meet zachary
For those who have met Zach, trained with him, or just hung out on a day off from his demanding training schedule, they will all say the same thing; “what a nice guy”!
Zach Facts
Birthdate: July 5, 1995 / Age 28
Hometown: Chilliwack, British Columbia
Favourite Food: I don’t really have one, but I love SUSHI!
Music Preferences: I bounce between country and pop or hip hop sometimes classic rock.
When his preschool teacher noticed his ability to be flexible and do cartwheels, she recommended that his parents consider gymnastics as an outlet for 4-year-old Zach. Joe Clay, Zach’s dad, and Rachelle Clay, his mom, didn’t hesitate and enrolled him at Flip City Gymnastics in Langley, British Columbia. It didn’t take long before Zach was hooked and heading to his first competition. As Zach grew in the sport, with the encouragement of his coaches at Flip City, Zach made a big change and moved over to Twisters Gymnastics where he started his competitive journey with Nori Hori, and then advanced to Canadian Olympic Gymnasts, Richard Ikeda and Ken Ikeda, as his coach.
Flip City, Langley, BC – 2000 – 2003, Recreational Gymnastics with Coach Arlie Schmidt, was Zach’s first introduction to the sport. Within 3 months, the coaches were eager to get Zach moved over to the competitive side. His first pre-competitive coach was Paul Massie.
Twisters – 2003 – Located in Abbotsford British Columbia, Zach started his competitive career with Coach Nori Hori. Zach was immediately challenged as Coach Nori did not have a strong command of the English language. Being creative with their communication techniques, Zach would intuitively interpret what Coach Nori was trying to teach Zach. As he progressed, Zach then began working with Mitsugu Ikeda, Head coach of the MAG program. Within a couple of years, to Zach’s fortune, Canadian Olympian, Richard Ikeda had made the decision to retire from competitive gymnastics and began his coaching career at Twisters Gymnastics. As Zach advanced in skill, he transitioned over to Coach Richard Ikeda full time. Zach began developing a strong professional and personal relationship, based on trust, respect and dedication; the dream team was born! Fast forward to today, Zach and Richard, along with Olympian Ken Ikeda, (Richard’s brother) the trio spend 6 days a week together, coaching not just physically, but mentally as well, preparing for Zach’s ultimate competition Paris 2024 Olympics!
Team Canada National Team – Zach has had a very strong and dedicated relationship, proudly representing Canada as a member of Team Canada’s National Team. Along side his coach Richard Ikeda, Zachary has prepared for competitions around the world with esteemed national coaches, including but not limited to – John Sebastian, Ed Van Hoof, Coach, Mag Director, and Adrian Balan.
As quoted by GymCan.org Zach has competed in the following competitions as a member of the National Team.
- 2022 World Championships (Liverpool, GBR) 11th Pommel, 72nd Rings, 39th P. Bars, 132nd H. Bar, 119th A-Around, 10th Team
- 2022 Paris World Challenge Cup (Paris, FR) 28th Floor, 4th Pommel, 18th P. Bars, 34th H. Bar
- 2021 World Championships (Kitakyushu, JPN) 19th P. Horse, 44th P. Bars
- 2021 FIG World Challenge Cup (Koper, SLO) 4th P. Horse
- 2019 Pan Am Games (Lima, PER) 3rd Team, 6th P. Horse
- 2019 Elite Canada (Langley, BC) 3rd A-Around, 2nd P. Horse, 5th P. Bars, 6th Rings, 7th Floor
- 2019 Canadian Championships (Ottawa, ON) 4th A-Around, 1st P. Horse, 3rd P. Bars, 6th Rings
- 2019 UCIC (Calgary, AB) 7th A-Around, 4th P. Horse, 4th P. Bars, 5th H. Bar
- 2018 Toyota International (Toyota, JPN) 4th P. Horse, 6th Rings, 9th H. Bar, 12th P. Bars
- 2018 World Championships (Doha, Qatar) 18th Team, 48th H. Bar
- 2018 Sr Pan Am Championships (Lima, PER) 7th A-Around, 5th Team
- 2018 World Challenge Cup (Guimarães, POR) 5th P. Horse
- 2018 Canadian Championships (Waterloo, ON) 5th AA, 2nd P. Horse, 8th Rings, 8th H. Bar
- 2018 Commonwealth Games (Gold Coast, AUS) 2nd Team, 3rd P. Horse
- 2018 UCIC (Calgary, AB) 3rd AA, 1st P. Horse, 3rd Rings
- 2018 Elite Canada (Québec, QC) 5th AA, 8th P. Horse
- 2017 World Championships (Montreal, QC) 21st A-Around
- 2017 Pan American Championships (Lima, PER) 1st P. Horse, 6th Rings, 6th, P. Bars, 15th H. Bar, 16th Floor
- 2017 Canadian Championships (Montreal, QC) 1st A-Around, 2nd P. Horse, 2nd Rings, 1st Vault, 4th P. Bars, 3rd H. Bar
- 2015 World Championships (Glasgow, SCO) 15th Team
