SKATER BOY
Conor Stakelum eschews the “family business” for life on the ice
ON the occasional morning that he is not expected at the rink at the crack of dawn, Conor Stakelum may go for a run along the coast on the outskirts of Dundee, letting the cold North Sea air blow off the cobwebs. On most days, though, he is scheduled to be on the ice by six in the morning. There are European Championships to prepare for, after all.
When he tells people what he is pursuing, he gets an odd look. An Irish figure skater? Sure, this country doesn’t even have a permenant rink. Plus, the surname of the four-time national champion suggests a far more conventional sporting heritage.
Even though he grew up in leafy Stillorgan on Dublin’s southside, Stakelum is very much of Tipperary hurling royalty. His father is Richie, his uncle is also Conor, and both are All-Ireland winners.
Richie was the Tipperary captain who enshrined himself in Premier County folklore by famously declaring ‘the famine is over’ after lifting the Munster Championship trophy in 1987. He went on to collect a couple of Celtic Crosses and has had a successful coaching career, working as Anthony Daly’s selector in Dublin.
But Stakelum junior was never taken by a game that appeared a birth-right. ‘I did try to play hurling when I was younger, but I didn’t have the hand-eye co-ordination,’ he explains. ‘My brother plays for Kilmacud but I never really had any interest in it, to be honest. I wasn’t taken by it.
‘Obviously I was aware of what my father and uncle achieved, and I have seen Dad’s speech a few times alright, but it never inspired me to play the game. I wouldn’t even be inclined to sit down and watch a hurling match.’
Instead, he went down a road rarely taken in Ireland and became an ice-skater. It happened by chance. Twelve years ago, he visited a temporary ice-rink in Booterstown over the festive period. and discovered he possessed a real flair for it.
‘I just took to it, for whatever reason,’ he explains. ‘I was 12 at the time, which is quite late to start in the grand scheme of things. But I really enjoyed it.’
He began taking lessons at Dundalk Ice Dome. ‘That place was really good. It was modern and the facilities were top class.’
Unfortunately, the doors to the Dome shut in 2010, a victim of the recession, and Stakelum was graetful for his mother’s support; it was she who drove him to Belfast every weekend to get some time on the ice.
It was clear, however, that he was good and was even selected on an Ireland junior team to compete in America in 2012. It was the first time that he thought he should make a go of the skating.
‘We went to Lake Placid, just outside New York. It was the first time competing internationally for Ireland and I did quite well. It is the first time I thought “maybe I’m pretty good at this”.’
Six years on and Stakelum will become the first Irish male figure skater to compete at the European Championships, which will be held in Moscow next month (Clara Peters competed in the female competition back in 2012). The sport of figure-skating enters the popular imagination once every four years with the Winter Olympics. ‘It is our sport’s time. People watch figure skating who never would do otherwise,’ he points out. Unfortunately, though, he won’t be in South Korea, He travelled to Germany in October for the final Olympic qualifier but, as only six spots were available and 26 skaters competing for them, he was always up against it. ‘It is tough to qualify for the Olympics. There are only 30 spots on offer, and there were only six at that qualifying event. But I did qualify for the European Championships at the event, so that softened the blow.’ A few years ago, he took the big decision to move to the Scottish city of Dundee to train full-time under British coaches Simon and Debi Briggs. He took a year out from his microbiology course at UCD to do so but has since completed his degree. Still based in Dundee, his life
I tried to play hurling when I was younger but hadn’t the hand-eye co-ordination
revolves around skating. From Wednesday to Sunday, he does two sessions a day on the ice, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. There are pilates classes twice a week, and strength & conditioning sessions. And to cap it all, he also works part-time in a shoe shop to earn extra cash.
It is a hectic schedule, but one which suggests that figure skaters are just as impressive as athletes in any other discipline; it places huge physical demands on the body – all while standing on a fine steel blade.
Stakelum has become the leading light of the sport in Ireland, but the Irish development team now boasts seven skaters.
And while the lack of a yearround rink is still a hindrance – a proposed development in Liffey Valley fell at the planning stage last year – the temporary rinks at Blanchardstown and Dundrum were over-subscribed this year. As they are every winter.
With no role models in Ireland, Stakelum had to look elsewhere and counts Canada’s Patrick Chan as among those that he looked up to when he decided to take the sport seriously.
At the start of every season, he sits down with his coach to discuss the music for his routine. Three years ago, the International Federation made a ground-breaking decision to allow songs with lyrics into skaters’ sets. It means at the European Championships, Stakelum will perform to Snow Patrol’s Chasing Cars.
And there will be a few familiar faces in Moscow. Natasha McKay, his training partner in Dundee, has qualified for the UK while his mother, Catherine, is making the journey to Moscow to watch her son.
‘It is the first time that one of my parents will be there at an international competition, so that is a pretty big deal,’ he says. Richie will be on the other end of the phone, as he tends to be on those days when training hasn’t gone entirely to plan.
‘Yeah, he is a good man to talk to if I had a bad day at the rink. He is good for the motivation after a session that didn’t go particularly well.’
Those sessions are getting rarer still for Stakelum, though. He may have missed out on the Olympics this time around but competing in Moscow next month will be the first step on what he hopes will be the road to Olympic qualification in 2022.
And he hopes it may inspire one or two more Irish people to believe that they, too, can skate competitively.