Kerrigan Influences Carriere's Career

Stephen Carriere

December 17, 2005
Article & Photo © J. Barry Mittan 

U. S. junior skater Stephen Carriere first became interested in the sport when he watched Nancy Kerrigan, who is from the same area in Massachusetts, on television at the 1994 Olympic Winter Games. Part of his interest in winter sports was also due to the fact that his cousin, Caroline Hallisey, was also an Olympian, competing in speed skating at the 1998 and 2002 Olympics. His aunt was also a figure skater with the Haydenettes, a famous synchro team in Massachusetts and his great aunt used to do costumes for the team.

So it was no surprise that he began skating himself, going on to the ice at five. "I've always been drawn to skating," he said. "It's such an amazing sport and it doesn't get enough credit. In most sports, you go at full intensity for a minute or so and then get a break. In skating, you have to go four minutes flat out. I love feeling the audience when I skate. That makes me want to skate really well."

By the age of 13, he had landed his first triple salchow and by 16, he had landed a triple axel. Carriere is already using triple lutz/triple toe loop in his long program and working on other triple-triple combinations, but has not yet attempted a quad. Moving up through the ranks in the United States, Carriere was fifth in juvenile men in 2002, sixth in intermediates in 2003, fourth in novice in 2004, and seventh in juniors in 2005.

He made his international debut in 2004, finishing fourth at the Triglav Trophy and fifth at the Ukrainian Souvenir, his first Junior Grand Prix event. "My goal for this season was to get two JGPs and get through to the Final," he said. He accomplished that goal by taking a silver medal at Skate Slovakia and winning the Sofia Cup to reach the Final in the Czech Republic, where he finished sixth. He hopes to finish in the top four at U. S. Nationals in juniors before switching to seniors for the 2006-07 season.

Carriere trains at the Skating Club of Boston with Peter Johansson and Mark Mitchell, with whom he has worked for the past six years. "Stephen's a hard worker," Johansson said. "He's very driven and has been since he was a little kid. It's hard to go to school full time and continue to skate, but he's made the best out of his situation." Carriere trains on ice for three hours a day, five days a week, plus another five hours a week in off ice work. He also does some additional cross training in the off-season, including cycling and running.

Jamie Isley choreographed both of Carriere's programs. For the short program, he is using "Peter Gunn Mambo" by Henry Mancini and for the long, music from the soundtrack of the movie, "Once Upon a Time in Mexico". Both programs are new for this season. "Mark has a good ear for music and he and Jamie collaborated on picking the music for this season," Carriere said. "The short program music is more appropriate for overseas competitions and the long program just stuck out for me when Mark gave me several choices. I'm open to a lot of different kinds of music." He found his own music for this year's exhibition program, for which he is using Robbie Williams' "Beyond the Sea", a remake of a Bobby Darrin song. Off ice, Carriere listens to all kinds of music including classical, rock, and hip-hop.

Carriere is a junior at Wakefield High School, where he takes a full academic load. He made the academic honor roll for his first two years at the public school. His favorite subjects include French, which he has studied since the sixth grade, and anatomy and physiology. He is currently looking at Boston area colleges to continue his education so that he can continue to compete while studying pre-medicine. He wants to be involved in a career in sports medicine, physical therapy, or orthopedics. "I may go into coaching after my amateur career," Carriere said.

To relax, he enjoys going out with friends, listening to music, and reading, especially the classics. He plays tennis for fun, noting, "I'm drawn to individual sports. I never played team sports." Carriere does a lot of community service, skating in shows for charity and doing things like stuffing Christmas stockings for children for the Salvation Army. He also donates most of the stuffed animals he receives to churches and shelters, although he keeps a few special ones. Although he doesn't spend a lot of time on the computer himself, he does have a website at www.figureskatersonline.com/stephencarriere/.