University of Georgia Athletics
Quick Chat: Ana Da Silva
May 24, 2022 | Track & Field, The Frierson Files
By John Frierson
Staff Writer
Ana Da Silva is, in her words, "still doing baby steps" with the hammer throw. The Georgia track and field thrower from Ribeirao das Neves, Brazil, has competed in the shot put for many years, but she's still fairly new to the hammer.
At the SEC Outdoor Championships earlier this month, Da Silva won the shot put with a season-best throw of 60 feet 6.75 inches. Her best hammer performance came back in March when she won the Yellow Jacket Invite with a throw of 206 feet 5 inches.
This week, Da Silva and more than 20 of her Bulldog teammates are in Bloomington, Ind., for the NCAA East Prelims. Da Silva will compete in the hammer throw on Thursday and later in the shot put, where she is one of the top seeds in the regional.
During a recent Quick Chat, Da Silva talked about throwing, cooking, and much more. Here's some of what she had to say:
Frierson: When you do different throwing events, what is a typical practice like?
Da Silva: It's kind of different. Doing the shot is kind of my main thing and hammer, Coach (Don Babbitt) used to say it's like my warmup for the shot put. But I take both seriously.
I'm still doing baby steps with hammer because I started doing hammer when I got here, so it's been like two years, only, but I've been doing shot since I was 16 or 17, so I have a long time with that.
We have weight room three times a week and I used to throw shot three times a week, too, but hammer is kind of different because sometimes if I'm too tired, Coach just gives me a day off. But usually hammer is every day.
Frierson: To me, the hammer can look really scary and dangerous, so how long did it take for you to feel comfortable and confident doing the hammer throw?
Da Silva: I would say that I still don't feel comfortable with the hammer. It's such a new thing that I have a different feeling, body-wise, but also, I really enjoy doing hammer because I realize I can be someone different. Everything that I've done, I was just trying to muscle things, but hammer has taught me that if I try to muscle it, it's not going to go anywhere. It gave me the opportunity to realize that I could throw far and stay loose.
Frierson: When you think of home, what comes to mind?
Da Silva: I would say my mom and my sister. I feel like they are the most important people that I have in my life right now, so even though I am far away from home, mom, she'll always be there to help me and to make me feel capable of things that I know I can do.
She doesn't know too much about track but if I told her, "Hey, mom, I threw 14 meters today," she would be like, "Oh, awesome!" I know that she will be there always to support me. When people ask me about my home, I would say my mom and my sister are the first things that come into my mind, but I also would say that home is also my friends and all of the people that I love back home.
I'm here but I also know that when I go back home I will have all of them there.
Frierson: Do you enjoy cooking?
Da Silva: Yes, I'm a really good cook. I miss my mom and I miss her food, but I really enjoy my time cooking and I like to cook deserves. Coach Babbitt loves coxinha (Brazilian chicken croquettes), so I've done some coxinha for him and he was so happy.
I don't really know how to explain it but coxinha is like, do you know empanadas? I would say it's like those but stuffed with chicken and some tomato sauce. We use a different type of flour. Coxinha means small legs in Portuguese, so that's why it would be made with chicken.
(This Q&A was lightly edited for length and clarity.)
Staff Writer
Ana Da Silva is, in her words, "still doing baby steps" with the hammer throw. The Georgia track and field thrower from Ribeirao das Neves, Brazil, has competed in the shot put for many years, but she's still fairly new to the hammer.
At the SEC Outdoor Championships earlier this month, Da Silva won the shot put with a season-best throw of 60 feet 6.75 inches. Her best hammer performance came back in March when she won the Yellow Jacket Invite with a throw of 206 feet 5 inches.
This week, Da Silva and more than 20 of her Bulldog teammates are in Bloomington, Ind., for the NCAA East Prelims. Da Silva will compete in the hammer throw on Thursday and later in the shot put, where she is one of the top seeds in the regional.
During a recent Quick Chat, Da Silva talked about throwing, cooking, and much more. Here's some of what she had to say:
Frierson: When you do different throwing events, what is a typical practice like?
Da Silva: It's kind of different. Doing the shot is kind of my main thing and hammer, Coach (Don Babbitt) used to say it's like my warmup for the shot put. But I take both seriously.
I'm still doing baby steps with hammer because I started doing hammer when I got here, so it's been like two years, only, but I've been doing shot since I was 16 or 17, so I have a long time with that.
We have weight room three times a week and I used to throw shot three times a week, too, but hammer is kind of different because sometimes if I'm too tired, Coach just gives me a day off. But usually hammer is every day.
Frierson: To me, the hammer can look really scary and dangerous, so how long did it take for you to feel comfortable and confident doing the hammer throw?
Da Silva: I would say that I still don't feel comfortable with the hammer. It's such a new thing that I have a different feeling, body-wise, but also, I really enjoy doing hammer because I realize I can be someone different. Everything that I've done, I was just trying to muscle things, but hammer has taught me that if I try to muscle it, it's not going to go anywhere. It gave me the opportunity to realize that I could throw far and stay loose.
Frierson: When you think of home, what comes to mind?
Da Silva: I would say my mom and my sister. I feel like they are the most important people that I have in my life right now, so even though I am far away from home, mom, she'll always be there to help me and to make me feel capable of things that I know I can do.
She doesn't know too much about track but if I told her, "Hey, mom, I threw 14 meters today," she would be like, "Oh, awesome!" I know that she will be there always to support me. When people ask me about my home, I would say my mom and my sister are the first things that come into my mind, but I also would say that home is also my friends and all of the people that I love back home.
I'm here but I also know that when I go back home I will have all of them there.
Frierson: Do you enjoy cooking?
Da Silva: Yes, I'm a really good cook. I miss my mom and I miss her food, but I really enjoy my time cooking and I like to cook deserves. Coach Babbitt loves coxinha (Brazilian chicken croquettes), so I've done some coxinha for him and he was so happy.
I don't really know how to explain it but coxinha is like, do you know empanadas? I would say it's like those but stuffed with chicken and some tomato sauce. We use a different type of flour. Coxinha means small legs in Portuguese, so that's why it would be made with chicken.
(This Q&A was lightly edited for length and clarity.)
Assistant Sports Communications Director John Frierson is the staff writer for the UGA Athletic Association and curator of the ITA Men's Tennis Hall of Fame. You can find his work at: Frierson Files. He's also on Twitter: @FriersonFiles and @ITAHallofFame.
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