Legends
This week, I traveled to San Francisco for work, and I got to skate at Yerba Buena. It’s my “home away from home,” since I seem to visit there pretty often. The other skaters and coaches are beginning to recognize me, so that’s pretty special.
While I was there, I got to meet Brian Boitano! I first met him back in the early 2000s, when he came to my city for a skating special. At that time, I had backstage passes and got to chat with him and others (Ekaterina Gordeeva, Yuka Sato, and Jason Dungjen to name a few). Brian was very classy and kind, and we talked a bit about some former Olympic skaters at my rink.
I also got to meet a future legend, Mia Kalin. Mia was one of the first US women to successfully land a quad jump (Alysa Liu is the other). I believe she has both a quad salchow and a quad toe loop in her arsenal. Mia recently switched coaches and is now with the same coaching team as Alysa. As chance would have it, my San Francisco coach also happens to be both of their coaches.
Every time I go to San Francisco, I get star struck. I keep hoping to run into Alysa Liu, but it hasn’t happened yet. Maybe next year!