Mother, son make skating a family affair
Roller-skating can bring to mind images of roller-blading or children clunking around Most people wouldn't consider it to have the same grace and style as ice skating. However, this image is incorrect, as Lynda Fairman and her son Christopher showed recently.
Fairman and Christopher recently won several medals at Southeast Regional Championship Artistic Roller-skating Competition.
The competition, which included competitors from Virginia, Maryland and North Carolina, took place June 17 through 20 in Midlothian, which is just outside of Richmond.
Fairman received the gold medal in novice ladies figure skating.
Christopher received several different awards. He won a gold medal in elementary boys'figure, a silver medal in elementary boys' freestyle, a bronze medal in elementary boys' loop and he was a finalist in
elementary solo dance.
Christopher won his gold medal on his 12th birthday, which Fairman said was "a big thrill for him."
Fairman said the next thing she and Christopher are looking forward to are the national championships, Aug. 4 through 12 in Syracuse, N.Y. The top three finalist from each division in each region will be there, said Fairman.
Roller-skating competitions are very similar to those that are conducted in figure skating, according to Fairman. One difference she noted was that roller-skating allows for more flexibility in routines and disciplines than does ice skating.
There are four different disciplines in roller-skating, said Fairman.
The first is called circle figures which uses large circles on the roller rink floor.
"You have to trace the circle with the front and back wheels on either side," said Fairman.
The next discipline, loop figures, also involves tracing a line; however, in this discipline, the area covered is smaller than that of circles.
In freestyle ', skaters can do "everything that ice skaters can do," said Fairman. The exception is
that a roller-skater can do more jumps than a figure-skater can.
"With roller-skating, you can do between five to seven jumps at a time," said
Fairman.
The fourth discipline is dance. Fairman compared this to the compulsory dance in figure skating in which each skater follows a set pattern or program.
Christopher has been roller-skating since 1991. He took up roller-skating under the advice of his orthopedist to help him in his physical education classes at school.
His coaches soon discovered that he "had no fear or speed or height," said Fairman, "and began to work with him in artistic roller-skating." He has been competing since 1992.
She started in March of 1991 and participated in her first competition in July of that year, where she won a silver medal.
Fairman suffered a serious knee injury while skating and wouldn't be roller-skating today if it weren't for "wonderful help and care of the Langley hospital staff," she said. She credits the staff of the physical therapy and orthopedic clinic at Langley hospital for making this year's gold medal possible for her.
Both Fairman and Christopher practice at the Plaza Roller Rink on Pembroke under the coaching of Nickie and Barbara Jean Nolte.
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