SynchroNice / Third Edition / 2018

SYNCHRO NICE 151 How does one end up in this translation business? Well, I have studied at the university of Tampere, Finland and graduated as Master of Arts. My main subject being English translations. Other subjects have been Swedish, Spanish and Finnish communication skills. Does your work and your services for the ISU leave you any time for other Hobbies or Sports? Yes sure, I can even combine them with my services for the ISU, because my biggest hobbies are travelling and Spain. We even have a house in Spain, so this here, is my second home and I try to spend as much time here as I can. I love the Spanish lifestyle, their culture, the food etc. A few other sports or hobbies, if you like, that I have or had are tennis, playing the piano, dancing tap step, flamenco, ballet, modern dance, china painting. All these different interests make us curious, what kind of person you are. Can you give us a few words… characteristics, that would describe you as a person? Well in that case, I would definitely say that I’m very passionate and energetic but very loyal and friendly as well. Furthermore, I’m an enthusiastic and hard worker. And where did this passionate and energetic woman grow up? I was born in a small village in Finland near Hämeenlinna, about 1 hour drive up north from Helsinki. I grew up being an only child with my parents. Where do you live now? I still live in that same town, nowadays I live very close to my childhood home and of course I live in Spain whenever I can. Weren’t you lonely being an only child? No, I believe I was a happy child and never felt alone, also because I had several pets like rabbits and budgies. Since I travel so much these days, I don’t keep any pets anymore. So, your enjoying life? Definitely, and that’s also one of my favorite quotes… “To enjoy every minute in your life” That’s an advice I really try to live by. And skating…. Skating is also a big part of your life…How did that come about? I got involved in skating at the age of 5 when my mother took me to a skating school. My mother is a national level figure skating judge and I just followed her footsteps. I skated competitively as a single skater and recreationally on a synchro­ nized skating team. Parallel to the skating I also danced a lot (ballet, tap step, modern dance, as I said before). At the age of 14 however I quit the competitive skating part but instead went to a judging seminar and that’s how I started judging. I however continued to dance after that and I believe it’s the dance background that has helped me a lot in judging, as this is an artistic sport. Tell us about your role as a judge, what do you like about judging? Being a figure skating judge is my life, my life style. This is not just a hobby for me, but it is a career that I have wanted to pursue. I am an ISU Referee in Single and Pair Skating and an ISU Controller for Single Skating. I have been Technical controller in several World and European Championships and I refereed World Championships last spring in 2017 in Finland. I officiate at a lot of international competitions all around the world every year. But I don’t only judge top level competitions, I judge a lot of local competitions with young skaters like juve­ nile and novice categories. I want to see the whole scale of this sport. In synchronized skating I am ISU judge, International referee and ISU Technical Controller. I have judged many World Championships in Synchro as well. Apart from competitions, I also provide services as an ISUmoderator in different seminars for judges, specialists and coaches. It has been a pleasure being part of the moderators’ team at the ISU Development Seminar for Synchro which have taken place in Vierumäki Finland. Wow, that’s quite a mouthful, you must be happy when season is over and you have a few months to recover? I Wish…nowadays the competitive skating season is very long and there’s hardly any time left in between skating seasons. The competitions finish around mid-April with Synchro Worlds and then I have also judged the Adult competition in May in Oberstdorf, so you can say the season finishes around mid-May for me. After that there are seminars both in synchro and singles. This is the preparation time for the next season and I moderate some seminars in May, June and July. In August and September there are “If you want to create something special and unique you have to be brave and try new things that nobody has tried before. That is how this sport evolves.” “SYNCHRONIZED SKATING IS TEAM WORK IN EVERYWAY.”