Nine Weeks in Moscow By Mathieu Wilson, 11 March 2005 Me, Ricky, Alexander Rokoff and Tristan We departed Auckland on the 8th of December, first flying to San Francisco, where we had a three-hour wait, then to Frankfurt, then to Moscow - around the world! It was strange being in Moscow Sheremetevo Airport again; it looked strangely familiar, even though I do not remember much from the last trip there. From the airport we were picked up by friends of Slava's, and taken to the Moskvich hotel, about 5 minutes walk away from the Moskvich Ice Skating Rink (The hotel, tennis courts, soccer field, running track and skating rink were all part of the Moskvich training 'area'). Unfortunately the cost of the hotel was much more expensive than we had anticipated - it was around $100US a night - and the accommodation wasn't exactly 5 star! We stayed there for the first two weeks or so, and during this time we began our training. The Moskvich Ice Skating Rink About 3 or 4 days after we arrived in Russia, Tristan and I skated in the Moskvich competition. Naturally, being Russia, the level of competition was definitely of a higher standard than in NZ or Australia! I was pretty amazed after the short program; I was coming 21st out of 25! Unfortunately my long program was not much better than the short program - I landed double axel and double jumps, plus normal spins. However it was a great encouragement to me that I landed double axel in both programs, since this has been a very troubling jump for me in the past. Me, Slava and Ricky with Russia's up-and-coming skaters About three weeks after we arrived, we began having 'choreography' lessons with a man named Alexander Rokoff, who worked at the rink with Victor's group. He was a really nice guy, a great dancer, and he appreciated the fact that we were New Zealand Figure skaters, not Russian (aka our ballet skills had much to be desired!). Over the course of 6 weeks I found that I became more flexible, more aware of my body position both on and off the ice (e.g. turnout of foot), and also found that the muscles around my hip became stronger. He also helped us with our programs off the ice (when we had them), and occasionally offered advice during our training. Tristan, me, Klimkin and Ricky On the ice, we were training with a group of 4 guys and 4 girls. This was Victor's group, and although Slava was coaching us, occasionally Victor would make comments on our skating. Also, we learned around about 20 or 25 new footwork sequences from his group, and often we would just follow the examples of Victor's students. Considering all of the skaters in his group had at least 3 triple jumps each (the youngest was around 12 years old), it was a great skating environment for us to train in, and I feel that skating with skaters of such a high level is the main cause of my improvement. About 1 week after New Year, after Tristan had received his new programs, I began working on my new programs with Victor's wife, Marina. The music of Jesus Christ Superstar (for short program) and Pink Panther (long program) was also chosen by her, as was Tristan's new music. As a result we both have two very high level programs that should be marked highly under the new judging system. If only we could skate it how Marina did!(her footwork is amazing!). Tristan and I in front of St. Basil's Cathedral in Red Square Coming back to New Zealand, I can now fully understand how much of an advantage skaters in Russia have. They train constantly, there is no mucking about. Every day when we arrived at the rink we could feel the attitude difference - these kids were serious. Of course it might help knowing that one day you could be Olympic champion! I think that also it was partly this attitude that gives them the edge - nothing can distract them from their goals (except injury perhaps...). I think that compared to Russia the attitude to training in Auckland is a lot more laid back, however i feel that this trip has helped me focus on what is needed to compete at this level. I greatly appreciate the financial assistance the New Zealand Ice Skating Association and Glenburn Figure Skating Club without which this trip would not have been possible. This was an amazing experience, and I only hope that I can continue to improve based on what I have learned overseas.