- 2015 Elite Canada (Trois-Rivières, QC) 1st P. Horse, 4th P. Bars
- 2014 World Championships (Nanning, CHN) 14th Team, 69th A-Around, 63rd P. Horse
- 2014 Commonwealth Games (Glasgow, SCO) 3rd Team, 8th P. Bars
- 2014 Canadian Championships (Ottawa, ON) 1st P. Horse, 2nd P. Bars
- 2014 Elite Canada (Gatineau, QC) 1st P. Bars
- 2011 Youth Commonwealth Games (Isle of Man, GBR) 2nd Team
Over his career impressively, Zach trains on, and is able to compete on all 6 apparatus; his favourite and most rewarding is the Pommel Horse. “Pommel is one of those events that you can try any skill with little to no risk of experiencing a major injury. Hitting your shin is part of the deal, and I have done that many times, but you just have to go for it”. Being the first ever Canadian male gymnast to bring home a GOLD on the Pommel Horse, at the Pan American Games in November 2023, has been part of the reward for all those shin hits!
High Bar – Being honest, I have a love hate relationship with the high bar; I wasn’t always that great at it, but it challenges me the most, its thrilling and although it can be dangerous, it is a lot of fun!
Parallel Bars – This apparatus is my second best event, next to Pommel Horse. It is fun to play around, learning new skills and combinations, not to mention, its a great workout for the pecks and triceps!
Floor – When I was younger, Floor was such a fun apparatus to train on, flipping into the pits and working on the trampoline was a rush. As I get older, as a senior member of the National Team, Floor is one of those apparatus that can take a toll on the body. Injuries include, in 2015 while competing in Switzerland, I snapped my right ACL and fractured my tibia, this was the BIG ONE, which took a year to recover! Most recently I fractured my ankle while training for the 2022 World Championships, where I still competed, just not on floor and vault due to the injury.
Vault – It wasn’t always this way, vault used to be my least favourite apparatus. It was over so fast – the least satisfying and limited with creative techniques and skills, with little diversity compared to the other apparatus – one and done or some would say run and done.
Rings – The rings are so physically demanding on my shoulders, that it earned the spot of my least favourite apparatus. The pain that comes with shoulder injuries from torn muscles, rotator cuff issues and extremely demanding on your strength threshold; the rings demand so much of my joints that it can ripple affect towards other apparatus. But with the support of a great physiotherapist, Dr. Amrit Kahlon at Apex Physiotherapy in Abbotsford, for the past couple of years, my shoulders have been feeling great and I have enjoyed strength training and developing a solid routine on the rings much more.
The snap heard around the world – or at least that is how it felt in the moment.
While competing in Switzerland on November 4th, 2015 at the Memorial Arturo Gander (aka The Arthur Gander Memorial) International Gymnastics competition, Zach will never forget the moment his life as a gymnast was changed forever.
While competing on the Floor exercise, his first event of the competition, attempting a Double Arabian Pike (E Value skill at the time), he remembers when he opened up for the landing, he opened up thinking the ground was going to be right there and it wasn’t, still reaching for the ground, he remembers landing with his legs straight and his right leg gave out, bending backwards, essentially like a rubber band, at which point it then snapped back forward, to what should have been it’s rightful place.
Immediately Zach knew he was in trouble; Zach had snapped his ACL, the ligament that helps to stabilize the knee. If that was not enough, he had also fractured his tibia. The force of his landing had been described to him, as relative to a car making direct impact with his leg.
A long painful journey back home to Canada was the beginning of a very precarious time for Zach, not knowing if he would ever do gymnastics again, let alone compete on an International level.
Prognosis for this injury was not great. First there was surgery which took place in January; the swelling was so intense, that surgery was not possible before it was reduced. No activity allowed at all; for a high level athlete, this can feel like torture – emotionally, mentally and physically. His surgeon gave him the go ahead to start walking based on his own comfort level.
