Ice skating has been something that I have enjoyed participating in and following for about 8 1/2 years now. I began skating at the age of 10 when I watched the 1994 Lillehammer Winter Olympics on television. Shortly thereafter, I had my first Pre-Alpha lesson over at a rink in the middle of Eastland Mall. My coach for that group lesson was Sonya, who remains my main coach still today.
I still skate semi-competitively. Basically, I realize that ice skating is not the most important thing in life, so competition results and all of that is not a big issue for me now. I never was one to thrive and skate the performance of a lifetime during competitions, which may be another reason of why I am not too eager to compete. Rather, I love to skate for the pure thrill of it-- though I admit that I do enjoy participating in relaxed competitions and absolutely love to skate in shows. Hopefully, I will someday be able to travel with an ice skating show and perform in that way, but that is something that is way too far in the future and not under my control.
So, the story of my skating career is, I guess, a unique one. While in Germany as an exchange student during my junior year of high school, I had the opportunity to skate at a rink in Dinslaken. There, I participated in their annual Christmas show throughout the entire month of December and learned a lot about synchronized skating while being a member of their synchro team. I am probably still known at that rink as the American kid who is the only higher level skater at that rink that skates like a lefty. Last year, I continued to try my hand at synchro skating with the teen intro team at the ice rink in Pineville, NC. I am now a member of the University of Delaware Colleagic Figure Skating Club (UDCFSC) and am preparing for our first competition in November. The UDCFSC is the reigning National Colleagic skating champions-- good job, guys!!!!
As you can tell, I could spend all day talking about ice skating. I feel blessed to have a sport that I enjoy doing and know a lot about. Below is a list of links to pictures that I have compiled of both some of the well-known skaters and of myself. Skating is an artform, but most defanately a sport by all means of the word. Skaters are tough kids, just ask any of us that voluntarily wake up at college at 6am on a Friday morning to get a couple of hours of hard-core work-outs in.
Well, that's enough about the background of my skating career. If you want to find out more about what I am currently doing with the sport, click on the link titled "Skating at UD" or follow the other links.
My figure skating pictures... watch for updates!
Skating at UD
The United States Figure Skating Association, the governing body of US skating
My ice skating photos
Pictures of ladies figure skating
Pictures of mens figure skating
Pictures of pairs figure skating
Carolinas Spotlight Competition in Pineville, NC
Carolinas Spotlight Competition (continued)
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