Sizzling Szmiett

Diane Szmiett

May 28, 2006
Article & Photo © J. Barry Mittan 

Canada's new 2006 junior ladies champion is Diane Szmiett, a 15-year-old from Watford, Ontario who trains in Strathroy. Szmiett previously placed fourth in pre-novice in 2003, second in novice in 2004, and 16th in juniors in 2005. Internationally, she finished 21st at the 2006 World Junior Figure Skating Championships and won the gold medal in novice ladies at the 2004 Copenhagen Trophy. "My goal for the season was to win Canadians," Szmiett said, "so I wasn't surprised when I won."

The shy brunette, who started skating when she was seven because a friend was a skater, has an arsenal of jumps. She landed her first triple toe loop at the age of twelve and has landed everything up to the triple lutz with the exception of the triple loop. In 2005-06, she did a triple lutz, double axel and triple toe-double toe combination in the short. Her long included a triple toe-double toe-double toe combination and a double lutz-double flip sequence as well as a triple lutz, flip, toe and salchow to go with a solid double axel.

"Jumping is definitely my favorite part of skating," Szmiett said. Her favorite jump is the toe loop, which is why she has been working on her first triple jump combination, a triple toe-triple toe. "I've landed it, but not cleanly," she said. "This summer, I have to work more on getting my triple loop and improving my spins and presentation." To that end, she trains four hours a day, five days a week with coaches Scott Rachuk and Allison Purkiss. She also does a bit of yoga and an hour a day of off ice training. Last season, she tried acro, a form of dance where you twist your body into odd positions.

Purkiss choreographed Szmiett's programs for the 2005-06 season, both of which were new for the year. She used "Claire de Lune" by Claude Debussy for the short and "Witches of Eastwick" by John Williams and "Vocalise" by Sergei Rachmaninoff for the long. "I picked the short program music to get her to calm down and the long to challenge her a little bit," Rachuk said. "I like to skate to fast music," Szmiett added, "not slow stuff." Her exhibition program was to Cher's "It's in His Kiss."

Off ice, Szmiett likes to go out with friends, chat on the computer and read a little bit. She used to play soccer in a recreational league when she was younger, but quit when she started skating seriously and doesn't play any other sports now. She also works about 30 hours a week in her sister's orchard during the summer, working the till and sometimes harvesting the apples, peaches and plums. Her parents are also cash crop farmers in Watford.

Szmiett is currently in the tenth grade, where her favorite subjects are math and science. "I plan to go to university to do something in the health field," she stated. "All my sisters are in health, nursing and dental hygiene.""Right now she wants to do well in skating and school," Rachuk said. "She picks up things pretty fast and she has a lot of persistence." Next year, Szmiett will compete in seniors. "Since it's my first year, I just hope to skate my best and make a good transition to seniors," she said. "I'll just take things year by year after that."