Tamar Katz
Let us introduce: Tamar Katz
By Reut Golinsky
Tamar Katz has recently joined AbsoluteSkating and while presenting you her official website, we have decided to give a more detailed introduction to who she is, how she started skating and what her goals are. She is three-time Israeli National champion and our hope in the Ladies competition at the coming Olympic Games in Vancouver. I say "our" because I'm Israeli too and the chance to talk to her obviously added additional meaning and excitement for me personally.
When people hear "Israel", the first association would be Jerusalem, Dead Sea, heat, but for sure not figure skating. How did you become a figure skater?
Yes, Israel is not a country known for its winter sports but more for sailing, judo, swimming etc. Skating is not part of the Israeli culture. But Israel is full of immigrants: every 5th to 6th person is Russian or from Eastern Europe. These countries have long, bitter winters and they are more familiar with figure skating, as you probably know from the sell-out show that Averbuch puts on every year in Israel with little to no advertising. The influence of immigrants' cultures has been immense on the Israeli lifestyle and in sports as well. Most of the skaters in Israel have Russian backgrounds. Immigrant skaters and athletes in general come to Israel for new opportunities.
So, they come for new opportunities. Do they always find them?
I think some of them do, but not everyone. Galit [Chait] and Sergei [Sakhnovsky], and the president of the Israeli skating federation Boris Chait (who is also of Russian origin), have found their opportunities, and as a result helped to develop the sport. See, when I started skating for Israel, figure skating was already established, thanks to [Michael] Shmerkin, Galit and Sergei [Chait/ Sakhnovsky], Yossi Goldberg, and Boris [Chait]. So yes, when you say "Israel" the first thought that enters one's mind is Jerusalem, great sea shore, excellent food and wine - but we are also a mix of other cultures, such as Russian and Eastern European, in which figure skating plays a prominent part.
But the first time you came to the ice was not in Israel, right?
Right, it was in Maryland. I was exposed to the sport while being in the US when my dad was sent to work in DC. Even before skating, when I was in Israel, I was interested in musical sports - I was competing in rhythmic gymnastics. I started skating rather "late" or what is considered late in the figure skating world. I started skating for fun at the age of 9 but didn't start skating on a more regular basis until I was 10. Most kids start as young as 3! In fact, I started out as a completely American skater and went to Junior Nationals twice. My father's time in DC had ended, my mom and I tried to stay in the States so I could continue to skate but it became very difficult to be apart and we returned to Israel. We moved to Metula, though we have a house in Zichron Ya'akov, because that's where the only Olympic ice rink in Israel is situated.
Actually there was another reason why I decided to come back to Israel, which seemed very appealing to me as a young skater and it's kind of funny. In the United States there is something called a "moves test". I have completed all novice moves, but have never been tested on junior and senior ones. This is a goal of mine in the future though - to take all moves and freestyle tests through to seniors in the States. It's never too late to do it and I don't believe that it will be very hard for me: since the beginning of the new judging system, my ability to do steps has increased tremendously and taking the moves test should not be a problem, and it is definitely something that's good to have. But then, when I was 12-13, I absolutely abhorred working on moves, I wanted to jump, to spin etc. And someone mentioned to me that if I skated for Israel I wouldn't have to do moves. So I was an intermediate in the States and in the end I just jumped right to junior international in Israel. That's a major jump for any skater. I don't think we had any other juniors at the time, we had some senior skaters like Rachel Lior, Darya Zuravicky and Karen Shua-Chaim, but I think I was the only junior. Later we had Jenna Syken, Rima Beily and some other American skaters.
And the last reason was that it was easier financially as well: in Israel I did not have to pay for ice time or coaches or any of that, it didn't cost me anything, and figure skating is a VERY expensive sport. Now, while I'm training in the US, my parents and my federation support me financially. The federation is very supportive of me and my career and I am very thankful for that.
Were your parents so serious about your skating from the very beginning? It's less typical for Israeli parents to push their children towards sports.
I think that every professional athlete knows that you can't do anything without the support of your family. My family is my backbone. They are the first I turn to when things don't go as planned (which is often in figure skating). Every decision I make I first run by my family. At the end of the day, your family is the only source you can truly count on.
