With all the high-flying jumps skaters do on the ice, you would think they’d be totally safe on dry land. Unfortunately, in mid-July figure skater Tommy Steenberg from Annandale broke the fifth metatarsal in his right foot while walking through his program off the ice.
“I had on ballet shoes, so from now on I’m going to wear sneakers because I’ll have a bit more support,” said Steenberg, 19. “It was during a footwork sequence and I just came down funny on a leap and rolled my foot.”
He spent three weeks in an air cast to keep the foot stable. It not only curtailed his training at Fairfax Ice Arena, it kept him from coaching. To keep up his stamina and endurance, Steenburg did a lot of swimming and strength training.
“My time on the ice has been limited,” Steenburg said. “When I got back on the ice a month ago, it was three days a week for 30 minutes each. I had to take it gradually, because my foot would swell up after I skated.
Thankfully, his new programs for the 2008-09 season were completed before the injury. When Steenburg got the all clear that he was completely healed, he switched into high gear in order to compete at the Middle Atlantic Figure Skating Championships in New York last weekend. He finished second in the senior men’s division, and seemed to make a positive impression on the judges. Steenberg’s hoping to get an international assignment to represent the U.S. at the Karl Schaefer Memorial Trophy in Vienna, Austria in October.
He was glad to get his new programs before judges and audiences in New York. All things considered, Steenburg was relatively happy with his short program and a bit disappointed with his free skate, in which he faded toward the end.
“The cardiovascular and endurance of doing a long program for the men is kind of equivalent to running the 1,500 meters,” said coach Christian Conte. “Time off the ice really does set a skater back quite a bit. He’s done a great job and his attitude has been great about coming back, but doing it in practice and then doing it under press are a little different.”
Former Italian ice dancer, Pasquale Camerlengo, who coaches in Detroit, choreographed Steenberg’s new short program. The free skate, set to music from the ballet Don Quixote, was a joint effort between Conte, Steenberg and Russian ballet master Vladimir Djouloukhadze, who is based in Washington, D.C.
“He’s done a lot of the detailing in the long program. I feel it’s been coming along really well,” said Steenberg. “He didn’t lay out the program, because he’s never done a skating program before, but he was able to contribute quite a bit off ice and on ice.”
Given the short preparation time, Conte said he was pleased with Steenberg’s performances in New York. “I feel he’ll be strong for his international,” Conte said. “The most important thing is his injury is completely healed.”
Conte is also pleased with Steenberg’s artistic progression. “He’s done a lot of off ice dance work in the last two to three years. He really seems to gravitate towards a more classical line and he really likes that style of dance,” Conte noted. “I laid out the long program with Tommy and Vladimir is filling it in. It’s a really nice team effort.”