After 3 months of intense, painful rehabilitation, Zach began to feel some of the strength return to his knee. With this strength, and being able to walk again, his confidence began to come back. Back in the gym, conditioning all the muscles in his body not impacted by the ACL moment, Zach started to see his future brighten.
Fast forward just over one year from the incident, with 100’s of hours in physiotherapy, Zach was ready to compete again. To Zach’s elation, his return to the competitive world happen to be in his favourite place to compete, The Toyota Cup in Japan, in December 2016. It wasn’t until National’s 2017 that Zach felt confident that he was back in the groove and where he needed to be to represent his gym, his team and his province.
Zach comes from a very tight knit family. His Mom Rachelle, Dad, Joe and brothers, Jeremy and Wesley have all supported Zach on his journey to achieve his ultimate goal, an Olympic performance.
Both Rachelle and Joe have been strong advocates for Zach during his career. Sitting on the Board of Directors for many years at Zach’s home gym, Twisters Gymnastics; sharing their stories with the media, or proudly bragging to those who care to learn more about Zach, his parents have been champions themselves, and stand high on the podium in Zach’s eyes.
Zach loves being an uncle to his niece Juniper and nephew Logan! Whether it is sharing some quality time watching their favourite cartoons, pretending to fly, or making silly faces to garner a giggle from the little ones, Zach’s relationship with them fills him with joy.
Over his career Zach has had the pleasure and fortune to work with some amazing gymnasts from around the world; but, if you ask Zach, his most influential mentors have been the entire Ikeda family. The dynamic trio of coaches Mits Ikeda, Canadian Olympians, Richard Ikeda and Ken Ikeda; all inductees of the Abbotsford Sports Hall of Fame, have all played a role in Zach’s success in gymnastics.
Richard Ikeda has been Zach’s primary coach for the majority of his competitive career. Early in his training, before Richard became his coach, Zach knew who Richard was, as he was well known on the National and International competitive rosters, and a bit of a legend, especially on pommel horse. Zach remembers seeing media images and promotional materials, and was motivated to achieve this level of mastery. On a personal level, Zach can rely on Richard to be there for him as a friend, offering guidance and advise both personally and professionally.
Zach has a very unique, multi-level relationship with Ken Ikeda. For years, Zach and Ken competed together and sometimes against each other, as they both held spots on the Provincial and National teams at the same time. Today, Ken Ikeda is a MAG coach at Twisters and is involved in the day to day training of Zach on all 6 apparatus.
His relationship with the Ikeda family stems beyond his coaches, Zach has developed strong bonds with Mitsugu (Mits) and Chiyoko, the monarchs of the family; as well as Richard and Ken’s kids, Ethan, Alec and Kohen who currently compete in the MAG program and Hannah who competes in the WAG program at Twisters.
Another positive influence on Zach over the years is former competitive gymnast, Jonathan Osers. As a member of the Men’s Provincial and National gymnastic teams over his career; throughout the years, Jonathan has helped Zach navigate the challenges that come with being a high level athlete. With unwavering support, a unique perspective on technique, and lots of amazing moral support, Jonathan has left a permanent footprint on Zach’s path throughout his career.
If you were to ask Zach, what is the most memorable moment in his career, he would not hesitate to say “it was this October at the 2023 World Championships in Antwerp, Belgium” where he was integral in helping Team Canada qualify for the 2024 Olympics, taking place in Paris France.
Zach has loved travelling all around the world over the years, but he really loved competing at the Toyota Cup in Japan. It was always a fun atmosphere and a great way to close out the competitive year every December.
Of course Zach can’t leave out his home turf, loving the opportunity to compete at the Twisters Invitational, held every year in Abbotsford, BC.
“First I have to qualify for the Olympic team”.
Although I was a part of the team that achieved the goal of qualification for Canada to send a team to the Olympics; in order to compete at the Olympics, we are all required to re-qualify to make the team to represent Canada. The end goal is to make sure that Canada is sending their strongest athletes at the time of the competition.
“I am not 100% sure if I will retire right away or stay in the competitive world. At minimum I would retire as an all around competitor and consider the option of staying in as a specialist on pommel horse, parallel bar and high bar”.
Photography by Betty Johnston
Get in Touch
For media content or to arrange an interview to learn more about Zach, get in touch today.
Zachary loves to share his story of resilience and growth, and he has some really cool medals he would be proud to show you!
Photograph by Betty Johnston