And you're right, most Israeli families, true Israeli families, like my family, push more for education than sports, and this is actually a unique story as well. I used to go to Cabin John, an ice rink in Maryland, every day from 4-6 and skated during the public session. It was just for fun but I was an extremely ambitious child and I was always serious about everything I did: I came in every day and skated with the brown rental skates. I used to skate in the middle between the cones and would do many spirals. I loved doing spirals because they combined rhythmic gymnastics and skating. I never noticed that there was an office overseeing the rink and that someone was always watching. He was the director of the skating club, an elderly man called Walter. One day the guards called me off the ice and into his office. I barely spoke English at the time and I thought I was in trouble because skaters are not allowed to be without parental supervision. They took my skates away and brought me my shoes. Then Walter came and put a pair of white skates on my feet. He said something but I didn't understand. So he pointed to the ice and I understood that he meant, "go skate".
He gave me my very first pair of skates and said that I should always remember where my first pair of skates came from.
Walter had cancer, he was bald, but of course at the time I didn't understand what it meant. He died a few years later. I wish I had remembered his last name...
I started taking lessons, once a week for thirty minutes, with my very first coach Nina. After a while Nina invited my parents for a cup of coffee and a talk, trying to persuade them that I should take more lessons, because I was very talented. So, my dad said: "Many kids have talent, how can you say that she will actually stick to it if we supported her?" And she answered: "Have you seen your daughter skate? She has a connection with the ice; it's as if she is having a conversation with it."
My mom tells me that story often, but I guess after that I got more lessons and stuck to it; my parents realized I was serious and it just took off from there. And they always supported me, because, as mom said, they saw my talent and they believed that it was their responsibility to help me to nurture it.
This is an amazing and very touching story. So, you came to Israel, and then what happened? When and why did you decide to go back to the US?
I lived in Israel for two years, the first year I really tried to skate, but it wasn't easy. Right before coming to Israel, I took up independent study at the North Dakota Center for Distance Education and I continued that in Israel, but I also attended the Har Vagai High School in Israel. Therefore, I was studying at two schools during that time, and of course I had training. Ice time was very limited, so I had to skate late at night, like 9 in the evening, and then again at 6 in the morning, which was extremely unproductive.
There isn't an excess of coaches in Israel and I mostly worked with Tania Stolina and Sergei Sheiko. They were the only two coaches there at the time. I also went to Russia a few times to work with Mishin: I've attended his seminars before and worked with his group while I was there. I tried to split training, part time in Lake Arrowhead, California and part time in Israel and eventually skated mostly in Lake Arrowhead. However, Lake Arrowhead was very far from Israel and it was difficult to be so far away from home when I was only fifteen or sixteen years old.
When I got injured, it was season 2005/06, I returned home. I missed all the competitions of that season; I was upset about having to watch the Olympics on TV and not be able to participate; at that point I really understood how I wanted to be a part of something big like the Olympics and to represent Israel in Vancouver. For the first time I knew that I wanted to be the best I could be, not just to skate because I liked it, but to see where I could really go with it. And the only way to do that was to move to the States and skate. That's when my mom and I left Israel and moved to Wayne, NJ to train with Galina Zmievskaya. I skated with Zmievskaya for one year, during which I had no financial support, and I left because she was too expensive for us at the time. I first moved to Hackensack, NJ and trained with a coach there, but there was and incident when he was extremely drunk during one of my competitions, so I ended up with Mr. Peter Burrows in Monsey, NY. To date, he is the best and most supportive coach I have ever had. Furthermore, I now receive funding from the federation and I can afford to work with a top-tier coach like him.
Now I understand HOW important this coming season is for you.
This coming season is everything to me in every aspect of my life, not just skating. My two goals are to make it to the Olympics and to start learning for SAT II, because I would like to attend an Ivy League school in the fall of 2010. My family has supported me through skating but they have always taught me that without an education you are lost.
My nearest goal is to skate really well at Oberstdorf. I have these two amazing programs that Lea Ann Miller choreographed for me which show who I really am. And I want to skate two clean programs there for the first time in my career. But I'm trying not to put too much pressure on myself.
Do you have something before Oberstdorf to test yourself?
Yes, I am competing at Wilmington Delaware at the end of July, Montreal at the beginning of August, Moran memorial at the end of August, and possibly Mid Atlantics in September.
So, you want to start university in the "season after the Olympics"? What about skating?
Skating is something you can do forever. It is something I love to do. I will never stop skating, as long as my body allows me to skate, I will do so.
In general how many years do you see yourself in competitive sport? Do you plan to continue until Sochi 2014?
