THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, September 14, 1994 TAG: 9409130153
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 10 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY GARY EDWARDS, CORRESPONDENT
LENGTH: Medium: 64 lines
LIFE HAS BEEN A SKATE for John Jacobson.
The 15 year-old Lake Taylor High School sophomore began roller-skating competitively 10 years ago.
``My mom says that I was born on skates,'' John said.
It only seems that way. Actually, it took 10 long, hard years of practice for Jacobson to reach the pinnacle of performance in the rink.
Early last month, he won the Junior Men's Figures competition at the 58th United States Roller Skating Championships in Lincoln, Neb. More than 2,000 skaters competed at the national finals. His win qualifies Jacobson for an appearance at the Olympic Festival in Denver next July.
The Norfolk resident skates for the Chesapeake Bay Skating Club in Virginia Beach - his home away from home.
Though Jacobson is part of the team, the competition in roller skating is based upon individual performance, similar to figure skating, Jacobson said.
``I practice about three hours a day from mid-September through the nationals (in August),'' said Jacobson. ``Then I spend about three or four hours on Saturday at the rink. I try to take Sunday off.''
To win the figures title, Jacobson had to outperform competitors from the nine regions of the United States Amateur Confederation of Roller Skating. The top three finishers from each region advance to the national championship. The defending champion from the previous year also participates.
In the figures event, the skaters perform figure-8 circles, turns and a variety of pre-set figures before a panel of five judges. Three of the judges awarded him a first; the other two, a second. He also placed fourth in the junior men's freestyle event.
``It's also called single skating,'' Jacobson said. ``It's probably what most people think of when they think of roller skating.''
Jacobson said that roller skating can become an expensive sport at the competitive level. He has three pairs of skates - for figure, freestyle and plain old speed skating. An Italian-made Risport skating boot costs $300. Then there are the trucks, plates and wheels.
``I have one set of Hyper Tracer wheels for competition; another for practice,'' he said. To help pay for his skating expenses, Jacobson has a 300-customer Virginian-Pilot newspaper route.
The young skater has seen much of America since he started going to the national finals at age 5. He has traveled to Fort Worth, Texas, Pensacola, Fla., and Indianapolis, Ind., in recent years.
When Jacobson isn't skating, practicing or tossing papers, he finds time to play flute in the Lake Taylor band.
He has three years of high school left and is uncertain about his college plans.
``I would like to be a firefighter,'' he said. ``I don't know what I'm going to do after high school, but I do plan to continue skating for a few more years.
``I might coach skating. I think I would enjoy that.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photos by PETER D. SUNDBERG
John Jacobson, 15, who skates for Chesapeake Bay Skating Club in
Virginia Beach, gives it a twirl at Haygood Skating Center.
by CNB