Interview With Larry Holliday

Chicago's Larry Holliday has been a fixture in competitive skating in the U.S. since his first trip to the U.S. Championships in 1982, where he finished fifth in the novice men's event behind a twelve year old Rudy Galindo. Since then, he's competed professionally and at eleven U.S. Adult Championships, maintaining a high standard and actually becoming a BETTER skater as he got older. It was a treat to have chance to speak with him about his experiences in "amateur", professional and adult competitions, talk a little about his fascinating journey and his favourite skaters and even glean some wonderful advice for adult skaters. You're going to love this interview!:

Q: You first competed at the U.S. Championships back in 1982 and continued competing nationally until 1994 despite really facing some serious challenges in terms of being able to fund your training expenses. Looking back now, what are your most special memories from that chapter in life and moments were the most truly difficult?

A: Special memories from my standard track competitive days are many but I would have to say meeting all of the skaters throughout the nation on my various travels would be high on the list. Taking a solo road trip to Lake Arrowhead, California from Chicago back in June 1987 was also a highlight and working with Robin Cousins that summer was very special. And of course, making the U.S. national team in 1990 and competing at skate Canada. I never put much thought into any of the hardships because I enjoyed the sport so much. I did have many bouts with tendinitis that took me off the ice from time to time, so I guess that would have been my biggest hardship during my earlier years.

Q: You participated in the U.S. Open Challenge Cup back in 1997 and then returned in May for its revival in Minnesota - giving a wonderful performance I might add! What did you think of the new format and why is an event like this (in contrast with adult competitions) something skating needs right now?

A: The new format for the U.S. Open is great and I will use it to perform programs that are daring and out of my comfort zone. The sport needs this format because with it, a skater can be vastly creative. Creativity is what the sport is all about and even though you can be creative at the Adult Championships and standard track events, those events are still limited to very strict rules in order to win.

Q: You actually retained your eligibility to start competing at the U.S. Adult Championships back in 2002 and won an incredible six gold medals at that event over a ten year span. In doing so, you really upped the ante technically and helped set a high standard for your competitors to meet by adding triple jumps to your programs. Why did you decide to come back to competitive skating and what has kept you pushing yourself all of these years?

A: I came back to competitive skating because my students at the time pushed me into it! They kept begging me to skate and show them jumps so I got back into shape. I continue on simply for the fact that my body can still do it and I don't want to have any regrets knowing that I could have done more. I also really love the challenge of seeing if I can do it again. Can I land that triple again? Can I win another event again? Can I stand on that podium again? I always believe I can do it. There is also a great variety of music that I have yet to interpret and so I relish the though of doing more programs until I have interpreted every piece of music in existence! I'm tired of thinking about that one!

Q: Do you feel that racism is something you have ever encountered personally as a skater?

A: Racism in skating has never existed for me. Publicly or privately, I never encountered it. Maybe it was behind the scenes but it never stared me in the face. As a kid growing up in Chicago, I went to William B. Ogden School close to downtown Chicago and diversity was great; same with the rinks in the area. I always felt like a part of the skating family all over the country.

Q: When you competed at the 1990 U.S. Championships in Salt Lake City, that was the last year that school figures were on the docket as part of the 'main event'. You've always been known as a very strong free skater and I'm curious to hear what YOUR thoughts were when they were removed from general competition and on their resurgence in popularity today with the World Figure Championships set to take place in August? 

A: I was very different from a lot of skaters when it came to figures. I LOVED THEM! I could trace for hours... and I did! I think I was the third to last to skate the figures in Salt Lake in 1990. Paul Wylie was last, but as I left the ice that day, I remember distinctly being sad about it all but also not really caring if we had them or not in competition. I always thought they were a great training tool - probably the best training tool available - but I never thought they should be combined with the free skate. I heard about the World event and was thinking about doing it. I think it's great! Another event for skaters to perform.

Q: In life and skating, who has been your biggest role model?

A: My mother would be my biggest role model. She sacrificed everything so that I could skate! End of story.

Q: Who are your three favourite skaters of all time and why?

A: Three favourite skaters of all time... Charlie Tickner would be one. I grew up watching that guy and I wanted to skate like him so badly! He was always on and always a great statesman for the sport. Michelle Kwan, simply for the fact of being major consistent. Not an easy task at that level of skating. She also took the time back in 1997 to work with a student of mine and was so generous with her time. Peggy Fleming, because of the simplicity and style in which she performed. Of course, there are many  others, but you asked for three.

Q: What is one thing most people don't know about you?

A: Most people don't know that if I wasn't a skater, I would have loved to be an astronaut or an astronomer.

Q: If you could give one piece of advice to someone thinking about lacing back up as an adult and getting back into competitive skating, what would it be?   

A: A piece of advice if you are lacing up the skates to get back into competition as an adult... What are you waiting for? It's the best thing since apple pie! Also, go slowly, don't rush into anything, easy on the stretching as well. If something hurts - even a little bit - don't push through. Heal and recover. We may be adults but we still have time.

Skate Guard is a blog dedicated to preserving the rich, colourful and fascinating history of figure skating. Over ten years, the blog has featured over a thousand free articles covering all aspects of the sport's history, as well as four compelling in-depth features. To read the latest articles, follow the blog on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and YouTube. If you enjoy Skate Guard, please show your support for this archive by ordering a copy of the figure skating reference books "The Almanac of Canadian Figure Skating", "Technical Merit: A History of Figure Skating Jumps" and "A Bibliography of Figure Skating": https://skateguard1.blogspot.com/p/buy-book.html.

Skating In Sonja's Shadow: The Erna Andersen Story

photos from New York Public Library collections

Three time Olympic Gold Medallist Sonja Henie's story is one of the most documented in all of figure skating history; it has been the subject of documentaries, books and endless fascination. However the tale of Erna Andersen, a fellow Norwegian skater from Sonja's era followed the same trajectory so closely that the parallels are almost eerie.

Born in 1915 (three years after Sonja), Erna Andersen was an architect's daughter who learned to skate at the age of five. She trained alongside Sonja Henie at the Oslo Skating Club. She won her first junior competition at the age of twelve. In addition to her skill as skater, she was also an accomplished skier. The September 3, 1939 issue of The Brooklyn Daily Eagle recalled that Andersen "was a sturdily-built little girl with unusually supple and graceful muscles and she learned fast. By the time she was 15 she was winning figure skating and skiing contests all over Norway and three years later she was the first and (to this time) only girl, who ever skied behind a flying airplane. She did this on Lake Landesen by holding on to a rope tied to a plane while it circled the lake four times. 'The airrrrplane,' says Erna, 'got so high vunce it almost took me up into the air also.' It's a good stunt to think about, she adds, but she's not particularly anxious to try it again."

