Skater Kimmie Meissner world-class competitor

Kimmie Meissner (left) of the University of Delaware Figure Skating Club is coached by Pamela Gregory, the 2004 national Developmental Coach of the Year.

4:47 p.m., Oct. 26, 2004--Fifteen-year-old Kimmie Meissner of the University of Delaware Figure Skating Club is bright, energetic, enthusiastic and one of the hottest young skaters in the world.

Meissner is on a terrific run, most recently taking the ice with American stars Michelle Kwan and Sasha Cohen during the Campbell's International Figure Skating Classic held Oct. 1 at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minn.

Sports reporter Tom Powers wrote in the St. Paul Pioneer Press prior to the event that it would feature the “Generation Next of skating stars” and that most rinkside observers agreed Meissner was “the most intriguing youngster” in the competition.

Meissner bore out that assessment, finishing fifth behind Kwan, Shizuka Arakawa of Japan, Cohen and Miki Ando of Japan. She finished ahead of fellow Americans Jennifer Kirk and Amber Corwin.

Meissner is the reigning U.S. junior ladies champion, won the silver medal in the 2004 International Skating Union world junior figure skating championships held in March at The Hague in the Netherlands and is a near-lock to be invited to the ISU junior grand prix finals to be held Dec. 2-5 in Helsinki, Finland.

In January, she will travel to Portland, Ore., for the 2005 U.S. Figure Skating Association national championship.

A motivated competitor who also is very athletic, Meissner has mastered the triple lutz, is working on a triple axel, and is looking ahead to the day when she can add a quadruple toe loop to her repertoire. In short, her future is very bright.

Meissner’s mother, Judy (left), brings her daughter to UD for training from Maryland.

Meissner said she took up figure skating because she valued her front teeth. As a young child, she spent much of her time at an ice rink near Baltimore where her father and older brothers enjoyed playing hockey.

“When I was about 6 years old, I decided I didn’t want to sit and watch them anymore,” Meissner said. “There were two rinks, one for ice hockey and one for figure skating. I didn’t want to lose my teeth, so I thought figure skating would be better for me than hockey.”

Besides, she said, the young people who were figure skating “looked like they were having fun, and I wanted to have fun, too.”

Furthermore, she said, “It’s a pretty sport, and I wanted to wear the dresses with sparkles and the make-up.”

Meissner started taking lessons, first in groups and then individually. At first, she thought the people who were complimenting her skating ability were simply trying to be nice, but at about 8 years old, she “realized I could do something with it.”

That is when she began making the commute from Maryland, where she is a sophomore at Fallston High School, to the University of Delaware, which offers a world-class figure skating training program.

“I really enjoy training at the University of Delaware,” Meissner said. “I like the coaches, the trainers and the workout room. I also like the skaters I am with. The skaters here push me and help me progress.”

Meissner said the family car can now find its own way from Fallston to Newark. Her day is full, with five periods of high school classes in the morning and homework completed on the ride to and from the UD rink. Sometimes, she has to bring books to the rink to study during breaks, and sometimes there is still homework left for her to do when she finally gets home. Her favorite subject is biology, although it is not on her schedule this semester.

It is a demanding schedule that would wear on most people, but not Meissner. “I love it,” she said of her daily routine. “It’s fun.”

If she finds the daily training routine fun, she finds competition invigorating. “I consider myself a competitor,” Meissner said. “I skate well when I am under pressure. Leading up to competitions, I find that I start jumping better. And, once I am on the ice, I just go out there and skate my best. I like to have fun and entertain the audience.”

Meissner said highlights of her young career have included the world junior championships in the Netherlands and the Campbell’s competition, where she took the ice for the first time with Michelle Kwan and other internationally recognized stars. “It was really exhilarating, especially practicing on the same ice with them,” she said. “Finishing fifth was kind of shocking, and I was happy to get it. It was funny to see my name with the top people in the world at the senior level. It was cool.”

Meissner, who is coached by Pamela Gregory, the 2004 national Developmental Coach of the Year, said she continues to work on her triple axel and to improve her presentation, her spins and her spirals.

At the moment, she is looking forward to the upcoming trips to Finland and Portland. And, it is not out of the question that in 2006 she could be making a very special journey to Turin, Italy, the city that will host the 20th Winter Olympics.

Article by Neil Thomas
Photos by Kathy F. Atkinson

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