NEWS photo Miko Wakefield NEIL PATERSON, 21, placed second in the Canadian Figure Skating Championship earlier this month in North Bay, Ontaris. The North Vancouver skater is coached by his brother Gary. COButit’s a “good, lesson f for all et us: and-shows just: how much .zean be achieved. and how amaz- . ving: the human ut body is.” alee LED BY. North Vancouver’ s Barb Lang, ‘the Simon Fraser University cross-country women have placed first, second, and third at meets this -year on their way.to a number one ranking in the 250-team national collegiate ski association. The Clan has also had strong showings all season from their men’s cross-country team which is considered to be the strongest in the Nor- thwest. Courtenay’s Jonathon Lineen, who last year raced on the British National team, has ted the Clan all season, with Vancouver’s Dan McDonald also racing well. SERNA ENTE 17 - Wednesday, February 26, 1986 - North Shore News FIGURE SKATING Paterson brothers take on the world NORTH VANCOUVER’S Paterson brothers are quite a team. By STEP! BARRINGTON Contributing Writer Neil skates, Gary coaches, and the pair is proving to be a top- notch combination. Under Gary’s direction, 21- year-old Neil placed second at the Canadian Figure Skating Champi- onships in North Bay, Ont., earlier this month. Now Neil is looking ahead to a bigger competition — the World Figure Skating Championships in Geneva, Switzerland. No stranger to competition, Neil remains unrattled at the prospect of skating in his second world championship — he confidently takes it all in stride. NOT NERVOUS For him, his upcoming ap- pearance in Geneva is ‘‘just another competition,’ he says without a hint of nervousness. At last year’s world champion- ship in Tokyo, Neil placed 10th, but this time he hopes to place even higher: ‘I’m really optimistic FOUR skaters from the North Shore’s Park Plaza Figure Skating Club are off to the B.C. Winter Games in Terrace Feb. 26. Christine Johansen, competing in the Juvenile Ladies Event; Jessica Torvick and Pauline Mattis competing in the Intermediate Ladies Event; and William Mac- Donald in the Senior Men’s cate- gory wii! all represent the club at the competition. Neil Paterson, winner of the silver medal at the Canadian Fig- ure Skating Championships, will soon be on his way to the World Figure Skating Championships to be held at Geneva, Switzerland, March 17 to 22. Neil, who is coached by his brother Gary, is one of an elite few skaters in the world who con- sistently executes a triple axel jump in competition. A send-off party in Neil’s honour will be held on March I at 8 p.m. at the Park Plaza Country Club. about it,'’ he says. Coach Gary is equally hopeful: “I think this is going to be a better year,’’ the 28-year-old coach says. Because last year was Neil’s first year in a world championship competition, Gary speculates that the judges didn't know where to place him in comparison with more well-known skaters. ‘It was a bit of a surprise (to the judges). They said ‘Who is that guy?’ ”’ Part of Neil’s success stems from the camaraderie the brothers share, a characteristic of the days when the pair competed against one another as skating rivals. ALWAYS FRIENDS The feeling of friendship they shared as fellow competitors re- mains, allowing for a more effec- tive coaching relationship. ‘ft think it’s an advantage for me to unave skated against him,’’ says Gary. Neil agrees: ‘‘It’s worked out really well. We unders- tand each other really well and everything just comes together re- ally easy.’” As rivals, one brother would frequently confide in the other be- fore or after a competition. “We could talk to each other,” Gary recounts. ‘‘Now that I'm coaching him, we can still talk to each other in the same way.”’ Neil trains five hours a day at the Park Plaza Club in Worth Vancouver. Like many skaters, his day begins early. On the ice at 6 a.m., Neil trains for two hours until 8 am. At 2:30 in the afternoon, he’s back on the ice again, this time go- ing through his training paces for three more hours. REGULAR REGIMEN But despite the upcoming cham- pionships in Geneva this March, Neil says he is not doing any addi- tional training — just his regular regimen. He is, however, always planning ahead to future competitions. One of his aspirations is to compete in the 1988 Winter Olym- pics in Calgary and in the 1989 world championships after that. So far, he sees himself realizing that goal. ‘“The way things are go- ing, I think I'll make it.’” Gary, on the other hand, is a lit- tle more cautious, preferring not to get too far ahead of himself. “We're more or less taking each year as it comes,’ he says. ‘We work on the weak points that show up after each competition.” NEWS photo. Mike Wakefield FOUR SKATERS from Park Plaza Club leave Wednesday to take part in the B.C. Winter Games, held this year in Terrace. From left to right, they are Kim MacDonald, Pauiine Mattis, Christine Johanson and Jessica Torvick.