A figure skater in your midst
By Faye
@FayeHazel (40243)
United States
March 7, 2019 10:16am CST
As I was reading some of the comments in my review of the figure skating movie "I, Tonya" - I was reminded that I, too, am a skater! And I thought I would tell you about my experience of skating.
In the early to mid 90s I was a huge fan of figure skating. Soaring jumps, beautiful costumes, dazzling spin sequences.... what wasn't to like? Oh, and of course, plenty of drama with the whole Nancy Kerrigan/Tonya Harding debacle.
Oh I was a huge fan, and while I was watching my favorites were Oksana Baiul, Katerina Witt, Elvis Stojko, Viktor Petrenko, Surya Bonaly, and much more recently - huge fan of Evgeni Plushenko.
So it seemed naturally that 1 - living in Minnesota, and 2 having such an interest in watching that sport, that I should want to try it.
And , like magic, when I was about 12- my aunt gifted me a pair of skates that she didn't want. We took the same shoe size. They were like new. I don't know if she ever wore them. I got a pair of "skate guards" that clip on over the blades. I think I spent more time walking around in my skates with the guards on, than I did actually skating.
Now there were a few caveats to me skating. One of which was that even though we live in the land of ice and snow - and there were plenty of small towns that kept a groomed area for skating, my parents and I lived in the country, and my parents simply didn't feel like driving for 20 minutes one way each time I wanted to go skate.
So the solution was that my dad would use the garden hose - and flood a portion of our yard.
So yes, I had my own private rink. lol.
I did have fun that winter, even though I did plenty of falling - and in spite of my dreams of flying through the air and landing jumps and spins... the most level of difficulty I achieved was a simple, and slow figure 8.
I'm sure there are pictures around of that, but I can't find them at the moment, so for now I will include a link to one of my favorite performances - Plushenko, where he got almost perfect score. In spite of being known for his famous quad-triple-triple jump combo … I think the foot work in this choreography is amazing.
"Tribute to Vaslav Nijinsky" He earned across the board perfect 6.0s for artistic impression !!! (He received a total of seventy five 6.0s, which is the worl...
14 people like this
14 responses
@Courtlynn (67083)
• United States
7 Mar 19
I liked skating every friday night back in middle school, but haven't done it since. Would probably fall now. Lol.
I went to a skating show, in elementary school, but dont remember who the guy and girl were. Just remember the girl got cut on her throat from his skates.
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@Courtlynn (67083)
• United States
9 Mar 19
@FayeHazel i remember freaking when i saw it. As i think i was only in 3rd grade.
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@FayeHazel (40243)
• United States
10 Mar 19
@Courtlynn Oh wow, that would be rather traumatic
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@FayeHazel (40243)
• United States
8 Mar 19
I feel you. SOmetimes I want to try it again and I'm like, no. The bruises wouldn't be worth it. lol.
Oh wow. That's too bad about the lady who actually got cut. Must have been scary.
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@TiarasOceanView (70022)
• United States
7 Mar 19
Did you used to skate or you still do Faye?
I absolutely love the figure skating.
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@TiarasOceanView (70022)
• United States
8 Mar 19
@FayeHazel Not anymore but I would like to
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@FayeHazel (40243)
• United States
8 Mar 19
@TiarasOceanView I hope you get a chance to
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@FayeHazel (40243)
• United States
8 Mar 19
Ah used to. I only ice skated a winter or 2. Then moved on to rollerblades , never too good there either.
Do you skate?
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@shaggin (72148)
• United States
7 Mar 19
Figure skating is so beautiful to watch. I was a fan of Oksana Baiul. I remember the whole Crazyness with Tonya Harding and Nancy Kerrigan. I was in 5th or 6th grade as the time and another girl in my class was the biggest fan of Nancy.
I loved reading your story here! I wanted to be in ballet about that age and for a few months my father drove me 35 minutes one way to go to dance class. That was after working near there then having to drive home pick me up and take me back up there then bring me home.
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@shaggin (72148)
• United States
8 Mar 19
@FayeHazel I was new to it and the other girls already knew everything so I stopped going as I wasn’t learning anything when they were working on their recital.
Soon after a school opened in town and the lady didn’t seem to teach us much and my friend had never been in ballet at all so she wasn’t happy and we wound up quitting. It was one of our first classes and she had already had us picking out what costumes to pay for to order for a recital at the end of the year. I felt very uncomfortable about that.
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@FayeHazel (40243)
• United States
8 Mar 19
Amazing sport - blends art with athlete. Oksana was so talented. I liked a lot of her style and music she chose. I wonder whatever happened to her.
Thanks for enjoying. :-) How did you end up liking the ballet class? That was really nice of your dad.
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@FayeHazel (40243)
• United States
10 Mar 19
@shaggin Oh I can see where that would be discouraging.
Also I wouldn't like the pressure of having to feel like I would be buying a costume if I were just trying to learn a bit.
Happy you got to try it anyway though
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@Hate2Iron (15727)
• Canada
7 Mar 19
We had lots of neighborhood rinks when I was growing up too... Loved skating, but it's been a long time since I stepped onto the ice!! ... I think I remember who Plushenko was... heading over to watch the video!! I'm back lol... He was who I thought he was... awesome blonde hair lol... I wonder what was going through his mind when he was skating that routine??
2 people like this
@FayeHazel (40243)
• United States
8 Mar 19
Skating sounds amazing. Are you going to try it again. I was thinking I might.... maybe... lol.
Oh yeah - isn't he awesome? I'm admitting I'm mesmerized by that routine. Wow! He paid attention to his arms, hands, and that footwork in there,
@DianneN (247186)
• United States
8 Mar 19
@FayeHazel He is technically and artistically gifted!
