| Eric
Anderson: `97 world champion - men's singles |
| 1.
Eric, how long have you been involved in Artistic Roller
Sports? |
| I
started skating when I was 3 1/2 years old in 1978 and have
been competing for 22
years. |
| 2.
Which Club and State do you represent in the USA? |
| I
skate out of the Silver City Skating Club in Taunton,
Massachusetts. |
| 3.
Have you worked with many trainers or do you have only one
coach? |
| Over
the years I have skated for many different coaches. My first 8
years I skated for Gene and
Elmer Ringeisen. I then went on to Kevin Davis for 3 years
and then to Gail and Dennis Collier for 2 years. I went back
to Kevin for a year, then
back to Gail and Dennis and then again back to Kevin. After
my first year on the World Team in
1992, I skated for Richard Spindler from 1993-1997.
In 1998-1999, I worked with Sandro Guerra for my programs and
coached myself as well. I have
also worked with ice choreographer Ricky Harris.
Beyond the coaches, I've relied on many different artistic
types of shows for
inspiration. |
| 4.
You made your debut at a World meet in 1992 taking the bronze
medal, in 1997 you achieved
the ultimate in Roller Sports and became World Champion
in Reus, Spain. How did that feel? |
| The
best word to describe the feeling of becoming World Champion
for me was RELIEF! I had
put so many years of time and energy into the sport that I can
remember ending my long program in
Spain and just sitting there for a second on
the floor thinking that it finally paid off. Of course, there
are many other great things
that I've been able to do because of that hard work, but
from a competitive view, that was
the ultimate feeling of accomplishment. |
| 5.
What impact on your life did becoming World Champion make? |
| I
don't think I really changed as a person so much besides the
fact that I knew at that
point that if I worked hard and believed in what I did for the
rest of my life, I could
accomplish anything. In skating, I felt a sense of freedom.
I knew that I had proven myself as a skater and that now I
could have some room to
develop more by taking more risks and challenging myself to
grow as a skater. To me, it was
almost like gaining a creative license to do whatever
I wanted because I knew that no matter what, they couldn't
take away the fact that I
was a World Champion. |
| 6.
By competing in Roller Sports have you made a group of friends
that you keep in touch with
overseas or within the USA? |
| I
have had a great opportunity to travel all over the world and
meet a lot of special
friends that I would have never had if I didn't skate. I have
friends on 6 out of 7
continents in the world (and if penguins skated, I would have
friends in the 7th-Antarctica!!)
It has been one of the greatest rewards to know
so many unique people that all share a common interest. When I
can't skate anymore and all
of the championships are over, I know I will have a group
of life-long friends around the world. |
| 7.
Is your professional interest in Roller Sports or do you go to
University etc? |
| I
went to the University of San Diego in California (where I grew
up) and graduated from
there in 1998 with a degree in Business Administration and
Spanish. I am currently working in
the International division of a major mutual
fund company in downtown Boston. It is very difficult in the
United States to make a
professional career in roller skating. I would love to do
it, but unfortunately there is not
enough money to be made to support a family
teaching skating. |
| 8.
Do you think that the standard of skating has improved since
the introduction of the
Junior Worlds in 1995? |
| I
thought that the idea of having a junior world competition was
great for the younger
skaters. I wish they had it when I was younger. It has
definitely improved our
sport in all of the disciplines. One reason is because it
gives younger skaters the
opportunity to compete at an international level early to
get them ready for the senior
level. It also allows them to see the senior competitors
skate which gives them inspiration to train harder for when
they actually reach the
junior level. Plus, they are rewarded earlier in their careers
for hard work in getting the chance to travel and make
friends. |
| 9.
Would you like to see Artistic Roller Sports at the Olympic
Games? If so, why do you
think it should be a summer inclusion? |
| Of
course I would like to see Artistic Roller Sports in the
Olympic Games. Not only is
it a beautiful and interesting sport to watch, it is a very
athletic sport as well. I think it
would be a perfect compliment to ice skating
in the Winter Olympics to have roller skating in the Summer
Olympics. |
| 10.
Do you teach any skaters? |
| I
have taught skaters for 7 years. I lived in California until
1999 and had many skaters
to work with there. Now that I am in Massachusetts, I teach a
few skaters and I am trying to
bring new skaters up. It is difficult to find the
time to teach when I am working and skating myself. Sometimes
it can get overwhelming
when I need to practice and I also have to teach, but I enjoy
it very much. |
| 11.
Finally, do you have any words of encouragement for skaters
around the world? |
| The
most important thing is to have fun. When you stop having fun,
that is when it is
time to hang up your skates. When you are practicing, push
yourself as hard as you can while you are in the rink. You are
there to skate, so make the most out of your time. I think it
is also very important to
do things outside of skating too. I played football, baseball
and soccer in school and
found that it was good to break the monotony of just going to
the rink everyday and practicing
the same things. For beginners, I think it is
very important for you to get the basics of skating perfect
before trying the more
difficult items. Once you get the basics, the harder content
will surely come. But, if
you start with bad basics and try for the hard content to
soon because everyone else is, then it will surely catch up
with you in the end. Most
importantly, don't give up and believe that you will succeed.
Skating is every bit mental as it
is physical. It starts in the mind and ends on
the skating floor.
Never stop dreaming! |
