Figure Skaters That Have Competed In Other Sports
- Thread starter CaroLiza_fan
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Those who tried roller skates to go on skating during CoViD quarantines, said that it was really different.
French brothers Joshua and Xan... Rols (I didn't invent it!) haven't competed very much internationally in Figure Skating but they've long been staples at National level, with usually participation at the Championnat de France Elite (French Senior National Championship) and Masters, and in Roller Figure Skating competitions too, their hometown Toulouse been known for their strong Roller culture; and Xan Rols even getting a Roller World Silver Medal where his older brother was fourth:
Mondial de roller artistique : les deux premières médailles françaises
Le championnat du monde de roller artistique et danse sur roulettes se déroule jusqu'au 13 octobre, au Vendéspace, à Mouilleron-le-Captif.actu.fr
Here's Xan Rols Free Skate last season at the Warsaw Cup (Challenger):
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Here's Joshua Rols Long Program:
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Thank you for remembering them! Alain Calmat has been a Youth and Sports Minister and for a long time a Representative and the Mayor of a Paris suburban town, and is still a member of the Sports Academy and chairs the Medical part of the French Olympic Committee.
Kevin Aymoz was 2016 N2 France Champion in Twirling Baton, I don't know Twirling Baton but I'd say that N2 is for National 2, usually in France it means the second league? Here's his copmetition:
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I'm not sure what N2 means either, but it must be some sort of lower level. I was a baton twirler from the age of 2 to 19, competing at the provincial, national, and world level, and I was honestly rather unimpressed with his routine. The tricks that he is doing (e.g., basic rolls, two-spins) are ones that young children, around the ages of 8-10, can do, at least in North American competitions. Based on this video, as well as others that I have seen of his twirling, I think that he was wise to focus on figure skating rather than baton twirling.
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- Dec 9, 2019
Thank you for your information! I have just checked on the site of this Federation (which seems to be part of the main Federation), they say that N3 is for beginners, N2 for intermediate, and N1 for advanced Athletes:
Trouver un club - FFSTB
Le Twirling, c’est un sport qui se vit à fond, seul ou à plusieurs, et toujours dans la bonne humeur. Chacun peut y trouver sa place et son style.
fftwirl.fr
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- Mar 7, 2015
I asked AI... Of course, we never know with AI.. but it seems legit
que veut dire la catégorie N2 (what does N2 mean in twirling for the FFTB)
So it's an intermediate level. Not elite.
In French below. I am not going to translate ... feel free to ask if you need clarification on the French.
En twirling bâton (sous l'égide de la FFTB / FFSTB), la catégorie N2 (Nationale 2) désigne le deuxième niveau de compétition nationale sur une échelle qui en compte trois.
Pour simplifier, cela correspond à une division de niveau intermédiaire-avancé.
Voici la structure des divisions pour mieux situer la N2 :
- Nationale 3 (N3) : Le niveau de départ pour les compétitions nationales (accessible après les sélections départementales et régionales).
- Nationale 2 (N2) : Le niveau intermédiaire. Les athlètes y exécutent des mouvements techniques plus complexes qu'en N3, mais moins exigeants que l'élite.
- Nationale 1 (N1) : Le niveau Élite. Ce niveau regroupe les meilleurs athlètes du pays qui visent les sélections internationales.
Comment un athlète se retrouve en N2 ?
- Les quotas de points : Un athlète ou un club accède à la N2 en atteignant un certain total de points (les "minimas") lors des compétitions régionales ou des quarts de finale.
- Le système de promotion : Les meilleurs athlètes de la saison en N3 montent en N2 l'année suivante, tandis que ceux de N2 qui atteignent des scores d'élite sont promus en N1.
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- Mar 7, 2015
posted at the same timeThank you for your information! I have just checked on the site of this Federation (which seems to be part of the main Federation), they say that N3 is for beginners, N2 for intermediate, and N1 for advanced Athletes:
Trouver un club - FFSTB
Le Twirling, c’est un sport qui se vit à fond, seul ou à plusieurs, et toujours dans la bonne humeur. Chacun peut y trouver sa place et son style.
.So Ai was right this time 
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- Jul 26, 2003
What is interesting to me is how multi talented people make a decision to pursue their final single choice.
When Charlie White broke his ankle playing hockey, the team discovered during the following year that they did not particularly enjoy living the life of normal teenagers.
When Charlie White broke his ankle playing hockey, the team discovered during the following year that they did not particularly enjoy living the life of normal teenagers.
