Pairs know good match

Selecting a partner for pairs figure skating is a little like going on a blind date, Naomi Nari Nam and Themi Leftheris say.

Right down to a mutual friend setting up their first meeting.

“It’s really an awkward thing,” said Nam, who was a singles skater until a hip injury ended that portion of her career in 2001. “I’d never done it before.”

Leftheris had skated with five other partners, so he was well-versed with the process.

“You ask the weird questions: How tall are you? How much do you weigh? What jumps are you doing?” Leftheris said.

The awkwardness quickly dissipated. Their partnership began in 2005 and they finished fifth in senior pairs at the 2006 U.S. Figure Skating Championships. They hope to take another step forward this week in Spokane.

“It’s almost like dating. It’s ‘I heard you broke up with so and so,’ ” Nam said, after a Monday practice session. “When we had our first tryout we kind of clicked right away, our personalities and the way we skated.”

Leftheris’ interest in skating was ignited when he watched Russian pairs Yekaterina Gordeeva and Sergei Grinkov in the 1994 Winter Olympics.

“The greatest pairs team ever,” Leftheris said. “Everything they did, even when they made mistakes it looked good. They were so polished and smooth and in unison. It looked so cool.”

At the time, Leftheris was 12 years old, a bit long in the tooth to take up skating as a career. At least that’s what his mother thought.

“All we knew was what we heard, that (12) is old to start skating and my mom was like, ‘He’s not going to do anything with it anyway,’ ” he said. “All these people were moving around the country and going to these competitions and I was like, ‘That’ll never be us.’

“Before I knew it, I picked it up really fast and just enjoyed it. That’s why I learned so quickly.”

Nam and Leftheris feel their best days are ahead of them, and they hope a couple of them occur Wednesday in the short program and Friday in the event finals. Defending champions Rena Inoue and John Baldwin are the favorites. Nam and Leftheris are more concerned with their own performances. Both teams are coached by Peter Oppegard and they keep similar training schedules.

“They are national champions and I’m sure they want to defend their title,” Nam said. “I think all the teams that are here are kind of hungry for a title just as much. Everyone wants the title – who doesn’t? But it’s also, yes, we want the title but we want to skate our best and we also want to maybe beat our best personal score.”

Inoue-Baldwin ready

Two-time U.S. senior pairs champions Rena Inoue and John Baldwin practiced for about 40 minutes Monday at the Arena. Baldwin was pleased with the session.

“When you get to this point, you are fine-tuned,” he said. “It’s just going through the motions and getting used to the ice and the arena.”

Baldwin said he and Inoue continue to improve in their seventh season of competing.

“With all the experiences Rena and I have had over the past year and this season, we’ve had one of our best seasons ever,” Baldwin said. “Our confidence is definitely high and I think we’re ready for any situation that’s going to come up.”

Oppegard said Inoue-Baldwin and Nam-Leftheris are prepared for nationals.

“I think that performing never goes far off the training that goes into it,” Oppegard said. “Both teams, especially John and Rena, have trained very well. They’re adults and been in this situation before. (Nam-Leftheris) are rather new at it and still learning, but what they don’t have in experience they’ll make up with excitement.”

Additional coverage

U.S. Figure Skating announced Monday that free behind-the-scenes broadband coverage of the U.S. championships is available at www.icenetwork.com. The site will have video clips, practice footage, interviews and mixed zone highlights.

For the first time, athlete press conferences will be aired in their entirety beginning tonight. Icenetwork.com will produce special reports beginning Wednesday.

Tickets available

Event organizers said about 200 tickets are available for the women’s free skate, scheduled for Saturday afternoon. The event was thought to be sold out. Tickets are available at the Arena box office or by calling 325-SEAT.