Far left - Erna Andersen, far right - Sonja Henie

As amateur skaters, Henie and Andersen would share the same coach (1920 Olympic Bronze Medallist Martin Stixrud) but Andersen was unable to duplicate her club mate's success. After winning five Norwegian titles from 1925 to 1929, Henie focused her attention on the international outings only and left the battle up to the other Norwegian ladies skaters at the National Championships. For five consecutive years, Andersen won the silver medal at Nationals but unlike Susan Lucci years later at the Emmy's just couldn't translate it all into an eventual win. Although never competing at the European Championships, Andersen DID compete at two World Championships. In 1933 in Stockholm, she finished a distant last to Henie's first but the next year in front of a hometown crowd in Oslo finished tenth of thirteen skaters. Like her competitor Liselotte Landbeck of Austria, Andersen also tried her hand at speed skating while still competing as a figure skater, winning a silver medal in Oslo in 1932 in Norway's national speed skating championships for women. She competed in five hundred, one thousand and one thousand, five hundred meter races to accomplish this feat. 

When her competitive career ended, Andersen attended college and started making a name for herself in professional shows in Great Britain. While in England, Andersen also coached skating at the Empire Pool (Wembley Arena) in London. Her performances in England were described by a London correspondent in the March 5, 1936 Sydney Morning Herald: "She is a marvel of lightness and grace, and seems at times not to be on ice, but on air, and the rhythmic rapidity of her movements is incredible." Like Henie, who too skated on the silver screen, Andersen appeared in a skating film in England. The March 30, 1940 edition of The Ottawa Journal posits "six years ago, when skating was at the height of its popularity in Britain, Miss Andersen appeared in the first British skating film." 

In 1938, she came to the New York and quickly made a splash. She was touted by newspapers and journals alike as being every bit as exciting as Henie. The Brooklyn Daily Eagle explained that "she came over on a visit and had no idea she'd be doing any ice skating here. But she couldn't keep away from the ice. It wasn't four days after landing that she sought out the rink at Madison Square Garden to try a few spins. Robert J. Sipchen, builder and owner of Sun Valley Village, at the Garden at the time, saw her executing difficult turns and pivots. Then and there, he signed her for his Sun Valley show. Erna recently introduced a new number, her own interpretation of the Merry Widow Waltz on skates. Crown Prince Olav of Norway came to Sun Valley to see Erna when he visited the fair." 

Audiences loved her in the Sun Valley exhibit at the New York World's Fair. A June 16, 1939 Alice Hughes article in The Reading Eagle noted that "while the great Henie practiced all day, the little Andersen went to school. 'Mamma thought skating was something for out of school hours,' the girl says. Thus Sonja got the hop on her, and was a champ while Erna was still hard at her practice. But Erna has caught up... She is a blonde flash of beauty on the tiny rink at the Sun Valley show. How she can skate - on a hunk of ice that looks no bigger than a party tablecloth!... A lovely flame in poetry when Erna darts on the rink."

Andersen wasn't just popular, she was also apparently really, really good. A December 1940 LIFE Magazine article applauded Andersen's skating skill: "Erna Andersen's high jinks on ice are notable because they combine grace with speed. Most skating stars are either fast or graceful. Erna uses interpretive ballet technique with skating speed, easily performs leaps." She popped up in a variety of club carnivals in both the U.S. and Canada including the Minto Follies in Ottawa, a County Fair in Pennsylvania and was even the head of a Civic Night Parade. She was also particularly complimentary towards North American skaters stating that "the standard of skating on this continent is higher than in any other country in the world." 

So we already know they were both blonde Norwegian skaters who grew up with the same coach in the same club, competed against each other, both appeared in skating movies and both came to the U.S. and became overnight sensations. Now, get this one. Paula Pyzik's 2004 "Notable Sports Figures" biography of Sonja Henie noted that "another measure of her worth is that in 1940 her legs were insured by Lloyds of London for $5,000 per week." If you want to believe the the Sunday, February 11, 1940 issue of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle's claim that Erna Andersen's legs too "were once insured for fifty thousand dollars", go ahead. I'm not sure how I feel about that particular claim. Genuine maybe, but one-up-manship perhaps? That said, Andersen's legs WERE apparently award winning. The Brooklyn Daily Eagle explained that Andersen was "selected by a committee of famous illustrators as the possessor of the 'Legs of Tomorrow.'" The committee apparently consisted of James Montgomery Flagg, Dean Cornwell, John LaGatta and Arthur William Brown. Andersen's legs were described by Flagg as "the most beautiful legs I've ever seen. Better even than Marlene Dietrich." Andersen WAS featured prominently fashion advertisements for Munsingwear Foundettes undergarments. Perhaps it's possible that someone just had a bit of crush. Who knows?

That's where Erna Andersen's story seems to fade away into the annals of figure skating history. What happened to her after coming to America and wowing audiences as the next great Sonja Henie isn't something I have the answer to... but I do know that the parallels between her and Sonja Henie's lives up until that point are uncanny. Described in many accounts as having a larger than life personality much like Sonja, one can only hazard a guess that whatever road she skated in life she continued to make every bit as grand an impression.

Skate Guard is a blog dedicated to preserving the rich, colourful and fascinating history of figure skating. Over ten years, the blog has featured over a thousand free articles covering all aspects of the sport's history, as well as four compelling in-depth features. To read the latest articles, follow the blog on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and YouTube. If you enjoy Skate Guard, please show your support for this archive by ordering a copy of figure skating reference books "The Almanac of Canadian Figure Skating", "Technical Merit: A History of Figure Skating Jumps" and "A Bibliography of Figure Skating": https://skateguard1.blogspot.com/p/buy-book.html.

A Bicycle Built For Two: The Johan Peter Lefstad Story

Photo courtesy Sverresborg Trøndelag Folkemuseum

Johan Peter Lefstad was born on August 1, 1870 in Thjem and spent much of his youth in his father John Paulsen Lefstad's workshop in the Bakklandet suburb of the city of Trondheim, which is in central Norway. The area where his father's workshop was situated was largely industrial and although shipbuilding was the focus of much of the work in the area, a young Lefstad found himself surrounded with the tools he needed to produce bicycles and spinning tops. At twenty two years of age, he started his own business called Lefstad Sport Business which produced spinning tops and skates and imported and repaired bicycles. Versatile in his work, Lefstad really was a jack of all trades.

His fascination with spinning tops and production of skates seemed a natural fit, because when he wasn't devoting his time to his work, Lefstad was busy - you guessed it - skating! Lefstad was an active member of  the Trondhjems SK skating club in his home city and in January 1893, he made the trip to Berlin as the only Norwegian skater to participate in the European Championships held that year. He finished in last place, but the results of this competition were later declared invalid in the 1895 ISU Congress due to irregularities. Two years after he opened his own business, he entered Norway's national championships for figure skating. He skated away with the first 'official' Norwegian men's title in Hamar in 1894 and followed that win up with another six national titles from 1895 to 1904, four of them in his hometown.

In February of 1897, the World Championships were held in Stockholm, Sweden and Lefstad made the trip from Trondheim to compete. In what was only his second international competition, he amazingly won the bronze medal behind Gustav Hügel and Ulrich Salchow, easily outranking his closest competitor for the bronze, Sweden's Thiodolf Borgh. The following year, the European Championships were held in Lefstad's hometown of Trondheim and he won the silver medal. That same year, he married Annamarie Vinge.

