North Battleford athlete named finalist RBC Training Ground finalist

Those being bobsleigh and skeleton.

“I always thought it was kind of cool and that was something I could potentially do in the future. So I was excited to try something new other than track,” Van Nortwick said, when asked about her interest in bobsleigh.

She added that she had recently travelled to Calgary to learn the basics of bobsleigh and skeleton.

“It’s a whole new set of techniques. I use my track skills, but you learn new things on the ice and how you push the sled. We haven’t gone on to the actual curve yet, but just pushing the sled, you learn a lot of new techniques.”

Although she has only trained on a straight track, Bobsleigh Canada vice-president Jesse Lumsden sees considerable potential in Van Nortwick.

“During the sport-specific testing we did with Keira, she pushed 5.78 on ice, a great result that clears our top crew tier,” Lumsden explained. “She has big upside with lots of room to grow into the program.”

Van Nortwick will head to Toronto on Oct. 3 with 99 other athletes for the RBC Training Ground national final. Thirty-five athletes will receive funding, a place in a national development program and an accelerated path to the Olympics.

The national final will include fitness testing for speed, power and endurance. Athletes will also have measurements taken, including height and wingspan, and undergo sport-specific testing.

In November, she will travel to Whistler to try skeleton on the track.

“There are different portions of the track where you can start, so we’ll start from the lowest level of the track. Then we’ll basically work our way up through the week and through the months,” she said.

“There are more camps that you’ll go to, and then you’ll progress until you get to the top.”

As Van Nortwick begins focusing on bobsleigh and skeleton, she will also compete in track and field with the University of Saskatchewan.

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ryan.lambert@pattisonmedia.com

by Ryan Lambert

North Battleford athlete named finalist RBC Training Ground finalist

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