Confessions of a New Competitor
by Debra Curtis
The pause is what always makes me kind of giddy.
"You're going to Salt Lake City for a skating competition?" a colleague recently asked when I told her I would be out of the office en route to an Olympic skating venue. "Who are you going to see?"
"No, no," I explain, "I'm the one competing."
Then there's the pause. The one that causes me to break into a wide grin.
"You? Really? Can you do a double Lindy flip?" (I am constantly amused by the name that non-enthusiasts give to the jumps!)
I politely explain that the Lindy is a dance and yes, I can do flips and Salchows and Lutzes, but that I don't do any doubles (unless we're talking about tequila).
"Who do you compete against?" (That's the polite way of asking if I get my butt kicked by 12 year olds.)
I explain to them about this wonderful thing I've discovered: the U.S. Figrue Skating adult track. You see, I'm new to competition, never having experienced this before as a kid. I explain how I have taken tests to rank and compete against women (25 and over) at my own level. And I explain how I'm living a double life.
By day, I'm a programming executive at Sony Pictures Television. I read scripts, look at budgets and work closely with the executive producers of primetime television shows.
But by night (and sometimes by very early morning), I'm a bronze level class I figure skater. I lace up my skates side by side with the 10-14 year olds hoping for their chance to be the next Amber Corwin to represent the All Year FSC at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships. I marvel at their prowess and amazing height on double Axels and triple Salchows. Aside from the question "Have you ever met Kelly Clarkson?" (sorry, no), my world of Sony TV is left off the ice.
So what drives a 34-year-old businesswoman living in Los Angeles to travel all the way to Salt Lake City for a competition?
Well, mostly because it's there.
And so it was that on Nov. 8, 2003, I joined dozens of my fellow competitors at the Utah Olympic Oval, which, along with the Timpanogos Figure Skating Club, hosted the Intermountain Adult Open in Salt Lake City, Utah. How exciting to be in the arena that housed the long track speed skating competitions for the 2002 Olympic Winter Games. The Utah Olympic Oval boasts the fastest ice on earth. It was there that eight out of 10 world records were set during those Olympic Games which have yet to be broken. Housed inside the oval are two international size ice sheets surrounded by a 400 meter speed skating track which is surrounded by a four-lane, 442-meter running track. One of the ice sheets is covered by a field on the weekends and used for soccer and arena football.
Attendance at the Intermountain Open included 37 entrants who came from across the United States including Alabama, Michigan, Illinois, Massachusetts, Wyoming, California, Colorado, Arizona, Texas, and of course, Utah. With 66 starts, the competition offered free skate, interpretive, dance, solo dance, moves in the field, compulsory and spin events. Katie Head, skating director at the Utah Olympic Oval, did a wonderful job organizing the practice ice time, the all-day event and the competitors party hosted at the oval on Saturday night following the competition.
How exciting to be in a sport usually perceived as one for young children and teens. For me, this is something new. Challenging. Invigorating. It is a constant learning experience. What dress to buy? What music to use? What are the judges looking for in an interpretive program? (O.K., to some questions, there are no defined answers!) And the only way to discover the answer is by doing.
And with each competition, it's just me and the ice. But then there are other questions; things I have discussed with my coach but, with the excitement and anxiety of competing, have escaped me. Do I sign up for practice ice? What kind of warmup do I do off ice? What about food? Will I have time to change dresses between the interpretive and the freestyle competitions? For all of these questions, sometimes the only answers are provided with experience.
When it comes down to the event itself, there's a different feel, a vibe, to these adult competitions. We are not sandwiched in between the pre-preliminary and the juvenile girls. This one is ours.
I stepped on to the ice for my five-minute warmup joined by my three fellow competitors in the free skate for ladies bronze - and then imagine my panic when I discovered that one of my competitors also planned on skating to Spanish guitar music and was wearing a dress dramatically similar to mine. Lori Fussell from Jackson Hole FSC had placed 11th at the 2003 U.S. Adult Championships. The panic sets in. And then comes the inner dialogue. "I'm here for me. I compete against myself. Simply skate the best program I can skate. Clean, strong, elegant, fluid. That's my goal."
And then I skate.
My home club, the All Year FSC in Culver City, Calif., is an extremely active club with a particularly large group of adult skaters. The club offers some wonderful and very well-attended competitions. But there is something special in the atmosphere in Salt Lake City. As with all adult competitions, there is the camaraderie, the support - the reason to go.
I returned home from Salt Lake City to many calls from friends and colleagues. "So, what happened?" they anxiously inquire.
Then there's the pause. The one that causes me to break into a wide grin.
'Lori and I tied for first."
