Williamstown Girl Hopes to Skate Away With Medal
 Petrea, 12, was born with her left leg shorter than her right. Her new custom-fitted skates equalize the length of her legs.  |
Petrea, now 12, first competed in the figure skating portion of the Bay State Games as a member of the Christmas Brook Figure Skating Club when she was 9.
"I was pretty nervous. The coach told me to just have fun — not to stress out," the young Williamstown resident said recently. Last year, she took fourth place in the preliminary test track competition.
But this year, as Petrea performs in the figure skating competition, she's hoping to even the odds by wearing a unique skating boot fashioned to balance out her shorter left leg.
Nine years have passed since Petrea shuffled across the ice at Peter E. Foote Vietnam Veterans Memorial Skating Rink in North Adams as a new member of the skating club. "My sister Alexandra was the first in our family to figure skate, and I thought it would be fun," Petrea said. "I started skating seriously around the time I was in first grade."
While Alexandra has turned to horseback riding, skating has remained Petrea's favorite sport despite the difficulties she has had to overcome. Training can be arduous, said her mother, Christine Condaris, but Petrea has lots of energy and is very determined. She practices regularly at the North Adams skating rink; when it is closed from April through June, Condaris drives her to a rink in Troy, N.Y. They also make trips to Wellesley every six weeks to have Petrea's skate blades sharpened.
Condaris said one of the many practice sessions in North Adams stands out in her memory: A loud scream brought all the parents to their feet. They discovered it was Petrea who had cried out.
"She was frustrated because she couldn't get the one foot glide [a technique for beginners]," Condaris recalled. But she conquered the technique and is now learning to master the axel jump, considered to be the most difficult.
As a figure skater, Petrea has overcome hurdles that probably would deter others from pursuing the sport. At one point, her mother had reason to believe Petrea would be incapable of participating in any sport.
Condaris traveled to China to adopt Petrea, selected for her by an adoption agency, when Petrea was 13 months old. "I was not allowed to go to the orphanage to get her," Condaris said. "She was delivered to me at the Hilton Hotel in Hefei."
She was surprised to find that Petrea was unable to even turn over. "And I could not swallow," Petrea chimed in these 11 years later. "I was a floppy mess."
"After we got back to the United States, I got involved in a federal physical therapy program called Birth to Three," Condaris said.
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"Petrea is amazing," said Jenna Dickinson, Petrea's coach at Christmas Brook Figure Skating Club. "It's incredible that she's done so well. For the past 8 1/2 years as a skater, she couldn't stand up straight and was a little off balance. She had to compensate for that on her own. She is a perfectionist and the hardest-working skater I know. Now, she is coping with the change in her new boots, and has improved greatly."
The left boot on Petrea's skates has a platform a couple of inches high to balance the length of her legs. Two pairs of the specially fitted skates came to $1,800.
It would have been impractical to have Petrea fitted for the special boot when she was younger and constantly growing. "By the time we would have received the custom boots, Petra would have outgrown them," her mother said. "Now, she's stabilized."
Petra is glad that since using the new boots, she has not suffered back pain as she has in the past. That pain, however, never prevented her from taking to the ice.
"When I skate, my mind is not on anything else. Everything else disappears," Petrea explained. "And when I accomplish a new move, the feeling is spectacular."
Petrea's idols are figure skaters Kimmee Meissner and 2010 national champion Rachael Flatt.
Dickinson and the other coaches at the club are great role models, too, Condaris said. "Parents, coaches, skaters, became family."
Though they vie against each other in competitions, Petrea said, "We do not let what place we get interfere with our friendship. We know we all have good days and bad days."
Despite giving much time and effort to honing her skating skills, Petrea has earned high honors at Mount Greylock Regional Middle School, where she is a seventh-grader.
She often does her homework in the car as her mother drives her to her hourslong practices four times a week. Condaris, a music professor at Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, said she is not a pushy parent; on the contrary, there are times when she tells Petrea to stop working. "She drives herself too hard," Condaris said.
Mature for her age, Petrea has already set goals for the future – coach figure skaters part time as soon as she turns 16 (the required age); study philosophy in college, go to law school, and secure a job as an environmentalist.
Right now, she eagerly anticipates taking to the ice at the 2011 Bay State Winter Games next Sunday. Dickinson is among the people who would "love to see Petrea awarded a medal."
Sanctioned by the Ice Skating Institute and the United States Figure Skating Association, the figure skating competitions are scheduled to be held Friday, Jan. 28, to Sunday, Jan. 31, at the Lansing Chapman Rink at Williams College. Admission to all competitions is free of charge.
