1997 National Championships
Pre-Competition Interview
Transcript by Jill
Interviewer: Early this year, you began working with coach Richard Callaghan, who also coaches world champion Todd Eldredge. What about your skating has changed because of him?
Tara: I think mostly my speed and my confidence, and we've been working on the triple lutz. I used to have a crossed foot entering the lutz, and we took that out. We're working on my jumps and my presentation mark.
Interviewer: What are your short program jumps this year?
Tara: Triple lutz-double loop combination, triple flip. We're not sure of we're going to do the triple lutz-triple loop at Nationals, but I am working on it. Right now I am working on other triple-triple combinations, but I can't put any more combinations in my long program because of the limit on triple jumps [eight].
Interviewer: Your new programs this year are to the soundtracks from Little Women and Sense and Sensibility. How did you choose those?
Tara: It was all of our decisions -- Mr. Callaghan and Sandra [Bezic, choreographer] and mine. They wanted me to go to the more classical side, so we listened to classical music and I didn't find anything. So then we listened to soundtracks, and I liked the soundtracks because it was classical but it also had a movie kind of sound. I watched both the movies.
Interviewer: Sandra Bezic says in her book, A Passion to Skate, that she often gives skaters a private mental image to help them through their program. Did she do that with you?
Tara: She said the music and the dress were princess-like. That was the image.
Interviewer: Do you watch skating on television yourself?
Tara: Every time it's on.
Interviewer: Who are your favorite commentators?
Tara: I like Dick Button, and Peter Carruthers, and Dorothy and Peggy. I like them all. I don't know them real personally, but I've met them.
Interviewer: At the World Championships last March, you fell twice in the short program and Dick Button commented, very sympathetically, that we were watching you mature before our very eyes. Is that how it felt to you?
Tara: It was my first Worlds and I was just a little nervous. And I put it together for the long [program]. So I was upset that night, but I wasn't really upset the next day. Everyone makes mistakes.
Interviewer: Some people have expressed concern that as your body matures and your center of gravity drops, you may lose your jumps.
Tara: I don't think it's really going to affect me. I only have two or three more inches of height left so I think I'll be okay. I can handle it.
Interviewer: Who is the most interesting celebrity you've run into because of skating?
Tara: When I went to L.A. to get my costumes, Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman and all the other actresses and actors came into the hotel. I talked to Rosie O'Donnell and Nicole.
Interviewer: Did they seem to know anything about skating?
Tara: Not really. Rosie did, a little bit.
Interviewer: This upcoming competition is a real mix of skaters, from national competitors to Dorothy Hamill. Has any of these skaters been particularly helpful to you?
Tara: I think they all really help, to watch them on TV and see what kind of style they have. Of my competitors, I admire Michelle [Kwan] the most. And Paul Wylie; I really like him. He's really strong and fast, and I just like the type of skating he does. He has good music.
Interviewer: What do you plan to do after your skating career?
Tara: After skating I'd like to be a lawyer. My dad is a lawyer, and I like it. Right now I don't know when that will be, because I want to go to the Olympics and I don't know which Olympics it's going to be.
Interviewer: Who do you think is the best-looking male skater?
Tara: [Giggles.] Um, I don't know. [Silence. I can almost hear her mind clicking over various male skaters. More giggles.] I don't want to hurt anyone's feelings.
Interviewer: What would you like people to know about you?
Tara: That I'm working hard, and hopefully I'll still be up there on the world scene. That's my goal.
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