Corwin Is Ready to Move Up

Amber Corwin is 20 and a sophomore at Long Beach State. She has been a figure skater for almost 15 years, longer than Tara Lipinski had been alive when Lipinski won an Olympic gold medal last year.

So, yes, Corwin said, this is a very big deal to her, these 1999 U.S. Figure Skating Championships here this week. If Corwin, who trains with Scott Wendland in Costa Mesa, is to be seen as a serious 2002 Olympic contender, she probably needs to win a medal in the ladies competition, which begins Thursday night with the short program and ends Saturday with the long program.

With only defending national champion and Olympic silver medalist Michelle Kwan among the women with serious international credentials, Corwin, who lives in Hermosa Beach, said, “I have high expectations for myself. I know how important this competition is for me.”

Corwin will be joined in the senior competition by another skater who trains in Costa Mesa, 13-year-old Naomi Nari Nam of Irvine.

Nari Nam is coached by John Nicks, who is also bringing five other skaters here for junior and novice competition: 14-year-old Sasha Cohen of Laguna Niguel, who will compete in the junior ladies category; 16-year-old Sean Calvillo of Newport Beach, a sophomore at Brethren Christian who is competing in the junior men’s division; 15-year-old Katie McGuire of Irvine, who is in the novice ladies competition, and 12-year-old Erin Goto of Anaheim and 15-year-old Scott Smith of Orange, who is a freshman at Villa Park High, in the junior pairs division.

Corwin, who finished fifth at the 1997 U.S. championships and sixth at last year’s championship, knows she seems old in a sport in which skaters such as Lipinski have moved on to professional careers before they turn 16.

“This is my time, I think,” Corwin said before leaving for Salt Lake City. “I know people think I’m old at 20, but I feel young. I really do.”

While more attention is being paid to Nari Nam, who is creating a buzz similar to Lipinski’s a few years ago, Corwin will skate a more technically difficult long program Saturday with seven triple jumps, compared to five planned by Nari Nam.

“I just think I’m ready for this,” Corwin said. “It really does feel like my time.”