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- Mar 7, 2015
Yes. That's is interesting to me. For instance, I would like to know why Bruce Waddell decided, after success as an ice dancer, and limited jump arsenal, to keep skating for so many years, as a single skater. Sure, he likes singles better.. Fine but what does he like better ? Was there something in ice dance that he didn't like ? Did he try to find a new partner. Of course, ice dance and single skating are two disciplines of the same sport, but I am sure my point is easy to grasp. What made Kieran Thrasher decide to move away from hockey, well he wasn't drafted. Why did Zachary Lagha decide to focus on skating rather than music. I am guessing, since he took dance as a major, that he prefers expressing music with his entire body, which a pianist certainly cannot do. This is an interesting topic but for that, we would need to interview all these people, and sometimes, they do not even know.
I will share why I chose music instead of swimming
. I was doing really well in age groups because I had a very early growth spurt. But by the age of 16, I was only 5'11 and guys my age were growing taller and taller. I was easily beaten by guys who had never even been close to me. It was discouraging to me that my body wasn't cooperating and it was well, genetics. I could have kept fighting for sure. Some people do make it, but I had other passions, and one of which was music. I chose to be a musician. I wasn't probably never going to be an elite athlete so it's not a great loss for the world of swimming But, from age 8-16, I was much more of a swimmer than a musician. Once I quit swimming, gosh, the time I had to practice piano. I improved very very quickly and loved the fact that I was in charge of my own development and wouldn't be limited by physical factors I have no control over. Of course, nobody needs to care about my own story. I am only sharing it to illustrate a point.
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- Oct 22, 2022
I dropped gymnastics in favour of skating because I'm quite heat-intolerant and loved the cold arena better than the heated gym. I also much preferred working with a partner. And there was more variety in costumes in skating than in gymnastics, which in my university-team day was just plain one-colour leotards. (Hey, nobody said your reasons couldn't be frivolous.) And skating used music, gymnastics didn't -- that was a big reason.Yes. That's is interesting to me. For instance, I would like to know why Bruce Waddell decided, after success as an ice dancer, and limited jump arsenal, to keep skating for so many years, as a single skater. Sure, he likes singles better.. Fine but what does he like better ? Was there something in ice dance that he didn't like ? Did he try to find a new partner. Of course, ice dance and single skating are two disciplines of the same sport, but I am sure my point is easy to grasp. What made Kieran Thrasher decide to move away from hockey, well he wasn't drafted. Why did Zachary Lagha decide to focus on skating rather than music. I am guessing, since he took dance as a major, that he prefers expressing music with his entire body, which a pianist certainly cannot do. This is an interesting topic but for that, we would need to interview all these people, and sometimes, they do not even know.
I will share why I chose music instead of swimming
Of course, nobody needs to care about my own story. I am only sharing it to illustrate a point.
I kept on dancing in many forms as an off-ice adjunct, and for fun mostly, although I compete locally in ballroom because everyone at my studio does, but I don't travel to the bigger competitions for that.
Music I saw as a long-term career choice rather than skating, both in piano and singing. Piano competitions came to a halt when I was 17 and accidentally sliced my left thumb to the bone. It healed well enough for everything else, but I had small hands to begin with and could no longer stretch to an octave for the big chords that are often given to that hand. I still do some accompanist work where I can disguise a missing note or two in the left hand, but no more solo work. Singing will always be with me, competitively or not. Wedding work, guest solos when a church choir wants to do a Messiah at Christmas and needs bolstering with a semi-pro, musicals amateur or pro, choirs big and small.....they'll be there until I croak, both in the age-related sense and the slangy one.
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- Dec 9, 2019
This matter of temperature was to me the most obvious reason why Roller Figure Skating seems so different from, not to say incompatible with (like Volley Ball or Guitar with Piano) Ice Figure Skating; because if I can imagine an Athlete developping multi-specialized ankles or sense of balance, with some overlaps, I can't imagine how those who do both can do such athletic feats in so different temperatures.
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- Oct 22, 2022
In what category would you put the cox of an 8-oar rowing crew? (I'm being curious, not challenging.) One of my older cousins got recruited to do that during the early 1960s when he was a student at UBC and the university crew was representing Canada at all the big competitions. He has at least one medal from their world championships, and a gold medal from the 1963 Pan-American Games. He competed in the 1964 Olympics, but the team was fouled by another boat and eliminated in spite of protests.
