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At eighteen, Megan Collins was graduating from Pleasant Valley High School and pursuing her interest in figure skating. She shares her thoughts on how skating has captured her and how it’s a great sport for all ages.
Let’s Move Quad Cities celebrates the spirit and determination Quad City area residents take to promote movement and fitness. We welcome guest blogger, 18-year-old Megan Collins, Pleasant Valley High School, Class of 2018. She is the daughter of ORA Orthopedics’ Dr. Scott and Susan Collins.
Skating Moves Me (and it can move you, too)
by Megan Collins, figure skater
How did your skating journey begin?
Megan Collins
I discovered skating 10 years ago at my best friend’s skating birthday party. I loved it so much that I went back to skate every day during winter break. My parents finally decided to sign me up for lessons!
How much do you practice?
I practice 6 days a week for 1-2 hours, then most days I also coach for an hour after my practice and lessons with my coach.
Do you have time for other high school activities?
I don’t have much time for things besides skating and coaching, but I do focus a lot on my academics.
I also love to volunteer at my church and for other organizations.
Will you be watching the Olympic Winter Games?
I promise that I will be glued to my couch during the Olympics. I love watching many of the sports and am always cheering on Team USA.
Does it make you nervous to watch them since you know how hard it is to achieve that type of goal?
I do! It’s very nerve-racking to watch many of the skaters since I know what jumps they will be trying and how badly they can end sometimes.
Skating is a very difficult sport! Being able to make it to the Olympics is an amazing achievement in itself.
Who is your favorite Olympic skater and why?
I love many of the legends including Michelle Kwan, but my two favorites right now are Mirai Nagasu and Nathan Chen, because they are both raising the bar for skating.
What is it about skating you love the most?
I love jumping! But there is much more to the sport than landing a difficult jump.
Skating is a way to express yourself in a very personal manner, while also challenging yourself n a unique way.
As I’ve started coaching more, I also love that I can share my passion for the sport with my students.
What are your goals for the sport?
Skating presents both a physical challenge and a mental one as well.
Short term, I would like to pass my senior free skate test and become a Double Gold Medalist before I go to college in the fall.
Long term, I just want to continue enjoying the sport I love!
Tell us about the physical demands and skills needed for skating.
Skating is both a very physically and mentally demanding sport.
A skater must have enough strength to launch her or himself into the air, rotate up anywhere from half a turn to 4 revolutions, and then balance to land on one foot.
Skaters must embrace falling thousands of times until they finally get the right combination of technique to land a jump.
However difficult skating is physically, it is just as difficult mentally. Many times the only thing standing in the way of a figure skater and her goal is herself.
Any top honors or competitions we should know about?
I am a Moves in the Field Gold Medalist (I have passed all the levels of testing) and have passed my Junior free skate and Pre-Silver ice dance tests.
I am a 10-time Iowa State Games champion and a 4-time Upper Great Lakes Regional competitor.
Why should someone try skating?
Skating is a sport and activity that anyone can do at anytime of their life, it’s a fun way to be active and always challenge oneself!
Skating Moves Me (and it can move you, too)
by Megan Collins, figure skater
How did your skating journey begin?
Megan Collins
I discovered skating 10 years ago at my best friend’s skating birthday party. I loved it so much that I went back to skate every day during winter break. My parents finally decided to sign me up for lessons!
How much do you practice?
I practice 6 days a week for 1-2 hours, then most days I also coach for an hour after my practice and lessons with my coach.
Do you have time for other high school activities?
I don’t have much time for things besides skating and coaching, but I do focus a lot on my academics.
I also love to volunteer at my church and for other organizations.
Will you be watching the Olympic Winter Games?
I promise that I will be glued to my couch during the Olympics. I love watching many of the sports and am always cheering on Team USA.
Does it make you nervous to watch them since you know how hard it is to achieve that type of goal?
I do! It’s very nerve-racking to watch many of the skaters since I know what jumps they will be trying and how badly they can end sometimes.
Skating is a very difficult sport! Being able to make it to the Olympics is an amazing achievement in itself.
Who is your favorite Olympic skater and why?
I love many of the legends including Michelle Kwan, but my two favorites right now are Mirai Nagasu and Nathan Chen, because they are both raising the bar for skating.
What is it about skating you love the most?
I love jumping! But there is much more to the sport than landing a difficult jump.
Skating is a way to express yourself in a very personal manner, while also challenging yourself n a unique way.
As I’ve started coaching more, I also love that I can share my passion for the sport with my students.
What are your goals for the sport?
Skating presents both a physical challenge and a mental one as well.
Short term, I would like to pass my senior free skate test and become a Double Gold Medalist before I go to college in the fall.
Long term, I just want to continue enjoying the sport I love!
Tell us about the physical demands and skills needed for skating.
Skating is both a very physically and mentally demanding sport.
A skater must have enough strength to launch her or himself into the air, rotate up anywhere from half a turn to 4 revolutions, and then balance to land on one foot.
Skaters must embrace falling thousands of times until they finally get the right combination of technique to land a jump.
However difficult skating is physically, it is just as difficult mentally. Many times the only thing standing in the way of a figure skater and her goal is herself.
Any top honors or competitions we should know about?
I am a Moves in the Field Gold Medalist (I have passed all the levels of testing) and have passed my Junior free skate and Pre-Silver ice dance tests.
I am a 10-time Iowa State Games champion and a 4-time Upper Great Lakes Regional competitor.
Why should someone try skating?
Skating is a sport and activity that anyone can do at anytime of their life, it’s a fun way to be active and always challenge oneself!
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