About Us

KIDS' QUESTIONS

May 2004

U.S. pairs skaters Rena Inoue and John Baldwin won their first pairs title this year, and they took a bit of time from their busy schedule to answer a few questions.

Q: I'm a pairs skater and love everything about it. But I'm scared of doing the throws. Do you have any advice on how to conquer my fears of throw doubles and triples? Shantel Brown, 14, California

I: My advice is if you are afraid of doing throw doubles then do a lot of throw singles. If your throw singles or doubles are good and strong, then you will feel or your body will know it's ready to do doubles or triples. If you don't feel comfortable with throw singles, don't rush into doing doubles because mentally you are not ready. It takes a lot of patience.

Q: When did you two start skating together? Who got you together? Rebecca Chen, 14, Houston, Texas; Laura Albrecht, 15, Coy; Garrett Kling, 13, Watertown, Minn.; Kelly Rogers, 13, Arvada, Colo.

I & B: In the summer of 2000 Sashi Kuchiki (a coach in Southern California) recommended that we try out. After that we didn't skate with anyone else. We knew this was it.

Q: How many days a week and hours a day do you train? Jackie Keresman, 13, Kirtland Hills, Ohio

I & B: Five to six days approximately 2 1/2 hours a day on the ice. We do have to drive an hour to Aliso Viejo twice a week and back to Santa Monica, so we are on the road quite a bit. Other days we train in Paramount at Iceland (the home of Zamboni). It takes about an hour round trip to get there so it's not so bad. Basically between the driving and skating we are busy from 8 a.m. to 4–5 p.m., Monday through Friday. It's all worth it when you can reflect back on a good day.

Rena Inoue and John Baldwin at the 2004 State Farm U.S. Figure Skating Championships Photo by Paul Harvath

Q: My partner and I are struggling with height on our throws. How do we get more height like you? Harrison Choate, 10, Weston

I: You have to let your partner know your comfortable timing the take off and have him follow your timing. This should give your throws more height. Try to treat them like your own jumps.
B: This has a lot to do with timing. The longer you skate with your partner the easier this will become. Patience is key. Don't just pitch the girl; try to use some finesse and learn her timing and follow it.

Q: What does it take to make it to the Olympics? Kalie Smith, 13, Sherwood

I: A lot of hard work and the big key is no matter what just stay together with your partner. More time skating with your partner will lead you to be a better pairs team.
B: Patience; especially in pairs. The top teams in the World are the ones that have been together the longest.

Q: What do you think is the most fun part of skating pairs? Victoria Muniz, 15, Vacaville, Calif.

I: You can be very creative on a lot of elements. You can make your own lifts or spins or anything. It's fun to use your imagination.
B: Overcoming elements that I originally thought I would not be able to do and watching Rena land throws perfectly.

Q: What is your relationship off the ice? Do you spend a lot of time together? Bethany DeGraff, 16, Wilkesboro, N.C.

I: We respect each other a lot on and off the ice. We do everything together, and I always enjoy everything we do together.
B: Rena and I have been dating since January 2001. We share a home in Santa Monica, Calif., and do almost everything together. We love eating out, camping, playing volleyball, riding Seadoos and relaxing together after a hard skating day. I have a lot of respect for Rena and support her in everything she does.

Q: On a scale of one to 10 (10 being the highest) how nervous do you get before skating at an international competition? Muffin Downing, 11, Sugar Land

I: A nine or 10. I always get very nervous and scared; it doesn't matter if it is an international competition or just a small local competition. Sometimes I even ask myself why I'm doing this. But I always tell myself it'll be just fine because we've done this so many times and my body knows what to do, so I let my body take care of it.
B: It depends on the competition, of course, but I usually get nervous when I know I have a good chance of winning or placing if I skate well. The best thing to think of is that you have nothing to lose. This way I don't think of the placement just the performance. If I think about placement then it would be a 10 on the scale, otherwise around two or three.