I don't know yet. I am just going to take it as it comes. I don't want to think about it now, I'll think about it after I go to the Olympics (fingers crossed). I have a "Scarlet O'Hara" view to things sometimes: "I don't want to think about it now, I'll think about it tomorrow". I am skating to Gone with the wind this year and my coach sometimes calls me Scarlet because I am so much like her: I am head-strong and stubborn, yet I am determined and passionate. I idolize Scarlet O'Hara, this is the reason I am skating to Gone with the wind. Loved the movie, loved the book, loved that era in American history.
Is it usually you, who chooses your music?
I chose my short program music and Lea Ann Miller chose my long program music to Gershwin's concerto.
And what about dresses?
I wore a dress last season at Worlds, and it was practically an exact replica of a dress Scarlet wore in the movie. Unfortunately, it was very heavy. It used heavy velvet, a big skirt, a wide opening. It was very Scarlet O'Hara and reminiscent of the time, but it received bad comments, so I need lighter material. A company called "Rest" in Russia always makes my costumes and they are brilliant.
Regardless of what anyone says, in skating it's very important to look good, hair, makeup, everything is important. And I'm learning to accept that, I used to think that it doesn't matter, you just have to skate well. But this is not true; you have to present yourself and your character well. I think of it this way: you have about 5 minutes to give the judges the best impression of you as you can, you gotta make them like you.
I absolutely agree with you, skating is always a bit of a show, I'm glad you understand it now. Sometimes someone can have an awful haircut and you can't concentrate on their skating.
...or an awful dress. The program is short and you're only thinking "what the hell is she wearing" and then the program is over before you can figure out what's on her costume.
On the other hand the make-up and smiles might be deceiving...but let me tell you, after all you have to be tough too, no one said figure skating was easy.
I think figure skating is VERY hard! Every time I try to make a few steps on the ice (you can't call it skating) I recall all my critics about different skaters...
But critics are so important. I try not to go on many message boards but after I compete I want to see the audience's general reaction, this way I can improve.
So you really check some forums? This is one of the favorite topics on the forums: "do skaters read us?"
I don't read them that often, only if they relate to me. I check Icenetwork every day, and read discussions about competitions etc. I think skaters do read what you say and sometimes people are very mean, and sometimes it is not true, but sometimes advice can be great. If many different people are saying the same thing then it must be true. And if a skater says they never go on forums I think they are deceiving you: everyone wants to know what people think about their skating, everyone wants to be recognized and appreciated for all the hard work and effort we put in.
As this is an interview for your website and its main purpose was to present your site, tell me a bit about "you and the Internet" in general.
The Internet is a big hobby of mine; my favorite site right now is Pandora radio. Facebook I love also, I have found friends there that I haven't seen or talked to in years and it's great. It allows me to keep in touch with hundreds of people at the same time.
Do you have friends here, in Israel? Did you have time to make friends here?
Yes, of course, I have many friends in Israel.
In general, do you feel yourself Israeli? If yes, then why? What is being Israeli for you?
I was born in the United States to a very Israeli family. My dual citizenship represents my personality – I am a girl of two worlds. I speak both languages fluently, although at home and with my family I only speak in Hebrew. Although I have a room here and a room in Israel, my home is in Israel because that's where all of my childhood possessions are and that's where my parents live. I have a life here and I have a life there, a bed here and there, friends here and there. When I am in Israel I only want to be in Israel and when I am in the United States I only want to be in the United States. It kind of creates a confusing situation for me and since my two worlds don't really collide in any way, I guess you can say I am living two lives.
When I was injured last season, I spent two months in Israel at the Wingate Sports Institute. The excellent treatment I received, the people I met, the other Israeli athletes – it was so motivating and so refreshing to be surrounded by people who share the same goal as me – to represent Israel in the Olympics. However, when I went to Metula to skate, it didn't feel the same. The attitude to figure skating in Israel and the conditions under which we train are different. It's difficult to be a skater in Israel. The United States has plenty of ice rinks and available ice time, coaches, advertisements, colleges, and the general public views figure skating as a prominent sport. But it's more than that, I think Israel lacks "the sports culture" and there is much less respect for athletes in Israel than there is in other countries such as the United States, Russia, Japan and Korea. These countries view their athletes as superstars, while in Israel even Olympic champions are hardly recognized.
You're very right about the situation with sports in Israel. I wonder what can be done. What we can do to improve it. What can I do? What can you do?
