Youngster Ly Bui taking Florida by Storm

26 Feb Youngster Ly Bui taking Florida by Storm

Posted at 11:29h in 2025 NCAA Headquarters, News & Features by Nate Salsman 0 Comments

By Nate Salsman

Inside Gymnastics Intern

A Surprise Introduction

In the fall of 2024, Florida gymnast Ly Bui shocked the gymnastics world by joining the Gators early at just 16 years-old. Bui, who just turned 17 on Feb. 19, was originally set to graduate high school in the spring of 2025 and join the team in the fall, but due to her and her mother’s ability to plan ahead, an opportunity arose to join the team early.

“Back in eighth grade, I took high school math courses,” Bui said. “So, I’ve always been ahead in my credits as I took high school credit in middle school, so I was already ahead for graduating early. My mom had me taking college classes just to, like, potentially graduate early, because the plan was to have a semester of no school and just gymnastics, because I wasn’t originally gonna come here early. In October of last year, I got a call from Adrian [Burde] saying that there was a spot for me if I wanted to come early. And since I was already on the track of graduating early, I thought it would be a really good opportunity for me to get here early. And mentally, I think I was ready for the switch. So I accepted.”

Selena Harris-Miranda - University of Florida

A Natural Talent

Bui started gymnastics at just 18 months-old in mommy and me classes. As Bui continued through the sport, she found herself easing through levels and progressing quickly. In 2020, Bui moved to Blue Springs, MO to train at Great American Gymnastics Express, a club known for their ability to train high-level athletes such as Olympians Courtney McCool, Aleah Finnegan, and fellow Gator teammate Leanne Wong.

“I moved to GAGE after the quarantine period,” Bui said. “During that period, I was looking for new gyms, and I tried out there, and I liked it. We ended up moving in September. Before moving there, I was actually doing this HOPES program. When I got to GAGE, they had me try elite. So I went to a couple of qualifiers and I qualified elite in 2023 and then I made the junior national team that same year.”

Bui moved to the Senior level in 2024 and qualified for the Xfinity U.S. Gymnastics Championships. Bui brings a unique skill set to her gymnastics. She is able to display picture perfect form along with immense power. This combination is rare to find in a gymnast and helps to set Bui apart from the field. These qualities are something every college would desperately want in their lineups.

An Unusual Recruiting Process

A gymnast as strong as Bui would normally have her phone overflowing with messages and calls from top college programs and coaches. Instead, it was Bui dialing the phone.

“Kind of a funny story, but I was supposed to be a 2026 graduate,” Bui said. “Not a lot of college coaches or college programs knew that I was graduating in 2025 so I actually had to reach out to a lot of colleges and tell them that I was graduating in 2025 because not a lot of colleges knew that. So Florida replied, and I was like, well, Florida was one of my top schools. I’ve always wanted to be here. And so when they replied, I was so excited to have the conversation with them. They invited me on a visit, and I visited here, and I really liked it.”

Bui planned on taking time off school and focusing on gymnastics and the upcoming elite season. When Burde called, it forced her to make a quick and difficult decision.

“It wasn’t that easy for me,” [the decision to go to college early] Bui said. “In my head, I had the plan that I was going to continue elite gymnastics throughout this season and just have a whole semester where I didn’t have to do school and just focus on gymnastics. But, I’ve always been planning just in case I wanted to go early. That was also in the back of my head. I think just in that moment, the best option for me was to go early. I think I was ready for that.”

A Change of Scenery

Making the leap to college may come as intimidating to most 16 year-olds. Bui has quickly adjusted to her unexpected start in college.

“School-wise, it’s been pretty easy because I’m taking all online classes, and the format of those classes is the same as the college classes I took in high school,” Bui said. “My social life, it’s pretty good. I think all my teammates in the gym have been really helpful to me, and I’m getting along with all of them really well. They all give me support. I don’t really have a singular person I look up to. I look up to all of them. They’re all like my gym moms!”

Bui has had previous relationships with many of her gym moms from training with them at national team camps or at GAGE. This made the adjustment period even simpler.

Entering Florida as an elite gymnast gave Bui a large set of skills to construct her college routines with. In elite, Bui competed a double-twisting Yurchenko, but decided to learn a Yurchenko 1.5 for college.

“I think the vault actually came easy for me,” Bui said. “I think I took a day to learn it, and I learned it in November, so I only had, like, two months to train it. But it came really easy for me, because I think my twisting awareness is pretty good, so it wasn’t that hard of a switch. And since double fulls require more power, I think switching to a 1.5 was a lot easier. The skill is easier for me to do.”

Not only was achieving the skill easy for Bui, so is competing it. In her young career she has already achieved a 9.925 twice on vault, as well as a 9.900 on bars.

Enjoying the Moments

Bui is taking in each moment and enjoying the experiences unfolding before her. She enjoys the energy created by the arenas around the SEC, and one of her favorite parts of competing in college is the team atmosphere.

“I really like the team atmosphere,” Bui said. “I think there’s so much energy on the competition floor. “I feel a lot of support when I’m out there and I think it just pushes me to do my best.”

If it wasn’t already evident with the whirlwind of a year Bui has experienced, she’s taking everything one moment at a time, including potentially competing in elite gymnastics this year.

“I think I was gonna take it day by day,” Bui said. “I think I would be interested in it, but I think it’s better to just focus on what’s happening now and then I can think about it later in the year.”

Competing with joy and enjoying the sport is something she would go back to tell a young Ly.

“Remember to enjoy every moment and don’t forget to have fun,” Bui said. “Because if you forget to have fun, and you don’t have your passion for your sport, you can lose motivation.”

For now, Bui would like to stick her vault before the season ends, and do everything she can to help the Gators to a national title. Catch Bui and the rest of the Florida Gators at home this Friday against Missouri.

Photo credit: University of Florida

Look for Nate’s NCAA Notes each week and stay tuned to InsideGym.com and Inside Gymnastics magazine for spotlight features and interviews throughout the 2025 season!

Nate Salsman, Della Fowler, Megan Roth and Christy Sandmaier provide NCAA coverage for Inside Gymnastics.

Photos by Lloyd Smith for Inside Gymnastics magazine.