In 1900, Lefstad made his final international appearance (and only one on the continent) when he travelled to Berlin for the European Championships. He just missed a bronze medal to his Trondhjems SK training mate Oscar Holthe. The European title that year again went to Ulrich Salchow, who had beaten Lefstad in 1898.

An avid sportsman, Lefstad turned his attention from skating to both skiing and cycling and represented the Trondhjems Velocipedklub and Trondhjems Skiklub in competition as well. In 1903, Annamarie and Johan Peter became parents of a son named Ola Gunnar. His Lefstad Sport Business which he had opened on April 7, 1892 developed into Lefstad Bicycle Factory. Although he had been importing bicycles to Norway from Austria since 1888 (before his business even opened) manufacturing his own bicycles was an entirely different ballgame and one in which Lefstad found considerable success.

In 1905, a bicycle he produced won him a national bicycle design contest and in 1910, he even produced his own motorcycle: the Nidaros. By the twenties, Lefstad had two successful bicycles on the market - one also named the Nidaros and a more economical model named the Styria. In 1930, Lefstad won a gold medal at the Trøndelag exhibition for his Nidaros bike. By the mid thirties, prior to World War II, the factory was producing over two thousand bicycles a year.

Having survived two World Wars and found great success not only in business but in figure skating as well, Lefstad passed away at the age of seventy seven on February 7, 1948 in the same city he grew up, fell in love with his wife, skating and bicycles. The next time you go out for an evening bike ride, think of Lefstad. He's no longer a historical footnote in a figure skating record book, he's now a skater with a story.

Skate Guard is a blog dedicated to preserving the rich, colourful and fascinating history of figure skating. Over ten years, the blog has featured over a thousand free articles covering all aspects of the sport's history, as well as four compelling in-depth features. To read the latest articles, follow the blog on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and YouTube. If you enjoy Skate Guard, please show your support for this archive by ordering a copy of the figure skating reference books "The Almanac of Canadian Figure Skating", "Technical Merit: A History of Figure Skating Jumps" and "A Bibliography of Figure Skating": https://skateguard1.blogspot.com/p/buy-book.html.

The Skate Runners: Norway's Skating Military

As we learned in "The Qianlong Emperor And Wu Tongxuan: Chinese Skating's Royal Connection" and the most recent Skate Guard blog "Don Frederic And The Dutch Musketeers: A Battle On The Ice", skating and the military haven't exactly been strangers over the years. Considering the climate and the country's important role in the historical development of the sport, it can hardly come to anyone's surprise that the Norwegians too have a military skating tale in their dusty history books.

Edward L. Gill's 1862 book "The skater's manual, a complete guide to the art of skating; with rules for plain and fancy skating; hints to beginners; sketches of the skating clubs and ice-ponds of New-York, Brooklyn and Jersey City; rules and regulations of the Central park skating-pond; fashions for ladies' skating costumes; together with four interesting matter" (how's that for a title?) tells the story of a regiment of soldiers called The Skate Runners who were stationed in Drontheim, Norway in the early eighteenth century who used both skis and skates to do their dirty work.

Gill explained that The Skate Runners "wore long gaiters, for travelling in deep snow, and a green uniform. They carried a short sword, a rifle fastened by a broad strap passing over the shoulder, and a climbing staff seven feet long, with an iron pike at the end. They moved so fast in the snow that no cavalry or infantry could overtake them, and it did no good to fire cannon balls at them, as they went two or three hundred paces apart. They were very useful soldiers in following an enemy on a march. They could go over marshes, rivers and lakes, at a great rate."

The Skate Runners had a significant connection to the aftermath of a regicide. When King Charles XII Of Sweden was shot and killed in 1718 (some believe by his own men in a coup) "one of The 'Skate Runners' carried the news four hundred miles twelve hours sooner than a mail messenger, who went at the same time. There were then seven thousand Swedes laying siege to Drontheim. When the news came, they broke up their quarters and retreated as fast as possible. They were obliged to go over the mountains, and the snow was deep and the weather exceedingly cold. Two hundred 'Skate Runners' followed hard after them, and came up with them one very cold morning. But all the troops were dead, having been frozen in their tents, among the mountain snow drifts. They had burnt every morsel of wood - even the stocks of their muskets - to warm themselves."

"The Saturday Magazine, Volume 8" published in 1836 confirmed that the troops in fact did use crude skates for a good part of their journey when crossing ice. This article added that "it was natural to think of forming a military corps of skaters... During the former wars with Sweden, all the Norwegian light troops... have been particularly trained to the use of these kind of skates... Previous to the union between Norway and Sweden, there existed in Norway two regiments of skaters - one in the district of Drontheim, and in the other in that of Aggerhuus" but explained that military losses by the Norwegians drastically reduced the number of skating soldiers. How and when The Skate Runners finally dissolved is a puzzle I couldn't quite solve but nevertheless one has to admire the daring and perseverance of the great outdoors for a cause they believed to be important. Another one for the skating history books!

Skate Guard is a blog dedicated to preserving the rich, colourful and fascinating history of figure skating. Over ten years, the blog has featured over a thousand free articles covering all aspects of the sport's history, as well as four compelling in-depth features. To read the latest articles, follow the blog on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and YouTube. If you enjoy Skate Guard, please show your support for this archive by ordering a copy of figure skating reference books "The Almanac of Canadian Figure Skating", "Technical Merit: A History of Figure Skating Jumps" and "A Bibliography of Figure Skating": https://skateguard1.blogspot.com/p/buy-book.html.

Don Frederic And The Dutch Musketeers: A Battle On The Ice

Centuries before Philippe Candeloro won his second consecutive Olympic medal with his interpretation of "The Three Musketeers", a real battle that mimicked the Frenchman's dynamic choreography on the ice played out, musketeers and all. In his 1898 book "The Rise Of The Dutch Republic", John Lothrop Motley explained that in December 1572 "Don Frederic was the murderous son of the Duke of Alva, and commander of the troops who had just butchered nearly every citizen and soldier in the city of Naarden. After leaving the city in, ashes, Don Frederic departed for the front at Amsterdam to meet with his father." To explain, Don Frederic was then the leader of the Spanish army and like father, like son, both played integral parts in attacks and sieges on the Netherlands.

In her article "The Struggle Between Spain And The Provinces Grows Desperate", Mary Macgregor elaborated that "Alva was indeed vindicating the power of the Spanish arms. Mons was taken, Mechlin sacked, and now Don Frederic was ordered to reduce the northern and eastern provinces. The dread of Alva was on the cities, and Don Frederic met with little resistance from those which but lately had received the Prince of Orange with acclamations. Zutphen in her hardihood attempted to resist the entrance of the King's troops, and terribly did she suffer for her daring. Alva ordered his son to kill every man and to burn every house to the ground. Without a moment's warning Don Frederic ordered the garrison to be massacred. The citizens were stabbed in the streets, or hanged on the trees of the city, or stripped naked and turned out into the fields to freeze to death in the wintry night. Five hundred burghers were tied, two and two back to back, and drowned in the river Yssel, while a few who escaped were afterwards dragged from their hiding-places and hanged by their feet upon the gallows, some of them suffering days and nights of agony before they died. What the fate of Zutphen had been was for days unknown, no one daring to go near the city. 'A wail of agony was heard above Zutphen last Sunday,' wrote a count to his friend, 'a sound as of a mighty massacre, but we know not what has taken place.'" That count may not have known what happened in Zutphen but it certainly wasn't good - and we can say in looking back at the facts that both Don Frederic and his father the Duke Of Alva showed no mercy to the citizens of the land they seeked to control. It actually sounds simply horrific.

