I started skating five years ago in the United States. I didn't learn to skate on speedskates originally, first it was hockey skates even though I've never played hockey. It started out as just something I did for fun but one day when I was leaving my mom picked up a flyer for speedskating that was starting at the rink and asked me if I wanted to do this. I wasn't really sure how interested I was because I'd never seen speedskating before or even really heard of it, but I said "Sure, I'll try it". I started skating with all adults and one other kid, but I had no idea how different speed skates were from hockey skates, so I fell down a lot and pretty much did the "penguin walk" for almost a year, until I had learned how to skate on them. Even then, I wasn't fast at all. My coach, Dave, usually coaches adults, but he was the one who taught me to skate. I was only 8 and he made learning really fun.
The next season a new coach Elena joined the club and I slowly began doing things with her group of kids. After a month or so I joined her off-ice training program and then she officially became my coach. Two seasons later I had my first competition. It was Elena who made sure I started competing. Elena was the coach who really helped me focus and inspired me. She gave me a lot of personal attention because I worked so hard and she knew I really enjoyed it and wanted it. She showed me that if I really want to do this, there are people out there who will help me achieve my goals.
My speedskating goal: the Olympics.
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