DVD performance brings Japanese skater to Finland

Tomoyo Sekiguchi persevered for three years to join Marigold team

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By Tommi Hannula
     
      Japanese skater Tomoyo Sekiguchi, 25, certainly cannot be faulted for a lack of motivation. For three years she bombarded Anu Oksanen, the coach of the Marigold IceUnity skating team, with messages expressing her desire to move from Japan to Finland and join the group.
      Last summer she was successful. Oksanen asked Sekiguchi to send a DVD of her skating to Finland. The video convinced the coach, and Sekiguchi moved to Helsinki.
     “I knew for a long time that her dream was to skate with Marigold, but in the first two years there were so many skaters and junior members rising in the ranks that I could not consider the matter seriously”, Oksanen says.
     
Sekiguchi visited Finland during a competition trip already at the age of 16. She represented the Japanese team Jingu Ice Messenger, but was immediately enchanted by Marigold, and especially by the stories that were typically part of the team’s performances.
      “I wanted to show my parents that I have the courage to go and fulfill my dreams”, Sekiguchi says with her somewhat halting mixture of Finnish and English.
      She has not found a language course that would fit her schedule, as the team practices on five evenings a week.
      “I direct her with my hands, in addition to the verbal instructions. In addition, some of the girls will always help and translate into English”, Oksanen says.
     
At first Sekiguchi lived with Lea Hietala, executive director of the Finnish Figure Skating Association, until she got an apartment of her own. Sekiguchi is able to focus exclusively on skating, thanks to the economic support that she gets from her parents back at home.
      One of her dreams is to win the world championship in synchronised skating, which is not possible on a Japanese team.
      Marigold, which has won the championship three times, is one of the favourites this year as well. On Saturday, the team, along with the Rockettes, secured a place in the championships which will be held in Colorado in the United States in April.
     
Sekiguchi’s career with Marigold is not going to be just a one-season event.
      “I plan to be here possibly for three years, and after that I want to become a synchronised skating coach in Japan”, she says.
      Next year, the championships in synchronised skating will be held in Finland, and Sekiguchi’s parents have promised to come for a visit when it happens.
      Her sister was here to watch the Finlandia Cup, which was held in the past weekend, although her sibling was not on the ice during the competition.
      Only 16 members of the 21-member Marigold team will fit on the ice at one time. This time it was Sekiguchi’s turn to step aside.
     
Helsingin Sanomat / First published in print 31.1.2010


Links:
  Marigold IceUnity website: Tomoyo Sekiguchi

TOMMI HANNULA / Helsingin Sanomat
tommi.hannula@hs.fi