Jennifer Yakimishyn has been active all her life. Swimming at three months old, gymnastics since the age of two and skating since she was eight. “I saw figure skating on TV. It looked so easy. I wanted to give it a try, but it wasn’t easy!” She joined the Bolton Skating Club in 1998 and has been there ever since. “At first I did both skating and gymnastics, but eventually both required more time so I had to choose. It wasn’t a hard choice. Although sometimes I wonder how things would have turned out had I gone down that other road. One time I watched the movie Stick It and I found myself wishing I still did gymnastics.” I asked Jennifer to explain the differences between gymnastics and skating. “In gymnastics the coaches give you the routines. In skating, you’re able to create your own routines. There’s more opportunity for expression and creativity.” Jennifer is quick to add that she gets hurt more in skating than she did in gymnastics. There are no mats in skating to cushion your fall!
Jennifer is no stranger to pain. It comes with the territory. When she was 11 years old, she developed plantar fasciitis, a condition caused in Jennifer’s case by the ripping and overuse of the plantar fascia, a tough band of connective tissue that runs from your heel to the ball of your foot. It supports your arch and transmits your weight across the bottom of the foot with each step you take. After physiotherapy, she was able to return to the ice, but in Grade 10 the condition returned. “It was much worse. I could only go on the ice for 15 minutes and I had to stop because the pain was so bad. I just stopped skating. I guess the rest allowed it to heal because it did go away, but I know it could flare up again at any time.”
Jennifer’s skating career moved to a new level when she got her first personal coach. Her name was Ingrid Felluga. “I was at CanSkate and my Mom saw all these kids going off with their private coaches during the breaks. My Mom asked this woman about it. The woman was Ingrid, and we were together for the next 10 years.” Ingrid had been a figure skater herself, and she and Jennifer worked well together. “I was really shy when I was younger, so anyone I could talk to I just stayed with.” Under Ingrid’s tutelage, Jennifer passed all three of her Gold Tests in dance, free skate and skills.
Jennifer recently achieved her fourth Gold in Interpretive skating. She is now Gold in all four categories required by Skate Canada: dance, free skate, and skills and interpretive. “I’m called a quadruple Gold skater. I’m only the second skater in my club’s history to achieve this status.” The process has involved passing over 40 tests in front of a Skate Canada judge. It has taken 10 years to pass them all.
Her latest accomplishment has been to land her first double axle which she did this past summer.
A double axle involves two and half rotations in mid-air. The skater takes off forwards and lands backwards. Jennifer landed her first double axle on her first day of training – a feat that usually takes several months of practice. Jennifer is currently working on triples at a rink in Etobicoke where she works in a harness attached to the ceiling as she skates. Her coach pulls the cord as she jumps to help her get the feel. Then she does it on the ice without the harness.
Looking back over her career, Jennifer remembers her first big competition. She made it to a tournament called COSIC (Central Ontario Section Interclub Championship). In order to make this competition you have to be first or second in your own club and then first or second at Inter Club. Skaters come from across Ontario to COSIC. Jennifer made it to COSIC twice, once when she was 9 and again when she was 10.
Because her Gold level testing has taken up so much of her time, Jennifer hasn’t competed for a couple of years; however, this past November she attended the Keswick Invitational Skate and came in first against eight other top skaters.
Jennifer now skates five days a week. Three days with her regular coach, Lynda Downey and two days with her jump coach, Mark MacVean. In addition, Jennifer has recently been certified as a coach herself and works with new young skaters three days a week at the Bolton Skate Club.
When asked how she juggles such a busy skating schedule while managing to stay on the honour roll in her Extended French program, Jennifer explains, “As soon as I get home, I go straight to my room and do all my homework. I have to be really organized – skating schedules, assignments. It’s especially hard around exam time and competitions, but when I get to the arena, I have to leave school and home off the ice. I can’t have any distractions. The moment I step on the ice I’m a different person. All the stresses of life and school disappear.”
Currently in Grade 12, Jennifer plans to attend the University of Western Ontario next year where she hopes to make the skating team. She wants to major in kinesiology with the intention of becoming an orthodontist. “I’ve had braces twice, so I can relate,” she laughs.
Although only 18 herself, Jennifer has advice for other young people. “Be yourself. Don’t do anything you don’t like. Make sure you’re in it for the right reasons. Do it because you like it, not just to make your parents happy. Set goals for yourself, because once you achieve them that’s the best feeling you can get in the world.” n

Michael Reist is a freelance writer and local teacher www.michaelreist.ca