LYNNWOOD
He’s been a top-ranked skater for years, competing at the highest levels the sport has to offer.
Yet Josh Rhoads doesn’t skate on ice. He’s a competitive roller figure skater. Yes, it’s that other skate, the one with four wheels. Rhoads is out to show that roller skating is every bit as graceful, athletically demanding and artistic as its frozen water counterpart.
One of four managers at Lynnwood Bowl &Skate, Rhoads is gearing up for another round of intensive training after his eighth-place finish at the Roller Figure Skating World Championship in Kaoshiuang, Taiwan last November.
“It was great,” Rhoads said, about the experience at his twelfth world championships.
It was challenging, too. The skating surface was less than adequate and far too slippery and too small. It forced skaters to be very careful, Rhoads said.
His coach, Anna Carrier, was impressed, especially because the skating conditions in Taiwan “were by far the worst conditions the skaters have had to adapt to.”
Still she’s not surprised that Rhoads finished as the top American.
“He’s very dedicated to his sport; he’s very talented,” said Carrier, herself a former world champion. “He’s got the talent, the athleticism and artistry all in one, and you don’t find that very often. He’s actually very magical on his skates.”
The world of roller figure skating is sort of an odd duck in competitive sports. Though the sport has been around for decades in the United States – and has flourished at times – it hasn’t achieved the kind of popularity accorded ice figure skating.
Instead, its prolific and honorable legacy has been relegated to kids’ birthday parties and nostalgic reminisces about low brow icons such as 1970s roller disco and roller derbies.
“It would have probably been further along had roller disco not occurred,” said Bowl &Skate general manager Larry Maitlin.
Rhoads grew up in Springfield, Mo, though he began skating as a 6-year-old in Long Beach, Calif.
Adult skaters recognized his talent early, and his parents did as well. When he was 14, his parents moved the family to Boston, so Rhoads could be coached by Scott Cohen, renowned former three-time world champion.
Five years ago, he moved to Florida, where he met Washingtonian Erin, the woman he’d eventually marry.
Erin, Carrier said, had visited Florida to see her sister, Kylie, skate at the national championships. Josh and Erin got to know each other and they ended up marrying in August 2007.
Last August, despite very little preparation, Rhoads finished second at the national Roller Figure Skating Championships, which qualified him for Taiwan.
Carrier said Rhoads is known for his artistry and athleticism on skates.
“People have said ‘Josh doesn’t have to jump or spin, we just love to watch him skate. He’s so good at interpreting music and bringing a story out, that for a lot of people, (jumps) are kind of secondary for them, which is a huge compliment for Josh.”
Next July, he’ll head back to Taiwan, to compete in the World Games, an event that happens only once every four years, like the Olympics.
Foreign skaters have been dominating world competitions lately. Rhoads said Italy has made roller figure skating a national priority, with the government subsidizing training academies and facilities.
“We’re on TV in Europe,” said Rhoads, a certified personal trainer who trains as hard off the rink as on it. “A lot of it is because of the success of figure ice skating.”
\Carrier said she’s hopeful her skating club, Lynnwood Expressions, can help improve roller figure skating’s image. After all, she said, the club boasts not only Rhoads among its members but also Bellevue’s Katarina DeMello, 12, who won a gold medal in Brazil in 2007.
“We’re serious, we’re competitive,” she said. “It’s not a recreational club.”
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