The ironic part is that in all our sports-keen family, he could barely walk across a room without tripping over his own shoelaces
. He's small and at the time was already thin and got briefly into anorexia to bring his weight down to 110 lbs since the cox is deadweight in the boat. He couldn't swim -- when the crew was supposed to toss him in the water after a victory, an 8-oar tradition, two of the rowers would have to jump in first and catch him as he was tossed. But he was a drama student with a surprisingly deep voice trained to reach the back row in a theatre. He was an amateur musician with a great sense of rhythm. And as an honours student who'd skipped several grades in school and was sailing through university with straight Firsts, he had the brains to do the fast-changing strategy and command the boat as the cox does.So he contributed a lot to their medals, but I doubt if he could have lifted an oar much less pulled one
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- Oct 22, 2022
I do both at my multi-sports club, but they do keep the wheel sports gym air-conditioned on the cool side there. Not as cold as the rink at the same club, but roller requires more effort because of the weight of the wheels so they want skaters to be comfortable. I don't know if that's also done at the competitions; I've never attended one as a spectator, only watched it on film.
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- Oct 22, 2022
I'm impressed
. Of all the sports I've tried, baton twirling is the one I gloss over quickly when listing them. I was hopelessly uncoordinated, and gave it up after the second time I nearly concussed someone with a baton that literally got out of hand. 
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- Jul 26, 2003
I would count the cox as an athlete just as I would count all the equestrian competitors as athletes, despite the horse doing most of the physical work.
Having to keep time while being strategic is impressive, not to mention the voice training required.
OTOH my grandfather on my mother's side was a cox for his college his freshman year-but then he had a huge growth spurt and could not do it the next year, so this would impress me.
Plus the Harvard / Yale Boat Race was a very big deal in my little town.
en.wikipedia.org
"First contested in 1852, it has been held annually since 1859 with exceptions during major wars fought by the United States and the COVID-19 pandemic. The Race is America's oldest collegiate athletic competition, pre-dating "The Game"* by 23 years. It is sometimes referred to as the "Yale-Harvard" regatta, though most official regatta programs brand it "Harvard-Yale"
*Harvard vs. Yale in American football
Having to keep time while being strategic is impressive, not to mention the voice training required.
OTOH my grandfather on my mother's side was a cox for his college his freshman year-but then he had a huge growth spurt and could not do it the next year, so this would impress me.
Plus the Harvard / Yale Boat Race was a very big deal in my little town.
Harvard–Yale Regatta - Wikipedia
"First contested in 1852, it has been held annually since 1859 with exceptions during major wars fought by the United States and the COVID-19 pandemic. The Race is America's oldest collegiate athletic competition, pre-dating "The Game"* by 23 years. It is sometimes referred to as the "Yale-Harvard" regatta, though most official regatta programs brand it "Harvard-Yale"
*Harvard vs. Yale in American football
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- Mar 7, 2015
Coxswains and Curling Coaches get medals at the Olympics. I don't know of anyone else who is not "the athlete" getting a medal and I guess it's because of their extremely interactive impact on the strategy of the game. They are also "on the field" unlike other coaches who are "by the boards at all times"
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- Dec 9, 2019
I do perceive Coxswains as Athletes, just with other demands?
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- Mar 7, 2015
I perceive them as coxswains
A definition :
A coxswain (often called a "cox") is the crew member in charge of steering a boat, coordinating the rhythm and power of the rowers, and implementing race tactics. They act as the "brains" of the crew, as they are typically the only person facing forward and communicating
They do not produce a physical effort in what is usually considered as athletic.
People have mentioned equestrian, here I perceived the riders as athletes (not just the horses) because there is physical effort and athletic skill needed to keep a horse tight.
But does it really matter what my perception is ? Or yours ?
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- Oct 22, 2022
My cousin is still short, but I have to look at pictures to see him as Scott Hamilton size. He's now retired from a career as a theatre director and a drama professor at Dalhousie, and has packed on a lot of weight. With long white hair and beard, he looks like a mini-Santa ClausI would count the cox as an athlete just as I would count all the equestrian competitors as athletes, despite the horse doing most of the physical work.
Having to keep time while being strategic is impressive, not to mention the voice training required.
OTOH my grandfather on my mother's side was a cox for his college his freshman year-but then he had a huge growth spurt and could not do it the next year, so this would impress me.
My partner went to medical school at Harvard and tried out for whichever crew it was he had the qualifications for. He made the crew easily, having the upper body strength of a pairs skater already, but had to drop out after a few months of practice because the schedule of his practical work as a med student clashed with the crew's training sessions.Plus the Harvard / Yale Boat Race was a very big deal in my little town.
Harvard–Yale Regatta - Wikipedia
"First contested in 1852, it has been held annually since 1859 with exceptions during major wars fought by the United States and the COVID-19 pandemic. The Race is America's oldest collegiate athletic competition, pre-dating "The Game"* by 23 years. It is sometimes referred to as the "Yale-Harvard" regatta, though most official regatta programs brand it "Harvard-Yale"
*Harvard vs. Yale in American football
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