Skating with the Stars

June 5th and 6th Lincoln Skaters headed to Omaha to participate the Clinic with the Stars with Ryan Bradley and Steven Cousins. Both male skaters had a list of accomplishments that seemed to go on forever. Steven Cousins was the first Briton to land a Triple Axel in competition. Ryan Bradley most recently was the 2009 National Pewter medallist.

We started out with a strenuous off ice warm-up. All skaters know they are supposed to warm-up off ice before attempting anything on ice. We just are so eager to get onto the ice that we often skip the off-ice warm-up. After lacing up our skates we began with edges and the proper preparation and technique. The adults liked this part the kids wanted to move on to the more exciting jumps, which came all too soon for some of us. We learned the correct preparation for the waltz and the axel. We also learned that the toe loop is one of the most complicated jumps of all the jumps. This came as a surprise to me.

After four or five hours our toes were frozen and our feet were aching. Still there was more to come. The next hour was spent on a group number. I must say this was fun until it was my turn to jump and spin. My wobbly legs just couldn’t jump or spin respectfully. I retired for the day. But the others made it to the end.

I wasn’t there for the second day, but reports were just as exciting. I saw most of the program and I must say we all got some good ideas for large numbers as in show finales.

This next week I will be out in Sun Valley skating with some stars. I can not wait to share this experience with you.