Cohen Is Seeking Ice Time, Expertise

Enticed by the prospect of having nearly unlimited ice time and the expertise of coaches Tatiana Tarasova and Nikolai Morozov, Sasha Cohen said Friday leaving Southern California to train in Newington, Conn., offers her the best chance to realize her Olympic ambitions.

“It has always been my dream to be an Olympic medalist,” said Cohen, twice a runner-up at the U.S. Championships and fourth at the Salt Lake City Games. “Tatiana Tarasova has made that come true for a lot of skaters. Hopefully, she can make my dreams come true as well.”

Cohen, 17, was coached by veteran John Nicks the last six years in Costa Mesa and Aliso Viejo. Blessed with remarkable flexibility and innate musicality, Cohen developed into a charismatic performer, although not immune to technical lapses.

Nicks portrayed her as headstrong but privately acknowledged enjoying their give-and-take relationship. He did not return calls for comment, but Cohen said he offered to help her if she asked.

“They never had a problem on the ice,” said her mother, Galina. “The only problem was the rink. There’s nobody to blame. Aliso Viejo is just a public facility. If you owned skates, you could get on the ice for the same session as Sasha.”

Cohen said she considered a switch after she had worked with Tarasova and Morozov on programs for next season and saw quick improvement.

After a discussion, her parents and younger sister decided to leave their Laguna Niguel home and join her. “Just being in an elite training environment with a lot of great skaters will give me ideas,” said Cohen, who hopes to add triple-triple combination jumps to her repertoire while again trying to become the first female skater to land a quadruple jump. “I reached a point where I need a more structured and intense training environment.”

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Several potential buyers have expressed interest in continuing to operate the Ice Castle complex in Lake Arrowhead as a skating facility, Ice Castle publicist Cindy Lang said. The camp portion of the property is in escrow.