Figure skating is not developed enough in Israel because there is no rink in central Israel. We need, actually we MUST open a rink in Bat Yam or somewhere in Tel Aviv, and this will completely change the sport in Israel. Israel is a warm country, can you imagine how many kids will sign up for group classes during the summer? Summer camps could be available; people would come to cool down, to enjoy themselves, to have a good time. And the top skaters could put on weekly shows...
Another thing that would help is more media coverage. For instance, if we have skaters competing at the Olympics, the media needs to cover it; athletes in Israel need to be promoted - they can do commercials, model sports clothes, vitamins, etc.
I want to dedicate time to developing the sport in Israel but the only way I can do that right now is by concentrating on what I am doing and succeeding. If Israeli skaters succeed then it will obviously help, look at Yu-Na Kim, for example. I hope I can make a difference, too.
You mentioned that you spent two months at the Wingate Sports Institute because of the injury. I know, it was a rather bad one and it almost ruined this season for you, tell me more about it.
I had a very difficult and disappointing 08/09 season. I had set certain goals for that season: to create a new image for myself with the help of Lea Ann Miller, to incorporate new elements in my program, such as triple-triple combinations. I wanted to make a splash that season, so that I would be more recognized going into the Olympics. I believe I put too much pressure on myself and over-worked myself. I ended up having a grade two stress fracture in my right foot that was not immediately diagnosed and therefore mistreated. I went to the Wingate institute for diagnosis and treatment which took nearly two months. While off the ice, I trained a lot in the gym trying to keep up my fitness levels and then, unfortunately, I tripped and broke my hand. So I actually had a broken hand and a broken foot, and even after my stress fracture had healed, I still experienced pain because of inflammation in the injured area. Two weeks before Worlds, I had to receive cortisone in my foot so that I could skate. I had to compete at Worlds only two weeks after returning to the ice, following five months off. It was one of my lowest points. I had to develop a completely different approach to competing at Worlds and look at it from a different perspective. You can read more about this period in my journal.
Needless to say, it was testing, but I lived up to the challenge and was able to nearly qualify for the final round even with only double jumps. Although I am still utterly disappointed by last season, I do not regret the lessons I learned. I will be able to incorporate those tough times into the rest of my life, not just in skating, but in all future challenges that life will most definitely bring.
Classic question to ask every figure skater: do you have any role model in the sport?
Michelle Kwan!! I used to skate with Michelle when I trained in Lake Arrowhead, California. She is the most amazing person to skate with, she is like a shark - she never stops moving in an entire 45 minute session and she looks like she is flying and having the time of her life. I think that you usually have to separate a celebrity from their art: just because they are great artists, doesn't make them great people, but in Michelle's case it's different. She is an amazing person, I often sat next to her and she always took an interest in my skating and was very supportive.
I heard that she has come back to do shows, I'd love to see Michelle as a show skater, that would make me very happy. I want to see her bring artistry back to show skating, like Shizuka Arakawa is doing, another idol of mine. And actually Shizuka has developed as a show skater, she is better now than when she was an amateur. Did you see her "Frozen" program? It's my favorite show program OF ALL TIMES.
Do you see yourself in any other sport? What would you be if not choosing this road?
I think if I had not chosen this road I would definitely have pursued some other musical sport. I think I would have ended up being a dancer or a gymnast. I am glad I did not end up as a gymnast because the injuries are tough and the longevity in the sport is even shorter than in figure skating. Figure skating is actually something you can do forever. At my rink we have an 82 year old man who skates every day for two hours and he has like 3 routines. It's pretty amazing. But I think if I was not a skater, I would probably be a dancer. Dancing is actually something I pursue when I have time (which is like never), I go to the Broadway Dance Center in New York and take jazz or hip hop lessons when I can. I would like to some day audition for "Do you think you can dance?"
Wow, jazz and hip hop are really cool, it'll add to your skating too especially when you skate to Gershwin.
Yeah, my Gershwin program is very jazzy and very fast, it's quite challenging. I showed it only once in competition, at the Karl Schaeffer Memorial in Austria, in 2008. But as it was the beginning of the season, it wasn't ready yet and needed more improvement. I hope it'll be better this season; I really want to show my more jazzy side.
So, good luck with it this season, with both your programs of course! Fingers crossed for the Nebelhorn Trophy. :)
Once again thank you very much for this interview and welcome to AbsoluteSkating.
P.S. If anyone knows who Walter from Cabin John was, or knows anything about him, Tamar would love to hear from you.
Published on AbsoluteSkating.com:
http://www.absoluteskating.com/interviews/2009tamarkatz1.html