figure skating podcast interview
figure skating podcast interview
November 2014
An interview with Parker Pennington. He won four US national titles (Juvenile, Intermediate, Novice, and Junior titles), is now a coach and choreographer, and the creator of SkateDanceDream. He discusses having Carol Heiss Jenkins as a coach, how he loves to help people any way he can, and how he was once a stunt double for Woody Allen. 34 minutes, 6 seconds.
Thanks to Fiona Mcquarrie for transcribing these interview highlights:
(PP: Parker Pennington, AM: Allison Manley)
PP: Surprise me. I love surprises.
AM: Really? I hate surprises [laughs]
PP: There’s not enough surprises in the world. I feel like, you know, things seems to always follow a course, so I always like when there’s surprises through days, weeks, months — good surprises, of course.
AM: Do you like surprises on the ice?
PP: In this sport, well, there’s always good surprises, when you come home with a medal and you’re not expecting it — well, of course. But then there’s always the flip-side surprises that are not as good. But for the most part I enjoy surprises.
AM: So we’re at Midwestern sectionals, in Rockne Brubaker’s house [ie: the rink he manages], and thanks to him for securing us a nice quiet room to do this in.
PP: He’s a great guy.
AM: Yes, he is. And I’ve had a glass of wine so I’m feeling great. I don’t know how you’re feeling [laughs]
PP: [laughs] I’m feeling pretty good. No wine for me tonight but certainly after that senior ladies event, it definitely had me on the edge of my seat. Some good, some not so good, but most importantly I felt like the kids were giving it their all out there today.
AM: And what about your kids, that you were helping out?
PP: Yeah, two actually. Kacie Kotnik, I believe this is her final performance, her last hurrah, and she really put it out there and skated one of the best performances that I’ve seen, almost a clean skate. She ended up finishing seventh in the field, which was a very good placement for her, so she had me tearing up a little bit. And Christina Cleveland, who I have been helping out with her programs, just kind of detailing and what not — to see her have a breakthrough moment was huge. This will be her first appearance at the national championships, and I’ve really seen her come into her own in the last couple of years. So that was an incredible moment, to see her have that breakthrough skate on the sectional stage. I’m very proud of her.
AM: OK, let’s start with the real questions [laughs]. Parker Pennington, what’s your most embarrassing moment, off-ice or on-ice?
PP: OK, so…well, just because this is a recent thing that happened. I was skating, actually doing choreography with one of my students. And I was wearing a pair of jeans, not my baggiest, they were actually kind of tight-fitting. And I dropped into a lunge and they ripped, in the middle of the lesson. So I had to carry on through the rest of the lesson even though I was trying to keep it hidden. Standing by the boards I could feel the breeze coming through [laughs]. So at the end of the session I ran off the ice and changed them. That was probably my most embarrassing moment, also because it was a young kid I was having the lesson with. There’s been other embarrassing moments throughout the years but that was probably the most recent one. You always hear about skaters ripping their jeans while they’re skating, and, well, it finally happened to me. At the age of 30.
AM: You actually had a spare pair in the rink?
PP: Actually I had to borrow from one of my friends. I got lucky. Good lucky surprise.
AM: So how did you get started in skating?
PP: I went to a public skate when I was three years old. My parents basically threw me out there, I had so much energy. And from the moment I stepped on the ice, I just loved it. It took me to a place where I just enjoyed being out there. I got into a learn to skate program and it just took off from there. When I was six, sev[...]
