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Photograph by Skye Dunlap
Twirl Girl: Figure skater Carissa Caparas, 11, has her eye on the Olympics.
The Ice Is Right!
From the time Carissa Caparas could walk, she's been performing
By Kara Chalmers
Carissa Caparas began figure skating two years ago, and since then the 11-year-old rarely has been awarded less than first place in competition. At the Ice Skating Institute's World Recreational Team Championships, held in San Jose in July, the Willow Glen Middle School sixth-grader placed first in her age group in the technical category and second in the entertainment category. About 1,800 skaters from 92 rinks around the world, ranging in age from 4 to 70, competed in the championships.
Carissa says she skates because she enjoys it. "I think it's really fun. It takes a lot of my time, but it's the best sport," she says.
Carissa used to play basketball, softball and soccer and was involved with drama. She now focuses on ice skating.
"She tried everything--dance, gymnastics--until she found skating," says Mila Caparas, Carissa's mother. "She fell in love with it. She wouldn't trade it for anything."
Carissa got her start on the ice attending the public sessions at the San Jose Ice Center. Now she hopes to make it to the Olympics. "Of course, it's tough," Carissa says. "And you need to be very patient."
She likes competing and wishes she could do it more. When she competes, Carissa reminds herself that she skates for fun, so she doesn't get nervous.
At the championships, her team, the Golden State Junior Position Team, also won first place in the position dancing event, which is similar to synchronized skating.
"I like solo the most," Carissa says. "But I also enjoy the team."
Carissa, who skates to "Holiday" by Madonna for her entertainment routine, has been a performer all her life, and skating is only one of her passions. "She has always been a bubbly child," Mila Caparas says. "From the day she started walking, she has been performing. Here at home, she would pretend there was a big audience."
Carissa shows her ice skating medals and trophies, mingled with some from beauty pageants and singing competitions. Carissa still likes to sing for her family, although she has quit singing competitively to concentrate on her skating career.
"I'm hoping to be Miss Teen U.S.A.," she says, as she displays the plaque she won for most photogenic in the Little Miss Hawaiian Tropic Swimsuit Competition. The picture on the plaque shows a photogenic Carissa in a tiara, beaming and holding her trophy.
When Carissa was 4 years old, Mila Caparas asked her if she wanted to model. Carissa jumped at the chance, says her mother, and has since been in television commercials and was an extra in the film What Dreams May Come, starring Robin Williams.
"She knows what she wants, and she knows how to get there," says Mila.
Even at the early age of 11, Carissa is thinking about college, her mother says.
"She needs to get good grades and if she does not, that's the end of her skating," Mila says. "Homework is first, before anything."
Carissa swims and plays racquetball to stay in shape, but she is not fanatical about her weight. Luckily, she has parents who talk to her about some of the pressures she may face as a figure skater and a model, and who make sure she doesn't fall into bad habits.
"She's aware that she has to have a good body for skating and modeling," says Mila. "But I watch her and always tell her, 'there's no way you're going to stop eating. That's when your failures start. You want to be healthy and strong for skating.' "
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Willow Glen, California Since 1992