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@FayeHazel (40243)
• United States
8 Mar 19
Oh yes. I admit I'm a little obsessed with the performance. You can pause it at any point and he's in a photogenic pose. Love how he pays attention to his arms, hands, and the footwork is brilliant.
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@amitkokiladitya (171927)
• Agra, India
7 Mar 19
My son is a gold medalist in skating
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@FayeHazel (40243)
• United States
8 Mar 19
Oh awesome! Do you have a link to a video? I would love to see his performance
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@amitkokiladitya (171927)
• Agra, India
9 Mar 19
@FayeHazel no....I have it in my phone but not on YouTube
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@much2say (55686)
• Los Angeles, California
10 Mar 19
That is so awesome you had your own yard rink . . . I'm so envious as a lot of us CA skaters talk about having one but could never have one (too warm out here). Though I roller skated as a kid, I didn't start ice skating until I was an adult - I got to skate competitively but we had quite a few indoor rinks around (many have closed since the late 90s). I love all those skaters you mentioned - they are from "my time" when I skated. Plushenko was always fantastic - both artistically and technically!
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@FayeHazel (40243)
• United States
10 Mar 19
Aw thanks! I guess it is one bright part of growing up with these brutal winters. :-)
How did you find the transition from roller skates to ice skates?
It's awesome you got to compete. Did you have to make your own routines? Or work with a coach?
Plushenko always amazes me
@shaqziad1610 (506)
• Malaysia
18 Mar 19
That private rink? So cool. By the way I am from Malaysia. The only rink we have is in a shopping mall.
My favorite right now is Shoma Uno of Japan.
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@FayeHazel (40243)
• United States
18 Mar 19
It really was special.
Ah in Malaysia I imagine you don't get the harsh weather we have here?
I checked out Shoma - amazing, very artistic
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@xander6464 (44287)
• Wapello, Iowa
7 Mar 19
That private rink idea was brilliant. Much more convenient than any other rink. So you only tried it the one year?
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@xander6464 (44287)
• Wapello, Iowa
8 Mar 19
@FayeHazel No. I've tried roller skating and ice skating and never really liked either of them.
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@FayeHazel (40243)
• United States
10 Mar 19
@xander6464 Don't blame you. The falling part sucks
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@FayeHazel (40243)
• United States
8 Mar 19
I was trying to think on that. I think just the one year, or maybe 2 at most. I think I came to grips with the idea that I wasn't a real great skater, or got tired of falling down. A few years later I would go on to roller blade
Do you skate?
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@just4him (317090)
• Green Bay, Wisconsin
8 Mar 19
That started 3.5 minutes into his skate. However, he's a favorite of mine too. He's so graceful and makes skating look effortless.
I spent time on the ice too as much as possible growing up. I was a city girl and could walk to the ice rink where I usually spent an entire afternoon. I wasn't a great skater. I couldn't even do a figure 8, but I enjoyed the sport immensely.
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@just4him (317090)
• Green Bay, Wisconsin
8 Mar 19
@FayeHazel No, we won't. I can't jump right now if I wanted to. Though, I can do more than I did before I started losing weight. I'm sure when I get all this unsightly weight off, I'll be able to jump as I did as a kid. But I might not want to.
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@FayeHazel (40243)
• United States
8 Mar 19
@just4him Yay for being able to do more :-) That's a good reason to lose weight. I know I have gained myself... and I notice things. This body is not as flexible as it once was. It's also more painful. Is that because of the weight? I'm not sure.... maybe...
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@FayeHazel (40243)
• United States
8 Mar 19
Oh weird. I was watching it when I did the copy paste for the link. I didn't think it would start there though. Hm.
He's amazing. I really like his attention to hands and arms, along with the footwork in this routine.
I'm happy you had fun with skating, even though like both of us we won't be doing an jumps any time soon lol
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@JESSY3236 (19968)
• United States
8 Mar 19
I love figure skating. I did try it once, but the skates were on too tight, so I didn't really try it. I was too nervous I guess.
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@FayeHazel (40243)
• United States
8 Mar 19
Such an amazing sport, combines art with athlete. Sorry your experience skating wasn't too great.
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@JudyEv (340489)
• Rockingham, Australia
9 Mar 19
@FayeHazel I'm pretty impressed. Would he have kept the hose indoors perhaps? In a garage or shed?
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@FayeHazel (40243)
• United States
10 Mar 19
@JudyEv Ah hose was in the shed.... maybe he just paid attention to not having any water in it - letting it drain
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@FayeHazel (40243)
• United States
8 Mar 19
We were just so fortunate to have a level piece of ground that no-one needed to walk on to get to anything else.
What I was trying to remember (and don't) - is how dad managed to use the hose without it freezing up. It must have been right around freezing. I remember the "base" of the rink was snow, water saturates and melts the snow somewhat, and then refreezes. It was a little lumpy, but still fairly even, considering he did it with just a garden hose. :-)
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@FayeHazel (40243)
• United States
11 Mar 19
I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!
Skating is fun, but yes, lots of falling involved. lol
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@FayeHazel (40243)
• United States
8 Mar 19
Who are your favorite skaters? I don't blame you it's a lovely thing to see.
I will be inspired to sort through old photos now :-)
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@FayeHazel (40243)
• United States
10 Mar 19
@YrNemo Oh that's cool too. I know I really enjoyed the Italian pair skaters forgot their names though
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@YrNemo (20255)
•
9 Mar 19
@FayeHazel I don't know many unfortunately, but I watch all. Someone here recommended Yuna Kim & Michelle Kwan a while back, and I have been watching their performances (on youtube) since.
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