At The Nationals: Diary of a Sonoma ice skater

Posted on June 8, 2015 by Sonoma Valley Sun

Sonoma veternarian Vallard Forsythe shares the experience of competing in last month’s U.S. Figure Skating Adult Championships.

I was really nervous this year when I took the ice for my free skating program at US Adult Nationals in Salt Lake City in April. After all, a few short weeks earlier in Las Vegas, I had skated dismally at the qualifying sectional competition. I had been very sick with Mycoplasma pneumonia and spent the week following the competition in the hospital recovering. Although I was in much better shape in Salt Lake City, the memory of my poor finish in Las Vegas and the terrible score I got there still haunted me like the feeling you have when you lock yourself out of your car on a hot day and your dog is inside looking at you.

The division I compete in is called Gold Men. It includes the best male skaters from around the country from ages 21 to 60. The talent and ability of these 13 men who made it into the competition is pretty formidable: these guys can jump, spin and move around the ice in a pretty impressive way. Not only that, but some of them take it pretty seriously too, despite the fact that it is Adult competition, not Olympic eligible competition. It is supposed to be fun, and it is, it truly is.

But I guess I’ve been in a bit of a slump lately, with my confidence plummeting in the past few months. Erratic training and a so-so performance can erode the confidence of almost any skater, and I was really trying to rally back emotionally as I waited for my turn to go out and skate.

About three minutes before I was to take the ice, I quietly asked my coach “Choaleen, what does it take for me to simply nail the jump, to go up for the axel and turn around twice and have a nice, soft one foot landing. To just complete the jump without fear or hesitation”. I had done this jump in my younger days. I can do this jump from muscle memory. It is a treacherous maneuver, with a quick forward takeoff and turns in the air and a backwards landing on one foot. And most frustratingly, I had never landed one cleanly and perfectly in competition as an Adult. All my other jumps, just not that difficult one.

“Well, Vallard”, she said, very calmly, “you just know you have this one opportunity, and when its gone, you can’t get it back. You are out there for 3 minutes, you know its the second element in your program, after the camel spin. As you skate into it, you prepare for the jump, and simply go for it, knowing you have nothing to lose, its fun, and you can’t get it back if you don’t do it.”

I just looked at her. She was right. Silently, something clicked in me, and I had a feeling, a gut feeling, that my program would be more exciting and spontaneous for me that day than normal.

Taking the ice in my blue cat-suit, the strains of East of Eden began lilting through the arena. I could feel every strand of the music, and I smiled. The camel spin felt nice, and flowing, and I took my time coming out of it. I was in a state of suspended animation as I prepped for the next jump, named after Axel Paulsen, the famous Norwegian who invented it. He invented the jump 150 years ago, and it is every figure skaters nemesis. As I leaned back on a deeply bent knee and pressed forward into the jump, I felt weightless and spun up. Instantly, the jump was over, the spin in the air and a light sweet tap backwards on the sweet toe-pick spot of my blade. There was a roar from the audience, and a smile on my face as I realized I had landed the jump perfectly. In fact, nobody was prepared for me to even attempt the jump because I hadn’t bothered to try one during the 6 minute warm up.

After that jump, the rest of my program is a blur. My coach says the other jumps and spins were nice, I skated to every strain of the music, and it was a breakthrough performance. After I was done, bowed to the judges and waved to the audience. People thew “tosses” onto the ice, and thankfully there were little girls there called “sweepers” to collect the flowers and goodies. I promptly skated over to the boards and gave Choaleen the biggest hug I’ve ever given her and we went to the “kiss and cry” area to sit so I could receive my marks. Delightfully, after getting my points, I was sitting in third place overall. Normally at a competition, I take my skates and costume off soon after completing my program. But not this time. Since I posted a good score, my coach kept telling me “keep your skates on”, you’re gonna get a medal, Vallard. You’re gonna need to keep those skates on, I think you’ll be on the podium after that!.” By the time the last skater finished, I ended up in fourth place

To my shock and joy, I had made the podium, the winner of a Pewter Medal. This was a pleasant surprise considering the masterful field of guys I had in my midst and all the worries and stress I’d had to overcome to skate so well.

It was a wonderful experience this April in Salt Lake City for me. And I was able to overcome some demons from the competition in Vegas. I guess this means that the saying is true: what happens in Vegas really DOES stay in Vegas!! I’m finally proof of that!