This is a draft of an article that appeared in the hard copy Australian magazine OzSkater
in the October 2007 edition. The final article may have been edited prior to publication.
Too Hot for Roller but Cool on the Ice
by J. Barry Mittan
Australia's Phoebe Di Tommaso, a diminutive charmer from Brisbane, started her skating life as a roller skater when she was four. She might have ended up as a roller skating champion or roller derby queen, except for one thing. "I just got too hot roller skating," she recalled. "It gets really hot in the rink in the summer." She still wanted to skate, so she switched to figure skating when she was eight and never looked back.
"I also did gymnastics from when I was five until I started skating," she added. "My favorite was floor exercise. I competed at the lower levels and continued for a while after I started skating, but I couldn't do both. The gymnastics helped with my flexibility in skating." Di Tommaso's parents were both athletes. Her father was a professional golfer and ran marathons while her mother competed in triathlons.
Di Tommaso landed her first double axel at 14 and her first triple salchow when she was 15. "The flip and the lutz are my favorite jumps," she stated. "Right now I'm mainly working on the consistency of my triple jumps. I'm not doing any triple-triple combinations yet, but I have a triple lutz-double toe-double loop in my program." Her short program last season included a double lutz-double toe combination and a triple flip, as well as a double axel. For her long, she added a double axel-double axel sequence but no other triples.
The 2005 Australian junior champion finished 12th at her first Junior Grand Prix event in Taipei City in 2006. She had previously placed 29th at Junior Worlds in 2005. In her first senior ISU championships, Di Tommaso placed 21st at the 2007 Four Continents Championships in the high altitudes of Colorado Springs, Colorado. That was a solid season for the 17-year-old, who missed a season with a broken left ankle. She was off the ice over three months, and then took another two months to get her jumps back before the 2006-07 season began.
"My goal was just to get to Four Continents," Di Tommaso said. "I wanted to take the step up to seniors so I could keep up with the other young ones. I thought if I started doing senior competitions now that I'd get some experience for later. I'm hoping to try for the Olympics in 2010. After that, I'll reassess and see if I want to go forward."
Di Tommaso trains in Sydney, Australia at Canterbury Ice Rink with Liz Cain and Gloria Pracey. She usually practices for three to four hours a day on ice, six days a week with another hour of daily off ice training. "I've been there for about a year now," Di Tommaso said. "I had visited the rink before and Liz went with me to Junior Worlds in 2005. I enjoy working with her."
Cain and Chris Hall choreographed her 2006-07 programs, both of which were new for 2006-07. For the short, Di Tommaso used "All That Jazz" and "Hot Honey Rag" from the musical "Chicago". For her, long, she skated to "The Jellicle Ball" by Andrew Lloyd Webber. "We were looking for something to suit her bubbly personality and cheeriness," Cain stated. "For the short program, we had seen 'Chicago' and thought it would be perfect." "It took a long time to decide on the long program," Di Tommaso added. "I loved 'Cats" and I have to have bright music so I can interpret it better. I can skate to anything but I just wanted to have fun last season."
Off ice, she listens to whatever music is on the radio, but likes Christina Aguilera. She used to play the flute when she was younger, but noted that she was not very good at it. She enjoys shopping and especially cooking. "Phoebe's a terrific cook," Cain said. "She made a gingerbread house at Christmas and everybody wanted one so she had to make six more of them." Di Tommaso also likes to travel.
The teenager is home schooled and has one year to finish high school in Australia. She's studying English, business and technology now, but hasn't decided on a future career. But she does teach Learn to Skate classes for a few hours a week.