Things had by this point escalated greatly and although Don Frederic may have won the war to date, he would eventually come to lose the battle. A fleet of armed vessels belonging to Holland had been frozen in the ice near Amsterdam. Confident and clearly full of the same bloodlust that found him "success" (if you want to call it that) in Naarden, Don Frederic dispatched troops over the ice to attack the ships. The Dutch ships were ready for the Spaniards though. They had dug a wide trench around the whole fleet of ships and created an icy fortress. Out came a troupe of skilled and well-armed musketeers who advanced wearing - depending on which historian you talk to - either metal crampons or skates. Things got fast, furious and quite ugly and the Spaniards were no match for the experienced Dutch military. They caused them to retreat and left several hundred Spaniards dead on the ice. Imagine! Of that initial battle, Alva said "Twas a thing never heard of before today, to see a body of arquebusiers (musketeers) thus skirmishing upon a frozen sea." Things improved even more the coming days. A rapid thaw allowed the Dutch ships to break free from the ice and escape to Enkhuyzen... and a successive frost left any chance of pursuit by Don Frederic's troops impossible. The incident became known as The Battle of Ijsselmeer.

Much like this father, Don Frederic and the Spaniard forces were completely taken aback by the completely foreign concept of being attacked by a group so proficient on ice and quickly came to realize that in this less temperate, more wintry climate they would need to keep up with the Joneses. The Duke Of Alva commissioned seven thousand pairs of ice skates for his soldiers and ensured that they were well trained for combat on ice. You know though, if you look at this time in history and the brutality with which the Spanish treated the Dutch in the manner of war... you really have to really cheer on this Dutch victory. It was one of few victories at the time and it was a decent - and very intelligent - one. You also in a way have to applaud Spain's patience. They never did conquer Holland but for thirty years they tried. That's persistence.

I think it's funny too because when I think back to Philippe Candeloro's "The Three Musketeers" program (even that very theatrical costuming) I look to years later and the huge influx of "Pirates Of The Caribbean" programs we saw over a decade later - Alena Leonova and Javier Fernandez' interpretations being among the very best choreographically. What's really quite cool in this context is that battle-ready type program from Fernandez of Spain was such a breakout piece for him and the first season he performed that free skate, he became the first Spanish man to compete at the Olympic Games in over half a century. Fernandez placed a respectable sixteenth at those Vancouver Games, ahead of skaters like Stefan Lindemann, Brian Joubert and Tomas Verner. The Netherlands didn't even have a men's entry... a far cry from the earlier days of figure skating where skaters like Sjoukje Dijkstra and Dianne de Leeuw won their country Olympic medals. When it comes to the battle on the ice in THIS century, it appears that through the ages, Spain has been doing a pretty good job of playing catch up to their former ice rivals - hell, Fernandez is the reigning World Champion! With a whole new generation of talented Dutch skaters on the rise though, perhaps in the future the tides will shift. Skating history has a funny way of repeating itself.

Skate Guard is a blog dedicated to preserving the rich, colourful and fascinating history of figure skating. Over ten years, the blog has featured over a thousand free articles covering all aspects of the sport's history, as well as four compelling in-depth features. To read the latest articles, follow the blog on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and YouTube. If you enjoy Skate Guard, please show your support for this archive by ordering a copy of figure skating reference books "The Almanac of Canadian Figure Skating", "Technical Merit: A History of Figure Skating Jumps" and "A Bibliography of Figure Skating": https://skateguard1.blogspot.com/p/buy-book.html.

Interview With Severin Kiefer

Back in April, it was my absolute pleasure to present an interview with two time Olympian Miriam Ziegler. I figured it would just be rude not to talk to the other half of this talented partnership, Ziegler's talented partner (both on and off the ice) Severin Kiefer. This twenty four year old skater, like his partner, got his start as a singles skater in Austria and actually won two Austrian junior men's titles and three senior medals without a partner before teaming up with Stina Martini and later with Miriam Ziegler. I think you're going to find Kiefer's inside view on the sport refreshing! We talked about transitioning to pairs skating, balancing an on and off partnership and updated us on the hard work he and Miriam have been doing during the off season. Enjoy!:

Q: One thing I think is so remarkable about your skating career (much like your partner Miriam) is that you have balanced both a highly successful singles and pairs career at the same time. As a singles skater, you've won eight medals at the Austrian Championships on the novice, junior and senior levels and a silver medal internationally at the Mladost Trophy in Croatia. What would you say have been the proudest and most challenging moments from your singles career?

A: First of all, thank you for doing the interview! Like you said, I had the chance to compete for Austria in many international competitions on almost every level more or less successfully. I wouldn't, however, compare my singles career to that of Miriam. My proudest moment was probably coming third at the 2008 Triglav Trophy and earning my first international senior medal just after competing in my first ISU Championships, the 2008 Junior World Championships. My most challenging time came the season after that when I couldn't seem to make any progress particularly in competition. That season had its climax in a disastrous free skate at Nationals in which I failed to land a single triple jump and was rightfully not chosen to go to Junior Worlds. I was lacking the necessary maturity to deal with the situation at the time and was seriously considering quitting figure skating until a new opportunity arose in pairs.

Q: Before teaming up with Miriam, you had an accomplished career with Stina Martini. You were three time Austrian Champions and of course competed for two seasons at both Europeans and Worlds together. What do you look back at most fondly about that time?

A: Neither Stina nor I had any prior experience in pairs skating before our coach at the time, Eva Sonnleitner, had the idea for us to try skating together. We had a massive task ahead of us, which I think we mastered fairly well, considering we were the first Austrian pairs team in over a decade and the circumstance of there not being pairs coaches in Austria. What was really helpful starting out was being able to participate in the ISU Pairs Development Camp in the spring of 2009 in Berlin where both our coach and ourselves could learn the basics of pairs skating. We ended up coming back to Berlin several times over the following seasons to get help from Rico Rex and now a full time coach of Miriam and I, Knut Schubert. We were sort of thrown into the deep end by entering the Junior Grand Prix scene right off the bat in 2009. Our first ever pairs competition was the Junior Grand Prix in Dresden in early October which was absolutely nerve wracking. Having the responsibility of another person was overwhelming for me but competing in a big event like this certainly made me stronger for challenges ahead. In the following seasons, we competed at multiple ISU Championships which was an absolute dream come true for me but at some point I realized that with double jumps, our potential was very limited. We failed to get the required technical score to qualify for the 2013 World Championships in both programs and considering the stagnation in our development, I felt that it was time to make a change.

Q: Since teaming up with Miriam, you have won another two Austrian pairs titles and had some wonderful successes internationally. What are your goals looking forward to next season and how has training been going lately?

