Up and coming figure skaters chat with the best performers in the nation
A group of local figure skaters got the chance of a lifetime Saturday, when they sat in on the warmup before the "Skate for the Heart" show at the Sears Centre in Hoffman Estates.
Nearly 60 skaters who train at rinks in Hoffman Estates, Rolling Meadows and Buffalo Grove qualified for the meet and greet session with some of the show's headliners.
Arriving 90 minutes before show time, they watched as the reigning world champion, Evan Lysacek of Naperville, completed the difficult triple axel-double toe-double loop combination, and Jeremy Abbott, the U.S. champion, warmed up with a triple salchow before hitting the triple lutz jump.
"Wow, that's one of the hardest ones," said Nicole Davies, 17, of Schaumburg, who skates before and after school every day at the Rolling Meadows Ice Arena.
They also saw three-time U.S. champion, Johnny Weir, go through some elements, as well as the current pairs champions, Keauna McLaughlin and Rockne Brubaker, an Algonquin native.
"I don't know if you know it, but I grew up just 10 or 15 minutes from here," Brubaker told them, "so it's cool to come back here and skate."
He described how as a youngster he trained at rinks in Crystal Lake, East Dundee and Bensenville, and that he first landed the difficult double axel at 13, while his young partner had nailed it at 11.
His audience was duly impressed.
The skaters also met with the current U.S. ladies champion, Alissa Czisny, who took their questions and went down the line giving autographs.
The recent Bowling Green State University graduate said she trains three hours a day and started skating when she was only 18 months old. Her advice to these up and coming skaters: "Have fun."
Many of the skaters on hand will try to qualify for the Upper Great Lakes Regional competition, hosted by the U.S. Figure Skating Association and opening Oct. 23 at the Hoffman Estates Ice Arena.
The competition is a qualifier for the U.S. National championships, and one that Midwest skaters must advance through in order to have any hope of making it to nationals and possibly landing a spot on the Olympic team.
These local skaters saw all of the Olympic contenders in the show, including Sasha Cohen, who just announced her return to competition. She performed her short program for the upcoming season, skated to "Espagna Cani" or "Spanish Gypsy Dance."
"It's just great to be able to see how different they are in shows rather than in competition," said Ashley Coyne, 15, of Palatine. "I'm hoping to take some of the way they approach their performance, and apply it to my own program."