The Icelandic Canadian - 01.12.1979, Side 33

THE ICELANDIC CANADIAN
31
A LITTLE BIT OF ICELAND—ON ICE
Tracy Lynn Vopnford* an eight-year old
Icelandic Canadian,** has spent a good part
of her life on ice. At the age of four she felt
at home on skates. At that time she skated
with the Sun God Skating Club, North Del-
ta. B.C. in the Mother and Toddlers group,
and took part in the annual skating Camival-
on-Ice. Noting Tracy’s talent, people en-
couraged her parents, David and Julie
Vopnford, to give her private lessons.
When Tracy was six, the family moved to
Bellingham, Washington. She performed
her first solo during an intermission in a
Bellingham Blazer Hockey game. The team
considered her their mascot. She also began
skating in ISIA competition in Freestyle 4
and 5. In five competitions she placed first
in four, and second in one. One of her solos
was televized.
Last summer Tracy received lessons from
Lorraine Borman in Lynnwood, Washing-
ton. Ms. Borman specializes in training na-
tional competitors. Having seen Tracy per-
form, she offered to make a place in her
busy schedule to work with Tracy. The fol-
lowing are Ms. Borman’s comments regard-
ing Tracy’s progress:
“I have been training Tracy since April,
and she is definitely going to be one of my
future skaters. In a few short months she has
accomplished a lot — from single axel to
double flips, which is four double jumps.
She has excellent concentration on her
figures, and enjoys working on them. This
is not common for skaters of her age. She
has entered four competitions since spring,
and placed no lower than second. She came
first in United States Figure Skating Asso-
ciation Inter-Clubs competitions prelimin-
*See cover picture.
“Her grandparents — Wally and Sigrid Vopnford,
Mount Vernon, Washington; great-grandparents —
Jakob and Dagbjort Vopnfjord, long-time residents
of Winnipeg, Manitoba, and Blaine, Washington.
ary rounds, and ended up second over all.
(This included 59 skaters in Preliminary
Ladies, and 474 skaters from many of the
states, including Alaska, also Canada.) She
competed in Sun Valley, Idaho last summer
and came in second in Preliminary Ladies.
Tracy shows a lot of talent, which I hope
will take her far.”
David and Julie, and her two sisters, Lisa
and Julie, and brother David, all hope that
they can keep Tracy skating, and help her to
become a champion. It means a lot of sacri-
fice in time and money for the whole family,
but since Tracy is willing to work so hard,
the family will do all it can to help her. In the
meantime just watching Tracy skate and
compete with ever-increasing skill and
grace makes it all worth while.
DR. G. KRISTJANSSDN
PHYSICIAN and SURGEON
PHONE 633-7281
WESTBROOK MEDICAL CENTRE
Logan and Kcawatin
Winnipeg, Manitoba

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