He's Living The Dream

Former Springfielder Zimmerman Closes In On Olympics

January 9, 2002
By Kermit Rowe
Springfield (Ohio) News-Sun

Somebody needs to pinch former Springfielder John Zimmerman, and I'm sure there are plenty of willing females out there who would volunteer. You see, the internationally-acclaimed pairs figure skater has been doing a lot of dreaming lately.

And who could blame him? All of his tireless practice and determined hard work come to a pinnacle for he and partner Kyoko Ina starting Wednesday at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.

They will enter the competition, which begins at 11:30 p.m. in the Eastern time zone, as two-time defending national champions and heavy favorites. And late Friday night, around the stroke of midnight, if they leave with a first or second place, they will also leave as Olympians.

Talk about your Cinderella story! From puny St. Raphael Elementary student and late-night recreational skater at Troy's Hobart Arena in the early to mid-1980s to a well-chiseled, 6-foot, 182-pound world-class athlete at the summit of amateur athletics.

Like the Olympic Flame that passed through Springfield Thursday morning, Zimmerman's star is burning brilliantly.

``This is a big lifelong dream, the Olympic Dream,'' said Zimmerman excitedly, during a telephone interview Friday from his home in Hackensack, N.J., where he and Ina have been training.

``There are no words to explain it.''

``It'' being the excitement that Zimmerman and Ina are trying their best to not be consumed by.

They have reason to be excited, and confident. After what could have been a disastrous mistake-filled seventh place finish at the Worlds in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada to end their 2000-01 season, they bounced back nicely to begin the current season with a first at the Masters of Figure Skating in San Diego, Calif., in mid-October 2001.

They followed that with: second at Skate America International in Colorado Springs, Colo., in late October; seconds at the Sparkassen Cup in Germany and Trophee Lalique in Paris in November; and first at the Sears Figure Skating Open in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada and fourth at the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Finals at Kitchener, Ontario last month.

And all of this while recovering from shoulder injuries. The 28-year-old Zimmerman had mostly healed by late summer. But Ina tore a shoulder muscle in August, forcing them out of the Goodwill Games. None of that mattered the past three months.

Needless to say, they have succeeded in capturing the attention of the fickle and highly-political international judges.

``It sure helps in skating,'' said Zimmerman of the reputation he and Ina have built for themselves. ``This year, we totally have a great stride going. We've had some great competitions internationally this fall.

``For us, we've got to go out there and skate for ourselves,'' he continued. ``We are going to work on what we are going to do at the Olympics. Our focus is to do a clean program to build our confidence going into the Olympics.''

Did I mention something about confidence? Zimmerman certainly has it. But he's not over-confident.

``The competition is always something you've got to be aware of.'' He learned that in his formative pairs skating years in the mid-and late 1990s. Back then, being a two-time national champion was, well, just a dream.

``The second time was a sweet sensation,'' said Zimmerman of last January's repeat national title. ``You sort of confirmed yourself as a national champion if you win it the second year. And the third ... It builds some momentum in the minds of judges.''

That was very important after their subpar performance at the Worlds last March.

``We needed to prove that we can be consistent (after the Worlds), and we've proved that,'' said Zimmerman. ``We skated very well at Trophee Lalique, and we also felt pretty good about the Grand Prix Finals. We ended up fourth and definitely challenged for third place. The Grand Prix was the best six in the world, kind of like a mini-Olympics.''

Some, including Zimmerman and Ina, thought they should have had the bronze medal then. Now they area even more determined to make a splash at Salt Lake City.

``We're shooting for a medal, I don't know if we care what color,'' said Zimmerman. ``Politically speaking, one and two are set in most everyone's minds. Our gameplan this year is we've got to be as good as we can at that time. Good and consistent. We want to be the spoilers, we want to be there if someone isn't on their game.''

And if somebody isn't and they are, a bronze and maybe even silver or ... dare they dream ... gold.

``It is totally attainable,'' he said. ``That (the controversial fourth at the Grand Prix Finals) was a wake-up call for everyone as well as us. We have as much a right to stand on that podium as anyone else. We've worked so hard since Worlds in March.''

And hence the positive aura that surrounds Zimmerman and Ina.

``That is what confidence is all about, and it is probably one of the most important things you have to have,'' said Zimmerman. ``When you are at the top level preparing for the Olympic Games, everyone can do the same things in their routines. The judges are looking for that confidence.

``You can see it in a football team. Last night (Thursday), the 'Canes (national champion Miami Hurricanes) had that confidence and Nebraska didn't have much of anything going, and Miami ran away from them. You can see it on the ice as well, and it comes out in your performances.''

Aunt Kari Winters and a host of cousins, who both still live in Springfield, hope to see it as they watch their nephew on national television this week. And he hopes he can bring an Olympic medal to show them sometime this year.

``I was telling Aunt Kari I wanted to come back to Ohio sometime in the summer,'' said John, who was born in Birmingham, Ala. ``I still think back to when I used to train there sometimes; all the late night workouts in Troy, the commutes, the eating in the car. Those early days, those little things over and over build up to something. Springfield is definitely a second home of mine.''

But right now, you'll forgive him if he doesn't think too much about where he came from.

``You just want to be staying in the moment. Afterwards, you reflect,'' said John, who arrives in L.A. today for some pre-tourney workouts. ``You don't want to do anything stupid. You watch how you walk up and down the stairs. You are very careful.

``We've been training as hard as we can summer and fall. Now we have to fine tune and let it rip.''

And maybe, just maybe, their dreams will come true.