A: We have quite a bit more time to work on new elements this off season, which we are really excited about. Last year, we had to take some time off in spring to recover from a very demanding season starting with the Olympic qualifier in September through competing and experiencing the Sochi 2014 Games and after that getting our energy back up for the 2014 World Championships in Saitama. Our goals for next season are first and foremost getting the triple twist into both programs and adding a second consistent throw triple jump to our repertoire. Training has been really exciting, as we are working on a lot of new take-offs and variations in lifts and intricate transitions between elements.

Q: How do you and Miriam balance a relationship both on and off the ice and make that work?

A: Miriam and I spend close to twenty four hours a day together and quite honestly, I wouldn't have it any other way. Our on ice relationship is very professional. We have a pretty good way of separating our on ice partnership with what we have away from skating and don't let problems that occur on the ice interfere with our relationship off the ice. We have very similar taste in music and movies, we both love to cook and just have very similar interests which is certainly a plus.

Q: The 2015/2016 season is going to be a fierce one in terms of competition. You're going to be up against of course the reigning World Champions Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford and the Olympic Gold Medallists Tatiana Volosozhar and Maxim Trankov will be making a comeback. Throw in three very strong Chinese pairs and Stolbova and Klimov and it's shaping up to be quite a season already. How do you plan on making your mark ?

A: It's going to be absolutely fascinating how next season turns out at the top! It seems like our discipline is heading towards more and more quad throws and twists as well as more difficult side by side jumps. Like I said before, our primary goal is getting the triple twist in our programs as well as making the programs more sophisticated and interesting. We are working on a few other technical things too but I don't want to give everything away right now. Next season is probably a little early for us to be competing with the top teams you have mentioned but we are working towards being in that discussion. We're both still young, especially in terms of pairs skaters, and we know that we have potential to improve every aspect of our skating and will try and maximize that.

Q: If you could be a superhero, what would your super power be?

A: It probably would be the power of persuasion.

Q: Who are your three favourite skaters of all time and why?

A: Steven Cousins is one of the most entertaining skaters I've ever seen. Growing up, I loved watching him on TV and I actually got to know him as a person when I was training in Barrie, Ontario in 2007. With there only being very few Europeans there at the time that shared a passion for soccer, we would play together on the weekends. Javier Fernandez is a phenomenon to me. I've known him since we were about twelve years old spending summer training camps together and competing against each other. Watching him develop in the way he did over the last eight years was just astounding. I was so happy to see him win the world title this year especially after missing out on an Olympic medal in Sochi. Cheng Peng and Hao Zhang have also just blown my mind this past season as both their programs were up there with my favourites alongside the short program of Sui and Han and Jason Brown's free skate. The way Cheng has developed as a skater has given that team a whole new dimension and Hao is just such a nice skater to watch and cool guy to see at competitions.

Q: What is one thing most people don't know about you?

A: One thing people may not know is that I am very politically interested and currently pursuing a bachelor's degree in political science.

Q: What is the biggest lesson that skating has taught you about life?

A: It's so true that you learn a lot more from failures than you do from successes in that I've learned to put things into perspective and take positives out of almost every situation... however dire they may seem. Pairs has really taught me a lot about relationships and psychology. As a singles skater, I only had to worry about myself (and to a lesser extent about my coaches) but in a pairs team so much depends on how you interact and react to each other. I am quite an analytical person which has helped me immensely in dealing with difficult situations on the ice. I believe that skill, which I have developed over the past couple of years, will be very helpful later on in my personal as well as professional life.

Skate Guard is a blog dedicated to preserving the rich, colourful and fascinating history of figure skating. Over ten years, the blog has featured over a thousand free articles covering all aspects of the sport's history, as well as four compelling in-depth features. To read the latest articles, follow the blog on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and YouTube. If you enjoy Skate Guard, please show your support for this archive by ordering a copy of figure skating reference books "The Almanac of Canadian Figure Skating", "Technical Merit: A History of Figure Skating Jumps" and "A Bibliography of Figure Skating": https://skateguard1.blogspot.com/p/buy-book.html.

Tom Arnold's Ice Pantomimes

When World War II ended, the one thing the world needed was to smile a little. Legendary producer Tom Arnold - no, not the one that married Roseanne Barr, a different Tom Arnold - had just the answer for that. Arnold was known as The King Of Pantomime and had produced everything from classical plays to films, revues, operas, rodeos, circuses and variety productions. He knew what he was doing. When the war ended, Arnold took over The Sports Stadium, which was an ice rink built in a facility that used to be a popular swimming pool (the S.S. Brighton) in (you guessed it) Brighton. With co-producer Gerald Palmer and managing director Benny Lee, Arnold would produce some of the most lavish and popular ice pantomimes that England has ever seen.

Tom Arnold's shows featured brassy, theatrical costumes and he offered contracts to many of the greatest professional skating stars of the era. His first show debuted in the summer of 1945 and was known as "Hot Ice". It starred Armand Perren, Len Stewart and Sheila Hamilton. Even with the popularity of summer ice shows in places like Sun Valley today, they are still a novelty and imagine how novel an idea ice shows in the summer would have been to post-war Britons!

The pantomime ice shows kept coming one by one and attracted crowds of thousands - "Snow White", "Ice Caprice", "Hello Ice", "Ice Rhapsody", "Aladdin", "Dick Whittington", "Ice Express", "Sleeping Beauty On Ice", "Ali Baba (Chu Chin Chow)". Starting in 1947, Arnold also transformed the legendary Stoll Theatre in Kingsway into an ice theatre for a successful five year run that included "Ice Cascades" (an 'aqua-ice show') and three other productions. His production of "Rose Marie On Ice" at the Harringay Arena in 1950 starred Olympic Gold Medallist Barbara Ann Scott.

One highlight of Arnold's extravagant productions was the use of Britain's first radio microphones. Professional skater and electronics enthusiast Reg Moores' radio microphone allowed skaters in Arnold's shows to not only skate, but act and sing in their roles. The radio microphone was first introduced to the ice in Arnold's "Aladdin" shows.

Starting in 1951, Arnold presented seven summer ice circuses. His acts included figure skaters, sea lions, comedians, equilibrists, trapeze artists and clowns. According to Trevor Chepstow's 2006 article "The King Of Pantomime" from My Brighton And Hove, "in one of the shows, a bear owned by Elizabeth Vogelbein the trainer bounded across the ice and leapt amongst the audience. Chased by Vogelbein and various members of the staff, the bear ran up and down the gangways before finally running into the orchestra area, from where he ambled quietly back into his cage!" Oh GOOD. Apparently the Russian ice circus producers in Russia we looked at in A Skating Safari: Bears On Ice, The Swan Lake, Flying Camels And More Than A Few Asses learned nothing from Vogelbein's folly.

With the success of his ice pantomimes and circuses, Arnold brought his shows on the road to continental Europe and even to South Africa. Sadly though, it was the end of an era for Arnold's popular ice shows. In 1958, The Stoll Theatre was purchased by a developer and the iconic performance space that survived TWO World Wars would be demolished in favor of an office block in 1958. That same year, The Harringay Arena closed. In 1965, The Sports Stadium too was sadly demolished. It's incredibly sad to think that the settings of so many great ice shows that attracted whopping audiences don't even exist anymore.

