Kirkland resident Jenny Shyu has successfully found a winning blend of figure skating and ballet.
Tomorrow, Shyu will compete at the Pacific Coast Sectional Figure Skating Championship in California after taking second at the regional competition. If she qualifies, she will advance to nationals.
For the 12-year-old Finn Hill Middle School student, the second place finish out of 21 skaters is a vast improvement over her performance last year, when she placed 11th out of 22. Jenny’s parents and coaches at the Kingsate Skating Club attribute it to a combination of persistence, dedication and creatively integrating her ballet experience onto the ice. Along the way, she has amassed other victories, including more than a few medals.
She first started skating at age 5, when her parents got her skating lessons at a summer camp.
“I didn’t want her to watch TV,” her mother, I-Min Shyu, joked.
While at the summer camp, Jenny said she fell in love with skating. Contrasting with other sports, skating is in a colder environment, and she liked the experience of skating on the ice. She added that she also enjoyed the friendships she has made since she started, as well as life lessons that the sport has taught her.
“I learn things to help my life,” she said. “To stay positive and practice.”
Though she said things came relatively easy for her at first, and her coaches remarked on her ability to pick up new techniques quickly, not all days on the rink are equal.
“Some days are just bad days, so I have to work harder,” she said.
She started taking private lessons at 7, first competing in the Fiesta Skate at 9.
Her day begins at 5:10 a.m. when she wakes up to prepare for skating practice at 6 a.m. at the Sno-King Kirkland Ice Arena in Kingsgate.
“I don’t need to wake her up,” her dad, Ming Shyu, said. “I just turn on the lights.”
In addition to skating, Jenny also plays the flute and piano. She also dances with the Pacific Ballet Conservatory. It’s from the last pursuit that she drews inspiration for her current skating routine. Previously performing to classical music, this specific routine has her skating to the song “Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” using ballet-style dance gestures and motions to convey the various aspects of the Wizard of Oz, from the Kansas tornado to the journey on the yellow brick road to Oz.
“There’s a lot of ways to do it, and ballet is palatable to the judges,” coach Jared Randolph said. “They (the judges) like to see girls that look like ballerinas.”
Judging for figure skating is based on the International Judging System (IJS), which gives points to skaters based on various elements, such as jumps, performance execution and the music selection. However, they can lose points for mistakes or for failing to perform according to their plan, such as not executing the type of jump they intended. The challenge for skaters is to make their performances as technically advanced as possible while actually being able to pull the moves off successfully.
Regardless of how sectionals turn out this weekend, Jenny is looking to the future, hoping to eventually compete internationally, possibly at the Olympics. It’s a prospect Randolph said isn’t far fetched for her.
“She can fall and get up and still have a smile on her face and that’s what it takes,” he said. “She doesn’t let her mistakes keep her down. People who become Olympians, it’s in their actions. Those things are Olympian. You have to have an Olympic attitude to get there.”
“I usually think no pain, no gain,” Jenny said.
“She always wanted more, more things to try,” her father said. “She asks, Can I do this? Can I try that?” We tell her, ‘As long as you’re having fun.’”
