Date: Fri 27-Feb-1998

Publication: Bee

Author: MICHEL

Quick Words:

schools-Olympic-skater

Full Text:

Olympic Skater Tells Of The Thrill Of Competition

(with cuts)

BY MICHELE HOGAN

Former Olympic skater John Thomas shared his most exhilarating (and his most

embarrassing) moments on the ice with fourth graders in Mrs Toomie's class at

Sandy Hook School.

Angela Herdter, teacher intern, was not content just to tell children about

the Olympics. She had the students learn about many countries, then compete in

simulated Olympics. Math and science were included as tools used by the

students to help them compete and analyze their scores in the class Olympics.

Then Mrs Herdter brought in Mr Thomas to give a personal touch to

understanding the Olympic competitions.

Mr Thomas competed for Canada in the 1984 Olympics and his wife competed for

the United States in the 1992 Olympics. They now live in Connecticut with

their two young children, and continue to skate.

Born and raised near Toronto, Mr Thomas recounts meeting, at age 11, "a girl

that had all these medals from skating."

In a sport that most people start around age 6, his mother didn't take his new

ambition of skating professionally too seriously.

But Mr Thomas said he kept pestering his mother until finally, six months

later, she bought him some skates.

He liked skating immediately, and was surprised when one day, about three

months after he had started skating, his bus driver pointed out that he had

been skating on two left skates!

"I did fine. I could go left great!" quipped Mr Thomas.

He said it took him two or three years to catch up with the other kids, and

then his coach suggested that he move from free style to becoming an ice

dancer.

With a good feel for music and for timing, he felt that ice dancing was a good

choice for him, and he went about finding a skating partner.

Unlike in Europe where skaters are often matched by their body or physique, Mr

Thomas pointed out that here, it is mostly by fluke.

Kelly Johnson, his eventual partner, had fancy footwork, with her background

as both a gymnast and a dancer, and he gave the flow and power to the

performance, and between them it worked out very well.

As a male ice dancer, he said that "the girl is your diamond. I am not trying

to show me off, but show her off."

He went on to show her off for the 1984 Olympics and two world games, before

turning professional and skating for the Ice Capades .

A student asked him what it felt like to be in the Olympics, and he responded

by asking the kids to imagine how they feel the night before Christmas, then

stretch that day for two weeks!

One thing that he found disconcerting at first was all the people [security

personnel] with machine guns at the Olympics. But he said that, after a few

days to settle down, his focus narrowed completely to his skating program.

When you perform, he said, the energy of the crowd fills you, and pushes you

even when you are exhausted near the end of the program. The Canadian skaters

did their best, but didn't win a medal.

Mr Thomas explained to the children that as an Olympic competitor he had to be

an amateur, and being an amateur means that you don't have any money.

He said that, at age 24, it felt "kind of weird" when his friends were buying

cars and stereo systems, and he still had to ask his parents for $10 to go to

the movies.

Although he felt that being an amateur representing his country was the

highest honor, he decided to turn professional and skate with the Ice Capades

.

His competitive beginnings had trained him to skate through anything, no

matter how devastating or embarrassing, and to forget the error and keep going

within a five-second period.

He had used that strategy successfully when he and his partner had stumbled in

the Olympics, and even when his heel broke off his skate in an earlier

competition. However, when something went wrong in a performance in Australia,

this strategy didn't work out so well.

Thirty seconds into a six-minute program for a packed auditorium with 10,000

people watching him, he split his pants.

It was not just a little rip, but rather a huge rip, running completely from

front to back.

He refused to let it get in the way of his performance and continued

stoically, to the great amusement of the Australian crowd!

He said at first he heard snickering, and then it grew, and by the end of the

performance everyone was in hysterics!

The next day when he went shopping, people came up to him and said, "Hey,

you're the guy who ripped his pants!"

Mr Thomas has now moved on to coaching skating at the International Skating

Center in Connecticut. Mrs Toomie's students responded with great enthusiasm

when he suggested that they may want to visit him at the rink sometime.