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| Thai High |
| Published on August 23, 2008 |  
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Charissa Tansomboon
August 23, 2008
Article by J. Barry Mittan
 Thailand's Charissa Tansomboon was a surprise pick to give the skaters' remarks at the closing ceremonies for last year's Four Continents Championships. Traditionally, that honor has gone to a current or past medallist from a much larger country.
She finished 23rd at Four Continents. In 2006-07, Tansomboon had placed 40th at the World Championships and 30th at the World Junior Championships. This year, she finished 47th at Worlds.
Although Tansomboon was born in the United States, her parents are originally from Thailand and moved to the U.S. just before she was born. She lived in Thailand for a year when she was in second grade and still goes and skates there every year.
Tansomboon started skating when she was eight. "My best friend was a skater and I went to a public session with her," Tansomboon recalled. "She does synchro now." The 18-year-old had learned all the jumps up to the double axel and is now working on her triple loop. "I did my first double axel about three years ago," she said. "I was doing the triple salchow, but now I'm focusing on the triple loop. The loop is my best jump. The toe is just scary. I'm definitely an edge jumper."
Last season, Tansomboon used a double axel, double loop, and double flip-double toe combination in the short program. Her long program included two double axels, a double lutz-double loop, and a double flip double toe, along with level 3 and 4 spins. "I'm more of a spins and spirals kind of skater," Tansomboon admitted. "Spirals are my favorite, and I want to continue to improve my spins to get higher levels."
Traci Coleman has coached Tansomboon for the last six years near her home in Silver Spring, Maryland. Coleman recommended that she train with Julie Lowndes and Charlie Tickner when she moved to California to begin classes at Stanford University last September. "I'm taking a full load of courses in pre-medicine," Tansomboon said. "I'm really interested in math and science, and I want to be a pediatrician because I love working with kids."
"For the first few months, I could barely skate twice a week," she continued. I'm living in the dorm, my first time away from home, so it was quite an adjustment. After New Years, I got back to skating four to five times a week for two hours a day before Four Continents and Worlds. You can't have a car at Stanford during freshman year so I have to get a ride to the rink. It's hard to match up session times with my class schedule so I go early in the morning before classes. On the days I don't get to the rink, I work out at the gym on campus."
"Last year, I took a year off after graduating from high school to skate and I traveled a lot," she added. "It was really an amazing experience. My goal for now is to have the college experience and still train, continue to improve, and compete at internationals. I'm trying to strike a balance between the two."
Julia Sretenski and Chika Maruta choreographed her programs for the 2007-08 season. She used "Sometimes When It Rains" by Secret Garden for the short program. "I've used some things from Secret Garden before," Tansomboon said. "It's slow stretchy music and definitely fits my style. I usually skate to classical music, preferably violin or piano."
The short program was new for 2007-08, while the long was the same as she used last season, selections from the soundtrack of "Memoirs of a Geisha" by John Williams. "For the past few years, I've had Asian themed music," she said. "I heard the music first and then went to the movie. I really liked the movie too."
Off ice, Tansomboon likes a wide range of music including pop, oldies, movie soundtracks, and hip-hop. For fun, she also likes to spend time with friends and she enjoys traveling to new places. She also enjoys cooking and baking.
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