Figure Skater and Classicist

I've been a figure skater much longer than I've studied Classics. I began figure skating when I was in primary school and I still do. I thought I'd tell you how it all started, what the journey as a skater has been like and what figure skating means to me. While writing this I also realized that without figure skating I might not have gone to the high school in Turku where I could take courses in Latin. And if I hadn't studied Latin in high school I probably wouldn't be doing a PhD in Latin right now.

I remember watching figure skating on TV as a kid. The Lillehammer Olympics are still a vivid memory (Rahkamo & Kokko, the Harding-Kerrigan scandal etc.). What really got me to take up figure skating, though, was one PE class and my primary school teacher. One day in the fifth grade we were ice skating and the boys' PE teacher was out of school. Our teacher gave the boys two options: either go play hockey or come and try some figures with the girls. I wasn't that interested in hockey to begin with so I decided to go with the girls, and got one of my friends to come along too. That experience really gave me the idea of taking up figure skating. After I started skating I never had to play ice hockey at school again but was allowed to skate on my own.

I got a medal in my first competition!
(I think I was the only one in the boys' category.)

 

The following Fall I started going to skating classes weekly in Turku. After the first year I was moved to another group that trained three times a week. The 45-minute bus ride between my home in Sauvo and the rink in Turku became very familiar over the years, especially when I decided to go to high school in Turku. During high school I was moved to a higher-level group where we trained six times a week, plus competitions and camps. I wasn't aiming at the top, however, as I'd started skating rather late. I just skated for my own enjoyment and competed in the lower categories. I was happy to have got as far as I did.

I had to quit competitive skating when I was 20, not by choice but because of an injury. While I was doing my mandatory military service, I was on leave one weekend and skating at the rink when I fell and dislocated my right shoulder. The shoulder was operated on later and is fine now, but by that time I'd already started studying theology at Åbo Akademi University and no longer had time for skating.

I didn't skate much for a few years. Every once in a while I went to skate outdoors or on public ice. After some time, however, I wanted to get back on the ice. I ended up skating in a competitive training group in Raisio for a few years, although I didn't compete myself. I did get to skate and received good coaching.

You can perhaps guess what one of my roles on tour was.

While in Raisio I met some skaters who had skated on international tours and cruise ships, and they told me I should try it too. I was hesitant as I'd never thought that I was good enough for professional tours. After a long consideration I decided to try my luck and sent an application and a video to Disney On Ice. And it so happened that I got the job and started on a European tour with Disney in the Fall of 2011, taking some time off from my studies in Latin and leaving my master's thesis in theology unfinished. At first I thought I'd take one year off, but I enjoyed my time on tour and in the end it became almost three years. I did two tours in Europe and one in the United States with short visits to South Africa and Israel as well. (My old blog posts describe my time on tour, but they're all in Finnish.)

After three years on tour I decided that I had to come back to finish my master's thesis in theology. Otherwise I'd never get it done. I finished my BA in Latin at the same time. At times I thought I might go back on tour after finishing all that, but my last tour had ended in injury and an operation on my ankle which hindered me from getting back on the ice. Eventually I decided not to apply for another tour, and concentrated on teaching Latin and finishing my MA in Latin.

At the rink in the Fall 2020.
(📸: Tilla Tuominen)

I never quit skating, though. The last couple of years I've been attending classes for former competitive skaters about once a week (a video from 2019). Right now our classes are on a break because of the pandemic, so I've been skating on outdoor ice instead. If I ever have the time and the energy to train some more, I might attend some recreational competitions for adults.

Figure skating has been much more than just a sport for me. It has given me a lot of self-confidence and various skills. I was shy to perform in front of people when I was younger, but I lost this shyness over the years when I had to skate in front of audiences. Skating on tour I actually came to enjoy performing on ice. Skating has taken me into new places and situations which have taught social skills and given me many friends. The most important thing for me in skating, however, is the skill and precision this sport requires, and the fact that there's always something new to learn. This is what brings me back on the ice again and again.

On outdoor ice in Turku in January 2021.