards and I’m not really built like a gymnast."
Aside from teaching and parenting, Nicole has become a gymnastics coach to help with the cost of her 14-year-old daughter's career. "I'm always in and out of the gym as a mom," Nicole noted. "Gymnastics is also such an expensive sport so I started coaching a bit at the gym to offset costs. I now coach a small competitive team."
She's also taken up an adult gymnastics class to get back into the fun of the sport. "I've stuck with it for over a year now because it's just fun. There's no pressure, no anxiety, just reliving the glory days I never really had and learning to fly," Nicole said of the class. "That's the best part. The simultaneous in-control and out-of-control moment where I get to show gravity who is the boss."
Nicole recently showed off her moves when she shared a video online in which she completes a technical stunt. The roundoff back layout is a move Nicole was afraid to try during her teenage gymnastics years. "It was one of the skills that kept me from moving up to the next level," she acknowledged.
"In the spirit of being freaking proud of myself and also knowing I'm about to be fat shamed on the Internet, I present to you me, a 38 year old mom and teacher, doing a thing I was afraid to do when I was a 14 year old gymnast," she tweeted. In the video, you see her land the move and make it look easy. "Next week: add a full (and straighten my legs)."
The video, which was captured by Nicole's daughter, has gotten over 4.5 million views. People everywhere are congratulating her on her awesome work. She was surprised at the attention the video got.
"Of all the random stuff I've tweeted over the years, this is not the thing I would have bet on," she told BuzzFeed. "But I think the world is a hard and scary place and people are afraid to be vulnerable by putting themselves out there like this. But when you do, people want to support you, because, really, I’ve already kind of roasted myself anyway, so what did I have to lose? They want to cheer for regular people."
"Total props to you!!!" one Twitter user replied to the video. "Going after our dreams and working hard for them is what counts, not what you wear, what size you wear or any other superficial thing. You are inspiring."
Another user referred to Nicole as "Simom Biles."
Nicole hopes people will be inspired to share more of the little things they conquer. "People do cool stuff all the time and don't even realize how cool it is," she pointed out. "We should share more of that stuff."
Olympic gymnast Nastia Liukin commented on the video as well. "I’m here for this," she tweeted.
The video is also reminiscent of Nastia's former teammate, Shawn Johnson. Shawn just shared her first time back in a gymnastics gym since giving birth to daughter Drew Hazel in October.
Nicole wants to keep working on improving her own skills, but not because of the online praise. "I'm just going to keep plugging along and talking myself out of being afraid of things I can do," she said. "My daily goal in class is just not to die."
"But I also want to add a twist to this skill, eventually put some of these skills on the hard floor instead of into the foam pit, and upgrade some bars and balance beams skills," she continued. "But just because I want to. No other reason. It's the only thing I do on my terms which is why I love it."
Because Nicole is also incredible outside of gymnastics, friends and fans who have learned about her from the video are appealing to Ellen DeGeneres to bring her on the show.
"Hey @TheEllenShow, you should check this out. This woman hosts dinners and game nights with students, works with them at coffee shops until midnight before finals, is always a call away, and still has the energy to be this talented. She means the world to so many of us!" tweeted one friend.
Nicole deserves all the praise the internet is giving her. Not only is she an awesome mom and teacher, but she's attempting to do what so many on the internet are unable to. She's just trying to bring some more positivity to the internet and to people's days. We can all use more of Nicole's energy on a day-to-day basis.
