Meet Colorado Springs para-athlete figure skater
(COLORADO SPRINGS) — In the early hours of the morning, a glow of light comes from the Broadmoor World Arena Ice Hall. Inside, talented figure skaters glide across the ice and soar through the air.
One such figure skater, Dacia Loconte, has a whole day of learning ahead of her, heading next to Mesa Ridge High School for class.
“It’s actually been really fun, just watching her love the sport the way she does and work as hard as she does just to learn the skills and stuff like that, but more importantly for me is that she loves it,” said Beth Loconte, Dacia’s mother.
At three years old, Dacia knew she was destined to be laced up and in the rink.
“I saw it on TV and said, ‘that’s what I want to do’,” said Dacia.
With her mind set on skating, she first began skating at seven years old, and hasn’t stopped since. Her journey has not been as smooth as the ice she skates on, though. At thirteen years old, she was diagnosed with a traumatic brain injury that, according to her mother, came from birth.
“It’s in my cerebellum and basically it’s like on the really mild spectrum of traumatic brain injuries,” Dacia said. “It just means my coordination skills are a little like below average because I don’t sequence that well.”
Her condition would not stop her out on the ice. This determined seventeen-year-old would not stop chasing her passion for competitive figure skating.
“It’s really incredible because especially for her to try something like figure skating, which is like one of the most detailed balancing coordinated sports ever and you know jumping in the air and rotating, it’s like just what she’s been able to do is pretty outstanding,” said Ryan Jahnke, one of Dacia’s assistant coaches.
While practice makes perfect, it is not always easy when Dacia hits the ice. She dedicates herself not only to improving coordination but also to understanding feedback to improve.
“When I’m tired, it gets worse,” Dacia said. “So that’s something and then it affects auditory processing, so sometimes I’ll hear things, but it won’t process in my brain. So, I don’t realize what someone said or like I don’t like to retain that information.”
In April, she will head to London to compete in the Inclusive Skating World Championships, where she will have opportunity to meet individuals who are also competitive figure skaters.
“It’ll be my first time going internationally, at least to Europe or like to the east, so that’s super exciting,” Loconte said. “I’ll finally actually be going to meet the others who are part of this track in person, which is great.”
To help cheer Dacia on and support her efforts to go to Inclusive Worlds, a fundraising event will be held on Feb. 1 at Munchies719. Details on the event can be found here, and there is also a GoFundMe page to help her on her journey.
While Dacia is focusing on the upcoming competition, she is working alongside her mother to create awareness on the inclusive skating program in Europe.
“We’re trying to promote awareness that people who have physical disabilities have a place to not only skate, but also compete in figure skating,” Beth said. “Figure skating is not in the Paralympics yet and so part of what is happening with the program in Europe, the inclusive skating program, is that they’re putting together competitions so that eventually the competition to become part of the Paralympics.”
If you would like to stay up to date on Dacia’s mission to inspire other skaters with physical disabilities, you can follow her on her Instagram.
Deep in her heart lies the biggest motivator, the one that first caught her eyes at three years old.
“I just kept going. I guess I just learned because it was something I really wanted to do for a while. I really wanted to go to the Olympics and skate competitively, so I kept going.”
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