Between his stage and ice pantomimes, Arnold claimed to have produced more than four hundred productions in his lifetime and judging by the research I did in putting this little blurb together, it wouldn't surprise me! I kept running into more shows, more shows, more shows... It was really incredible. Arnold was honored as a member of The Order Of The British Empire and passed away on February 2, 1969, the day after Tim Wood and Janet Lynn won U.S. titles across the pond. After Arnold's death, his business partner Palmer kept the dream alive for a time, continuing to produce ice pantomimes choreographed by Australian Reg Park at Wembley Arena.

Skate Guard is a blog dedicated to preserving the rich, colourful and fascinating history of figure skating. Over ten years, the blog has featured over a thousand free articles covering all aspects of the sport's history, as well as four compelling in-depth features. To read the latest articles, follow the blog on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and YouTube. If you enjoy Skate Guard, please show your support for this archive by ordering a copy of the figure skating reference books "The Almanac of Canadian Figure Skating", "Technical Merit: A History of Figure Skating Jumps" and "A Bibliography of Figure Skating": https://skateguard1.blogspot.com/p/buy-book.html.

Interview With Fumie Suguri

Three would appear to be Japanese figure skater Fumie Suguri's lucky number. She's won three medals at the World Championships, three Four Continents titles and in doing so, certainly performed more than her fair share of three revolution jumps. In her incredible competitive career that spanned over three decades, Fumie also won the Grand Prix Final, won four medals at the Asian Games and finished in the top five at two Olympic Games and earned an incredible twelve medals on the senior Grand Prix circuit. Even more impressive in my mind than her competitive record and gutsy performances was her admirable longevity as a competitor, and that was just one of many things that her and I had chance to speak about in this interview that I guarantee you that you're going to just love reading: 

Q: Your competitive career was nothing short of incredible. Three world medals, three Four Continents titles, a win at the 2003 Grand Prix Final, five Japanese titles and an impressive twelve senior Grand Prix medals... I have to just say wow! Looking back on it all now, which moments stand out as both the most special and the most challenging in hindsight?

A: It is really hard to pick one - Olympics and Worlds are always special - but if I needed to pick one, that would be the 2003 Grand Prix Final. It was such a nice moment when I saw my coach Mr. Sato was crying a lot when I took that title in Colorado Springs. That was the same place that Mr. Sato finished fourth at Worlds. He couldn't reach to the podium even though everyone said his skating was incredible. I think he wasn't satisfied with this. I can imagine from his tears how hard it was for him to have that feeling for a long time. That's why I was so happy that I could skate well and earn that medal for him.

Q: One thing that just blows my mind is the longevity of your career. You first competed internationally back in 1994 and were still competing twenty years later. What motivated you most to stick with skating over the years, especially in the more difficult times?

A: My competitive career lasted twenty eight years. I love figure skating so much and this is like a gift from God to me. After I met my long time choreographer Lori Nichol in 1996, I learned so many things not only about technique but also about entertainment. There is so much good entertainment in the world which can move peoples hearts - Broadway shows, dance, ballet, music etc. Those things always have kept me up even though I had hard or difficult times. Since I met Lori, I started to dream that I wanted to make any kind of entertainment that I could to make people happy.

Q: Staying on that topic, I've always had a hearty laugh at the people out there who are for some bizarre reason critical of skaters who choose to stay in the sport and continue competing after 'they reach a certain age'. What would you say to those people?

A: To tell the truth, there are only a few people that can be in the top rankings in any sports field, like standing on the podium or winning the competition. Is just winning the goal? NO! We learn so many things from sports. For example, at figure skating competitions you can't stop even when you fall on the first jump. Whatever happens, you have to continue. Life is the same. Even though you missed something, you have to figure out how to solve the problem and how to fight back, not to give up or throw it away. From a younger age, skating teaches us many things that we are supposed to learn later in our lives. God give everyone different challenges. It is not about our age. It is about what one decides to have in one's OWN life story.

Q: If you had to pick one favourite program that you have skated, what would it be?

A: Again, I have a hard time choosing…But I think "Paint It Black". That was really challenging for me to try rock music but the costume was a challenge as well. At that time, no one wore pants at the competitions. Lori and I always wanted to try new things and we said maybe we can try pants because there is no rule that says girls can't wear pants. We were afraid that someone would say that is not a good idea so we put a skirt on the pants. After that, the ISU put in new rules that girls can wear pants at the competitions.

Q: Is it true that Michelle Kwan was the one who first taught you the triple Lutz?

A: Actually, she SHOWED me the triple Lutz. She came to our rink (Shin-Yokohama) before the Worlds for practice. The Worlds in 1994 were in Makuhari, Japan. She was my idol at that time. I couldn't believe that a girl the same age as me could land all of her triples so easily. I asked her, "Could you please show me the triple Lutz?" She also gave me advice. It is a good memory.

Q: You have competed against a who's who of phenomenal skaters over the years - people like Michelle, Yuna Kim, Mao Asada, Maria Butyrskaya, Irina Slutskaya, Sasha Cohen and countless others - Of your competitors who did you most respect most?

A: I can't pick one. I respect them all because I knew all these skaters had lots of drama in their lives and I know just how hard it is to continue skating with this going on.

Q: To say that you have obviously travelled extensively around the world is an understatement. Where have you NOT gone that you would love to and what is your favourite country to visit?

A: Egypt. I want to see the Pyramids. I also love the Middle Eastern music and culture a lot.

Q: Who are your three favourite skaters of all time?

A: Ekaterina Gordeeva and Sergei Grinkov, John Curry and Kurt Browning.

Q: What is one thing most people don't know about you?

A: (laughing) I'm like a man - very wild! People think I'm very classical but actually, I'm not.

Q: What is the best advice that you could give someone in skating who felt like giving up?

A: There are not always good sides. There are bad, difficult moment as well. It is like the weather. There are sunny days, cloudy days, rainy days, storms... But that's why flowers can bloom and animals can live. You have to ask yourself how to live with skating.

Q: What is next in life for you?

A: My goal is always the same. I want to create or make something that can make people happy. Figure skating is one way that I can do this. When I was a competitor, I tried to do by skating my programs. Now I want to make programs or produce shows and continue to try to make good entertainment in the world.

Skate Guard is a blog dedicated to preserving the rich, colourful and fascinating history of figure skating. Over ten years, the blog has featured over a thousand free articles covering all aspects of the sport's history, as well as four compelling in-depth features. To read the latest articles, follow the blog on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and YouTube. If you enjoy Skate Guard, please show your support for this archive by ordering a copy of the figure skating reference books "The Almanac of Canadian Figure Skating", "Technical Merit: A History of Figure Skating Jumps" and "A Bibliography of Figure Skating": https://skateguard1.blogspot.com/p/buy-book.html.

Stenuf Is Stenuf: A Look At Hedy Stenuf Byram's Story

As everyone knows, in Sonja Henie's era a number of ladies posed threats to the Norwegian skater's utter dominance of ladies figure skating but none were able to topple her from the top of the podium. One of those skaters was Austria's Hedy Stenuf and I think you'll find, as I did in researching this blog, her story to be absolutely fascinating.

