Cleary: Coaching change pays off for teen gymnast,
Coaching change at age 10 a pivotal point for Ottawa athlete
At the age of 10, when sports should be fun and worry-free, artistic gymnast Sam Zakutney felt as if he was training in a pressure cooker.
His former coach at the National Capital Boys’ Gymnastics Academy appeared to be coaching the highly skilled Zakutney more than other boys in his group.
Over time, that imbalance took its toll on the young athlete, who was quickly developing his strength, flexibility and balance for six technical routines.
“It was pretty intense. I felt really odd,” Zakutney, now 14, says about the pivotal point in his career, which sparked a new beginning and led to three successive Canadian age-group championships and an opportunity for international experience.
“That coach was supposed to coach more boys than just me. We noticed he was only coaching me and not the others. He pushed me so hard. I had a big meeting with my parents and the head of the boys’ program. I told them how I felt. I felt uncomfortable.”
The matter was resolved, and Zakutney continued to pursue artistic gymnastics, which he found was a perfect complement to his preteen shyness. The academy, located inside the Nepean-Corona School of Gymnastics, hired new coach Sasha Zavadych, a former national junior coach in Ukraine.
The coaching change has been an uplifting experience for Zakutney, who has been the Canadian boys’ tyro champion for the past two years after winning a national argo title in 2011. Gymnastics Canada also named him to a national team in 2012 for a joint training session with Germany and Belgium; he finished 15th overall in a meet, and he tied third place in floor, parallel bars and high bar.
“With Sasha, I’m doing really great,” says Zakutney, and A-student who will enter Grade 10 at Franco-Cité in September. “I’m a lot more comfortable. He gives good advice and is a good example on how to do stuff in training. He is a good mentor.”
Zakutney has occasionally surprised himself with his results. His first Canadian championships, at Kamloops, B.C., in 2010, was a good example.
After placing fourth in the argo class of the Eastern Canadian championships, he figured
‘It was in my hometown in front of all my friends and family, but the finals were stressful with everyone screaming. I found it hard to concentrate.’ SAMUEL ZAKUTNEY Gymnastics champion
he might be somewhere in the middle of the top 10 at nationals because of the added pressure and the talented competitors from Western Canada. However, his talent, preparation and ability to stay within his limits earned him a surprise bronze medal.
In 2011 at Charlottetown, he met expectations by becoming argo national champion.
“I wanted to do better,” he says Zakutney, who practises four hours a day six days a week. “I did the same routines (as the previous year), but my experience with them was higher. I expected higher than third.”
Moving up to the tyro level a year later for nationals at Regina, he was a 13-year-old competing against gymnasts who were up to two years older and had more difficult programs.
He wasn’t thinking about winning a second Canadian title in as many years.
“Absolutely not,” he asserts. “I couldn’t have been more surprised. It was my first year, and everyone had done two years in this level.”
Still, he had a counter for their experience and more difficult programs: consistency. He won the national title over two days by a combined one point.
“They had more difficulty, but my technique was so much better that I was able to pull it off,” he explains. “You can have the big guns, but if you don’t know how to use them, they don’t work.”
Zakutney didn’t have to travel for this year’s Canadian championships, held at Carleton University, but that proximity to home created its own issues, especially as the defending tyro champion.
“I wasn’t surprised I won this year because I had the same pressure in P.E.I.,” he says. “It was in my hometown in front of all my friends and family, but the finals were stressful with everyone screaming. I found it hard to concentrate.”
In the opening preliminary round, Zakutney scored 85.050 points, giving him a considerable 2.6-point lead. He finished third in the second and final round, but his combined points gave him a 0.600-point victory.
Besides concentration and high-level coaching, Zakutney also praises a physiotherapist at Advanced Physiotherapy for helping him compete at nationals, given that he had strained a bicep muscle while training four weeks before the championship.
Next year, Zakutney will move into the national junior class, and he hopes to qualify for the Olympic Youth Summer Games at Nanjing,
China, in August.
Winners’ circle: Nepean Skating Club’s Alaine Chartrand of Prescott has been named to the national team in women’s singles by Skate Canada. … ISU judge Karen Butcher of Greely has been elected as technical director to the Skate Canada board of directors. … Jonah Shaffer of Ottawa won the boys’ junior slalom title at the U.S. Masters water skiing championships. … Debra Armstrong of Russell is the new president of Volleyball Canada. … Ottawa-born Zach Bell of North Vancouver captured his first Canadian men’s road racing cycling championship at StGeorges, Que.