Ice dancing, once the most predictable event in figure skating, may turn into the surprise of the U.S. Figure Skating Championships for the second straight year.
In 1991, the leaders changed after each of the competition`s three phases. And Tuesday, when the 1992 championships opened at Orlando Arena with compulsory dances, the unheralded team of Rachel Mayer and Peter Breen was tied for the lead with April Sargent-Thomas and Russ Witherby, national runners-up the past three seasons.
Mayer and Breen, both from Boston suburbs, finished only sixth overall a year ago. After that, they changed coaches, moving to Sandy Hess in Colorado Springs.
Hess also coaches defending champions Elizabeth Punsalan and Jarod Swallow, who were tied for third after compulsories, which count 20 percent of the final score. Only the top two finishers in dance will make the U.S. team for February`s Winter Olympics.
The dance competition continues Thursday with the original dance, worth 30 percent, and concludes Friday with the free dance, worth 50 percent.
”It`s exciting for the skaters that the judges are placing like they are seeing and not going on last year`s results,” said Swallow, whose team jumped from fifth at the 1990 nationals to the championship last year.
”A lot of pressure was put on judges because it was mentioned so often after the 1988 Olympics that nothing ever changes in ice dancing after the first compulsory dance,” Hess said.
”The judges realized the sport had to move forward, and the skaters feel better about going out for each segment knowing they will be rewarded for their performance in that segment.”
Mayer and Breen won the first dance, Sargent-Thomas and Witherby the second. ”We worked on nothing but compulsories since they started with me in June,” Hess said of Mayer and Breen.
The female partner of both co-leaders has overcome physical problems. Sargent-Thomas underwent surgery for an ovarian cyst Dec. 21. Mayer had arthroscopic surgery on both knees in 1990.
– Brian Boitano, the 1988 Olympic champion, wanted desperately to compete again in 1992, but the International Skating Union`s current rules on professionalism make him ineligible.
So Boitano is glad to be far from Orlando this week. He will be performing in his ice show, ”Chrysler Skating III,” Friday in Kansas City, Saturday in Minneapolis and Monday in Chicago.
”It`s like every skater`s dream to have a show in its third year,”
Boitano said, ”but the show doesn`t take the place of the competitor inside me, and it probably never will.”
Boitano`s competitive urge has been fired even more by the uncertain situations of world champion Kurt Browning of Canada and runner-up Viktor Petrenko of the Soviet Union.
Browning, bothered by a bad back, is expected to announce Thursday he is pulling out of next week`s Canadian Championships. Petrenko was a dismal third at the recent Soviet Championships.