Hedy was born in Vienna, Austria on July 18, 1922. She started skating at the age of five and by the following year under coach Pepi Weiß-Pfändler's direction, had passed her bronze test. The following winter, she had passed her silver test. By the age of eleven, she was training alongside World Champion Karl Schäfer at the Engelmann Rink, had won several international junior competitions and even passed the Vienna Opera Ballet's test. Travelling to America, she wowed audiences in skating carnivals with her "Devil Dance" duet with Schäfer.

Stenuf and Karl Schäfer. Photo courtesy Bildarchiv Austria.

From 1935 to 1939, Hedy competed internationally as a representative of three countries - Austria, France and the United States - and twice claimed medals at the World Championships. Had World War II not broken out, she would have been a bona fide medal contender at the (cancelled) 1940 Winter Olympic Games. Her citizenship woes were explained in a 1939 article that appeared in "Skating" magazine thusly: "Shortly before [Hedy] started skating, her father had moved to the United States with the expectation of taking his family over as soon as possible. However, the Austrian quota was full and as [Hedy's] parents did not wish to interrupt her skating career, the family remained in Austria until 1936. As her club in Vienna realized that eventually they would lose her for competition, difficulties arose and obstacles were placed in her way. Therefore, in the 1937 season, she competed for France in the European Championships at Prague and the Worlds at London. This was arranged by French impresario Jeff Dickson. The Stenuf family came to the United States in March, 1937. Her father had become a naturalized citizen, but unfortunately, a new law required that children of a naturalized citizen must undergo three years of residence in the United States before they become citizens."

In 1940, Hedy won the silver medal in both singles and pairs skating (with Skippy Baxter) at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships held in Cleveland, Ohio. She turned professional later that year and starred with Baxter in Sonja Henie and Arthur M. Wirtz' Broadway production "It Happens On Ice" at The Center Theater.

Hedy Stenuf and Skippy Baxter. Photo courtesy "Skating" magazine.

Hedy also appeared in Ripley's Believe It Or Not after allegedly performing four hundred and seventy six revolutions in a spin. According to pre-production notes for the Eleanor Perry-Smith project "Hedy And The Secret Shoes", when she was stopped by the Ripley's producers after five minutes of spinning, Hedy said, "But I wasn't finished!"

After her professional skating career winded down, Hedy turned to coaching and had her own skating studio based in Denver, Colorado in the fifties. She was a well respected coach and a friend to some of skating's greatest luminaries... Dick Button, Barbara Ann Scott and Carlo Fassi among them. According to one of her former students, she was apparently doing the Biellmann spin long before Tamara Moskvina, Karen Iten or Denise Biellmann. Hedy later moved to Florida and coached at the Sunrise Ice Skating Center in Sunrise, Florida. She passed away on November 7, 2010 at the age of eighty eight in Hallandale, Florida. 

Skate Guard is a blog dedicated to preserving the rich, colourful and fascinating history of figure skating. Over ten years, the blog has featured over a thousand free articles covering all aspects of the sport's history, as well as four compelling in-depth features. To read the latest articles, follow the blog on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and YouTube. If you enjoy Skate Guard, please show your support for this archive by ordering a copy of the figure skating reference books "The Almanac of Canadian Figure Skating", "Technical Merit: A History of Figure Skating Jumps" and "A Bibliography of Figure Skating": https://skateguard1.blogspot.com/p/buy-book.html.

The Bride Of Grimborg: A Skating Labyrinth

Labyrinths have both mystified and intrigued society for centuries. In her 2004 book "The Complete Guide To Labyrinths", Cassandra Eason explains that "labyrinths, in contrast to mazes (which set out to amaze you), are unicursal, meaning they have a single pathway leading to the center. Apart from the underground Minoan labyrinth in Crete, which was meant to keep a rather nasty being under wraps, most labyrinths are etched onto a flat surface on the ground so you can always keep the center in view during your journey. The key to experiencing a labyrinth is to keep walking even if it seems like you are being led astray or moving in the wrong direction at times. If you put one foot in front of the other, then suddenly, inexplicably, just as you were losing faith, you will step into the center."

John Algeo wrote that "all labyrinths are a kind of a game, but that does not negate their seriousness". What many people might not know is that skating has a very real connection to labyrinths and it is not only in the spiralling special figures skaters used to carve out on the ice in skating's early history. In a report of the Ethnological Survey of the Nordic Museum in Stockholm from 1985, a labyrinth game called The Bride Of Grimborg was recalled and was retold in Freyia Völundarhúsins' writing "Labyrinths and Ritual in Scandinavia": "In Västergötland, Sweden, a similar type of labyrinth game was reported in 1933: Here, people used to draw labyrinths in the snow on the ice during winter. The paths would be wide enough to skate on. In the center was a girl placed, who was called the 'Bride of Grimborg'. Grimborg is a medieval legendary hero well known from many parts of Sweden. According to the song of Grimborg, the hero forced his way through fences of iron and steel in order to reach the beautiful daughter of a king. He had to fight the king's men three times before the king allowed him to marry his daughter. In the skating labyrinth, a guard, like in the legend, would stand to protect the 'castle' – that is, the labyrinth. The guard would try to mislead and stop the young man playing Grimborg, who was trying to find his way to the bride."

The story of The Bride Of Grimborg skating labyrinth not only has that mythic charm that is hard to describe but also harkens me back a little to my skating days and the wonderful sense of play the youngest skaters I'd teach Canskate to would have when we'd play What Time Is It, Mr. Wolf, Red Light, Green Light or when they would chase me while I blowed them bubbles with a wand. I think as supporters of skating we can get so caught up in the nitty gritties and details of skating that it's hard for us sometimes to remember the sense of fun and freedom that drew us into the sport, whether by skating ourselves or just by getting lost in the feeling of watching a skater whose sense of fun or of artfulness took us to a different time and place.

Much as a skater fighting their way to the center of the labyrinth to The Bride Of Grimborg would have had to put one foot in front of the other and held onto the faith they'd eventually glide their way there, we can all hold onto faith that when we embrace the joy that drew us to skating in the first place, skating (like a labyrinth) will never really lead us astray. It's all in our perspectives.

Skate Guard is a blog dedicated to preserving the rich, colourful and fascinating history of figure skating. Over ten years, the blog has featured over a thousand free articles covering all aspects of the sport's history, as well as four compelling in-depth features. To read the latest articles, follow the blog on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and YouTube. If you enjoy Skate Guard, please show your support for this archive by ordering a copy of the figure skating reference books "The Almanac of Canadian Figure Skating", "Technical Merit: A History of Figure Skating Jumps" and "A Bibliography of Figure Skating": https://skateguard1.blogspot.com/p/buy-book.html.

