A Skater’s Fast Trip From Rink Amateur to Champ : Special Olympics: Just 18 months ago, 12-year-old Robyn Bucholtz was terrified of the ice, but now she’s an award-winner who can’t get enough. Not even the occasional fall fazes her.

The first time Robyn Bucholtz went skating, she was dragged screaming around the skating rink by her parents.

“She kept yelling at us that her skates were too fast,” mother Debra Bucholtz recalled. “She wanted us to get her slower skates.”

Now, 18 months later, Robyn has to be dragged screaming off the rink to go home on the three to four nights a week her family spends at the Rollertorium in Buena Park.

After practicing an hour on a recent weeknight for today’s California Special Olympics Sports Classic in San Jose, Robyn spent another hour circling the rink and giving impromptu lessons to a couple of spectators.

“Robyn’s always the first one on the floor and the last one off,” said Randy Bucholtz about his 12-year-old, who has Down’s syndrome. “Reading and school can frustrate her, but when she comes here she’s as good as many of the other skaters.”

The competition this weekend in San Jose will bring together 75 top skaters from all over the state, chosen at regional events.

“I’m excited about it,” Robyn said. “I get to wear my new costume, and I’m going to do well.”

To qualify, Robyn won gold medals in the dance, freestyle and speed skating portions of a regional competition held in Orange last spring.

When she first started skating, Robyn said, she was afraid of speed and of falling. Now, speed skating is one of her favorite events.

“Skating makes me smart,” Robyn said. “Skating fast helps me think fast.”

As for falling, she has decided it’s a price worth paying.

“You fall when you spin, and I like to spin.”

The Bucholtzes had sought ways to include the second of their three daughters in family activities since she was a baby. At night, when the family would watch television, Randy and Debra and their oldest daughter, Aubrey, took turns stretching and moving Robyn’s arms and legs.

“We were told that kids with Down’s have poor muscle tone, so we figured we’d do what we could to improve it,” Randy Bucholtz said. “We’d spend two hours a night working her arms and legs. It was a real family effort.”

Skating is also a Bucholtz family effort. All five, including Aubrey, 16, and Cheryl, 9, belong to Rollertorium’s skating club and compete in events sponsored by the U.S. Amateur Confederation of Roller Skating.

“This place is like a second home for us,” Debra Bucholtz said one evening as she watched Robyn and Randy practice a duet. “Robyn was immediately accepted here by the other skaters. They all are very supportive and encouraging.”

The other skaters also are encouraged by Robyn, Aubrey said.

“She’s always so happy to be here,” Aubrey said. “She never complains about practicing and she does just what her coach wants her to. It keeps me motivated because it’s so obvious Robyn puts a lot more effort into skating than anyone else here does.”