Coco loco for track and field
Coco Van Nynatten was a competitive dancer for 10 years before the COVID-19 pandemic shut down the studio she attended.
The 14-year-old West Lincoln resident looked elsewhere for a sport to stay active and started training for basketball. Then the pandemic put an end to her hoop dreams and Van Nynatten cast her eyes towards track and field.
“I knew I liked it in Grade 6 when I did high jump and when I came here (Thorold Elite Track Club) they asked me if I would try throwing. I tried it and I really liked it.”
Thorold Elite coaches Steve Fife and Kelly Saldutto felt it was a no-brainer to point her towards throws.
“We knew right away that she really should be throwing. She had absolutely zero experience with it but she has the perfect build and she was willing to try anything which we knew we could work with,” Fife said.
Van Nynatten was more than game.
“I decided to try it because it was something new and I am always up for a challenge,” she said. “When I started, it was kind of hard because I didn’t know what I was doing at first but then I really started to enjoy it when I got to know somewhat what I was doing.”
The Grade 9 at Grimsby Secondary School likes being in a sport that is male-dominated.
“I want to show people that women can do it too.”
Her introduction to throwing was gradual. When she started, the club was still training primarily inside. She was introduced to shot put first, then discus and finally javelin when weather allowed the club to move outdoors.
“We had only gotten about two practices in for discus and javelin when the third lockdown happened so we gave her a shot and a discus and a javelin to borrow and for over a month, she was sending videos of her throws and we were analyzing them and communicating that way,” Fife said. “Van Nynatten did every independent workout that coaches sent out, including running to build up her general fitness. She is tough and one of the most dedicated athletes out there.”
The hard work paid off and when the lockdown was lifted and track meets resumed, Van Nynatten was ready to rock. At a June 6 meet in Pickering, she threw 10.16 metres in shot put and 28.17 metres in discus. Both throws would qualify her for the Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations meet as a Grade 9 athlete in any given year and her discus throw would have topped the 2019 South Region OFSAA qualifier.
It took her awhile to surpass her initial personal best in shot put but at the Thorold Elite Midsummer Tune-up meet on July 27, she threw five out of six personal best throws and record a new PB pf 10.99 metres. This past weekend, Van Nynatten blew away her old PB with a throw of 11.74 metres.
A number of the skills Van Nynatten had as a dancer proved beneficial in her new passion.
“When I am spinning in the circle for discus, I have to be on the ball of my toe so it helps a lot because in dancing we used to do that all the time.”
Sadly for the world of dance, Van Nynatten doesn’t expect to return to it when the pandemic is finally over.
“I really liked dancing but I love track now and I am going to stick with it.”
She has yet to set specific goals for track.
“For now, because I haven’t been doing it for very long — I have only been doing it for four months — I just want to get to know the sport more, experience it more and get in more competitions,” she said. “Then I will decide what I am doing.”
She knows it will be the small things that will help her make big gains.
“It is how I am placing my feet and how I am releasing it off my fingers. I just need to work on that kind of stuff.”