Interview With Richard Dwyer

Since winning a bronze medal behind a pair of Olympic Gold Medallists at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in 1950, Richard Dwyer has been delighting audiences around the world as Mr. Debonair, a role he played in Ice Follies and Ice Capades for decades! Inducted as a member of the U.S. Figure Skating Hall Of Fame in 1993, Dwyer continues to skate at age seventy nine and is still an active (and wonderful) performer. No words for my respect and admiration for this man and a big thank you to Karen Cover at U.S. Figure Skating and Allison Scott for connecting us. We spoke at length about everything from his amateur career to touring life, his passion for skating today and what he hopes he legacy in the sport will be. What an honor and a privilege it is to share this interview with one of figure skating's living legends:

Q: You started skating after watching the Ice Follies back in 1943 and within five years were the U.S. novice champion. The next year you won the U.S. junior men's title and the year after THAT won the bronze medal at the U.S. Championships behind Dick Button and Hayes Alan Jenkins, actually beating Hayes in the free skate. Is the "what if" of continuing in the amateur ranks something that you think much about?

A: You're right, I started skating in 1943. Our whole family went to Ice Follies at the old Pan Pacific that year. My father had skated in Nebraska as a kid. I competed from 1945 to 1950 and I won novice in 1948, junior in '49 and ended up third in senior in 1950. You know, I am at peace with what happened. I made the World team when I won junior Nationals and then I qualified again in 1950 but in that era you had to pay your own way to Worlds and my Dad just couldn't afford to send me. I was fourteen and a half and I got to skate in Ice Chips with Dick and Jacqueline du Bief instead and that was an incredible opportunity in itself.

Photo courtesy "Skating" magazine

Q: When Roy Shipstad retired, you took on the role of "Young Debonair" in Ice Follies and now, without a doubt in the world, you are MR. DEBONAIR. How did that all come about?

A: We came home by train after the Washington, D.C. 1950 Nationals. I had grown up with Eddie Shipstad's kids and when we were on the train, my father said Eddie Shipstad had called and that "you have an offer". I didn't want to go at the time. I was fired up by amateur skating so we went home. I was a freshman at Loyola High and was staying with my aunt at the time so my mother could have a rest because she was driving me to the rink early in the mornings and everything. Roy Shipstad and Oscar Johnson kept bugging my dad so we sat down with the school and arranged to do it. To be offered the role of Debonair at fourteen was such a phenomenal opportunity and I am so fortunate it happened. If I hadn't have gone pro, I'm sure some other wonderful, fabulous guy would have taken the offer to be Mr. Debonair and God knows where I'd be. Life has gone by so fast and it's been a ball. I've had a great time working some greats. It's been good.

Q: What are your thoughts on skating today?

A: I'm a big fan of the sport and I almost feel like a groupie following the amateur competitions and the shows. It's just great to see how fantastic they are and how skating is going.

Q: You're still doing axels and double salchows out there and are an inspiration to skaters of ALL ages. Look at the Protopopov's as well, still out there and still fabulous. When was the last time you were out on the ice?

A: I went today! I landed five axels and four double sals. I screwed up one. I try double loops once and a while but I didn't today. I'm seventy nine and I figure, God, if I can just keep up the pace... It's kind of a challenge and a discipline with me. I don't golf so this is my one athletic exercise. I skate Monday to Friday for forty five minutes each time. It works for me. It's also my social moment.

Q: Yet, we live in a world where you've got people in the skating community pretty much goading skaters into retirement in their twenties because they are 'past their prime'. What are your thoughts on ageism in figure skating?

A: I don't get it at all. I left Ice Follies at forty four years of age and I was still doing axels, double loops, overhead lifts, split double twists and I felt REALLY GOOD! I skated with Ice Capades until 1993. I think that nobody should ever give up because they think there's a cut off point. If you love skating you should keep skating and have fun with it. You still have that wonderful thrill of challenging yourself.

Q: Tell me about teaching in Dubai!

A: It was from about 1982 to 1988 and I'd go for a few weeks each time but I was there for one whole summer during that time. Ted Wilson had been with Ice Capades and I went over a number of times to do two week shows at the Hyatt Regency Hotel. It was one hundred and twenty degrees outside but nice and cool inside and the kids were phenomenal. I think I went about seven times.

Q: Not that I think anyone could fill your shoes but if they had to, who would you do you think could be or would you love to see be the NEXT Mr. Debonair?

A: There are so many who are qualified and have that style and grace. When it came to the role for me, I loved to perform and saw that audience and felt a friendship with them. When I went to Nationals, I was sitting with Paul George and said to him about a few of the skaters "that guy just pulls you into it!" That's what I love. I wouldn't want to pick someone, I think they're all great.

Q: You skated with Barbara Wagner for a time. What was that experience like?

A: Barbara came in when I was skating with Susie Berens. She had made the World team in 1967 and we skated pairs in the show but she had to have surgery on her knee and dropped out before Christmas that year. Barbara came in and worked for me for three months. We played in Toronto and Maple Leaf Gardens. They just went crazy when they announced her name! Her death spiral! You didn't even have to do anything! She really felt really good about our shows. I am still a good friend of Barbara's. Our lives has crossed over the year and to me, her and Bob Paul... they were fabulous. I've got to become friends with her and it's just wonderful.

Photo courtesy Toronto Public Library, from Toronto Star Photographic Archive. Reproduced for educational purposes under license permission.

Q: Who are your three favourite skaters of all time and why?

A: You can't do that to me! Over the span of so many years, there's been so many greats. Brian Boitano... he was fantastic. Dick Button was a big hero of mine because he was the image to follow. Scott Hamilton I love. Don Jackson, there's nobody better than him as a technician. When it comes to Canadians... Elvis Stojko was great and Kurt Browning... he's phenomenal! So you know, there have just been so many. I'm also really fond of Ryan Bradley and Jeremy Abbott. I was at Nationals in Greensboro and I just love Jeremy's skating. He's beautiful to watch and I love edges. The guys who do the edges make me proud. I grew up with Tenley Albright as well and we're still good friends. I got to work with so many other talented ladies over the years as well... Peggy, Dorothy and all my partners were great. When your life is graced with these superstars, it's got to rub off and inspire you to love skating even more.

Q: What's one thing most people don't know about you?

A: I worry a lot. I try to keep ahead of things but even when I was touring, I was always getting teased because I'd get nervous before I went on. People think it's easy for me and a lot of times it really isn't.

Q: At the end of the day, what do you want your legacy in life to be?

A: Mainly that I've shared some of the wonderful things that have happened with me in skating with many young people. I've had the chance to explain to many of them how wonderful I thinks skating is and what a great life it can be if they choose that path for THEIR life. I hope to help to set up something for skaters down the line if there's anything left in my pocket as well. Above everything though, the friendships I've made have made over the years have been tremendous to me. From Tom Collins to Ája Vrzáňová and so many others... those friendships will never die.

Skate Guard is a blog dedicated to preserving the rich, colourful and fascinating history of figure skating. Over ten years, the blog has featured over a thousand free articles covering all aspects of the sport's history, as well as four compelling in-depth features. To read the latest articles, follow the blog on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and YouTube. If you enjoy Skate Guard, please show your support for this archive by ordering a copy of the figure skating reference books "The Almanac of Canadian Figure Skating", "Technical Merit: A History of Figure Skating Jumps" and "A Bibliography of Figure Skating": https://skateguard1.blogspot.com/p/buy-book.html.