A Skater Who Likes the Heat : Charles King Speeds Toward the Top of His Class at U.S. Olympic Festival

If speed skater Charles King does well at this weekend’s U.S. Olympic Festival in Houston, he can thank his grandfather and a boy he remembers only as Choo Choo Charlie.

It was George Willson, a former state assemblyman, who introduced him to the little-known sport at age 7. And it was Choo Choo Charlie, another 7-year-old, who constantly beat him.

“Charles would always be second, but he stayed with it until he could beat him,” Willson said. “Then he went on to the next class, and that was the pattern. He would race and if anyone beat him, he would try harder.”

By the time he was 13, however, King had run out of superior competitors, at least in Southern California. That was the year he won the first of four state championships, competing against junior and senior men. But he was hardly prepared for national competition.

“Winning in California doesn’t say too much,” King said. “There are only three clubs. You have to go back East and compete against the real skaters. When I skate at their rate, then I feel I’ve really accomplished something.”

After seven years of practice, King entered his first competition outside the state, the 1982 National Championships in Northbrook, Ill. “I got beaten really badly,” said King, who lives in Studio City. “I knew what I had to do, so I started training really hard to improve.”

Now, at 16, he is again one man shy of being the best in his age group. In March, he took second in the 800-, 1,000- and 1,500-meter events at the National Championships in St. Louis, and each time it was Nathaniel Mills, from Northbrook, Ill., who finished inches ahead of him.

King, the nation’s No. 2-ranked junior, will face Mills again at the Olympic Festival, where 4,000 athletes in 34 sports are competing. King and Mills are among nine juniors on the national speed skating team, which also includes nine senior members.

King qualified for the team in March during two days of trials in which he collected the fifth-highest point total among about 75 participants.

Barth Levy, a 17-time North American speed skating champion who has trained King since last summer, is proud of his protege’s improvement over the past four years.

“He was at a handicap, not getting to skate against the top skaters,” Levy said. “You’re really only as good as your competition in this sport. It’s man-to-man and if you don’t have someone better to train with, you won’t get too much better. But he’s made 100% improvement since I met him.”

Practicing Monday at Pickwick to spot, with his bleached, spiked hair and bright blue Spandex pants. It was his 5-foot-7, 137-pound frame that constantly led the pack.

“Charles is very smooth, able to obtain full extension,” Willson said. “He excels on his turns, and he can accelerate very quickly. That’s a gift. Not everyone has that kick at the end of a race. He was born with it.”

It was by accident that Willson discovered the sport in 1966, the year he retired from the state Legislature after serving 10 years. Seeking some exercise, the 56-year-old lawyer went to a public rink in Paramount, where he saw some people skating.

“One man suggested I try speed skating, and I did,” he said.

After competing and winning in the novice class, Willson moved up to Class C Men 18-and-over, and finally Class B, winning a total of two dozen trophies.

Charles and his older brother, Keith, watched their grandfather often, and finally “they became interested, bought some skates and away they went,” Willson said.

At the time, Willson thought of it as a good way for them to build stamina and keep out of trouble. For Charles, the sport has since meant 2 1/2-hour workouts daily for as long as he can remember.

His schedule includes a half hour of running, 1 1/2 hours of skating drills, some weight training, then 30 minutes of slow-paced running.

And in his spare time, when he’s not watching one of his favorite punk rock bands perform, King does a lot of cycling.

“Most important in speed skating is to develop strength in the lower body, especially the legs,” King said. “Secondary importance is placed on the arms. You don’t have to have a lot of bulk, just a lot of strength.”

Helping King reach his peak is 20-year-old Keith, an intermediate-class speed skater who will act as his coach at the Olympic Festival. Because they are in different classes, the brothers only compete against each other once a year at the world team trials.

Keith, who did not make the national team this year, said he and Charles share a healthy sense of competition. “I think it draws us close together, training together, really working together to achieve a goal,” he said. “Charles is extremely aggressive and has lots of drive, both in practice and in competition.”

King’s first real success came in the 1984 nationals at Lake Placid, N.Y. Competing against about 40 others in the juvenile division, King took second place in the 1,000 and fourth in the 800.

He slipped to sixth place overall in 1985, his first year in the junior division, but this year has been one impressive showing after another. After placing second at the nationals, he went to the North American Indoor Speed Skating Championships in Calgary, Alberta, where he competed in two finals, taking third in the 800.

Next on his agenda is preparing for the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, where indoor speed skating will be an exhibition sport. Outdoor skating, a sport popularized in this country by Eric Heiden’s gold-medal performances in the 1980 Olympics at Lake Placid, is better known than its indoor cousin. In outdoor, the skater races against the clock, but indoor is pack-style skating that emphasizes technique as well as speed.

King likes the indoor sport because “it’s more exciting, with people in a race going against each other. It gets hairy when people start falling, but it’s really fun.”

The judges watch closely for tripping, an offense which disqualified King from the 500-meter race at this year’s nationals.

“Sometimes you have to go for it, but you can learn ways where the judges won’t see it,” he said. “Guys back East know how to bump and get away with it.”

King will compete with Easterners more often after he graduates from Providence High in June. He plans to go to Northern Michigan University, where he’ll be close to the Marquette Olympic Training Center.

And in the 10 more years King plans to devote to the sport, he hopes to make it to the World Championships, a distinction granted to the top four skaters on the national team.

“It’s really fun when you skate fast, get up there with the big guys,” King said. “I really want to be one of the best in the world, or the best in the world. That’s asking a lot but I’m determined.”