Figure skating

Kwan prepares for her first look at new system

PORTLAND, Ore. - Michelle Kwan took one night to relax and celebrate her historic achievement with family and friends, then it was back to the rink.

It took a lot of hard work to get those nine titles at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, and she can't coast now.

"I've got a lot of things to work on," Kwan said Saturday after tying Maribel Vinson for the all-time record. "I'll celebrate tonight, and then go back and work really hard because it's a new system, new code of points, new spins, footwork. So I've got a lot to juggle in the next few weeks."

Kwan has to prepare for her first look at the new, points-based judging system.

The International Skating Union abandoned the century-old 6.0 mark in June, and the world championships beginning March 14 in Moscow will be judged on the new points system. Though the scoring system was tested in the Grand Prix series last season before it was adopted, Kwan has not skated under it. She has skipped the Grand Prixs the past two years.

Kwan had the new code in front of her when she choreographed her programs. But she knows she has to do some reworking to take full advantage of the new scoring system. Every element has a specific point value under the new system, and there are strict criteria for everything from jumps to spins to spirals.

"There's a lot of things that I'll have to be very aware of, with the spins, with the change of edge, with the spirals, with the turns and the footwork," she said. "I'll probably have a few people come over just to make sure what needs to be done between now and worlds."

When Vinson won nine titles in the 1920s and 1930s, it seemed like a mark that would stand forever.

Gretchen Merrill, Tenley Albright and Peggy Fleming won multiple titles. But none came close to Vinson.

Until Kwan.

"I just remember trying to win my first one, and you get the pin that has the diamond on it. Diamond for the first place," said the 24-year-old Kwan, who arrived at her first senior nationals in 1993. "So to get my ninth, I don't know, I have no answer for that. Because I never thought I'd get here."

It seems fitting that Kwan was the one to finally reach the pinnacle. Her former coach, Frank Carroll, trained with Vinson, and Carroll would often tell Kwan stories about Vinson and the lessons she'd taught him.

Vinson died when the plane carrying the U.S. team to the 1961 world championships in Prague crashed in Belgium. Vinson was coaching her daughters, Maribel Y. and Laurence, who had just won the U.S. title.

"There's a cosmic connection between me and Maribel," Kwan said. "She taught Frank and Frank taught me. To be with her is something."

[Last modified January 17, 2005, 01:06:09]