Lucinda Ruh

Lucinda Ruh
Personal information
Country represented Switzerland
Born (1979-07-13) 13 July 1979
Zurich, Switzerland
Height 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)
Former coach Liu Hongyun
Oliver Höner
Nobuo Sato
Christy Ness
Former choreographer Robin Cousins
Alexander Zhulin
Toller Cranston
Lea Ann Miller
Sarah Kawahara
Christopher Dean
Skating club Club des Patineurs de Geneve
Former training locations Tokyo, Japan; Toronto, Canada; San Francisco, California, USA; Harbin, China; Switzerland
Began skating 1984
Retired 2000

Lucinda Martha Ruh (born 13 July 1979) is a Swiss former competitive figure skater. The 1996 Swiss national champion, she became known for her extreme flexibility and outstanding spinning ability. In April 2003, she set a world record for the most continuous spins (115) on one foot.

Personal life

Lucinda Martha[1] Ruh was born on 13 July 1979 in Zurich, Switzerland.[2] Her family moved to Paris, France, not long after her birth and then to Tokyo, Japan, when she was four years old.[1] She was initially more focused on ballet than skating and at age seven received a scholarship to the Royal Ballet of London.[1] She also practiced the piano and cello.[1]

Ruh lives in Greenwich, Connecticut.[3] In May 2012, she gave birth to twin girls, Angelica and Angelina.[4][5]

Career

Ruh began skating in 1984,[2] soon after moving to Japan.[1] She decided to focus on skating as her main activity when she was about eight.[1]

In 1986, Ruh began working with coach Nobuo Sato.[1] She won the bronze medal at the Japan Junior Championships in 1994. Although she initially enjoyed jumps, her interest in them waned as she grew to 5'9" (175.26 cm), "Since the center of gravity was higher, combined with the rigid training while growing, I never really had a chance to get my timing and balance back. As a result, injuries from bad falls plagued me even more and I started not liking jumps."[1]

In 1996 she moved to Toronto, Canada to work with Toller Cranston.[1] In 1997, she worked with Christy Ness in San Francisco, California[6] but developed two Achilles tendinitis, a ruptured shoulder and Sciatica.[1] In 1998 she moved to Harbin, China to train with Chen Lu's former coach, Hongyun Liu, but although her jumping improved, the Chinese federation objected to a non-national being trained by him.[1] In December, she moved to Switzerland where she met coach Oliver Höner; it was the first time she had resided in her birth country.[1]

In the summer of 1999, she went to the U.S. and was briefly coached by Galina Zmievskaya but tore knee ligaments and returned to Switzerland for treatment.[1] Her last ISU event was the 1999 Cup of Russia. She sustained an injury after falling on a jump during practice the day before the competition but took three Cortisone injections a day and finished 6th at the event.[1] She later learned she had fractured her spine, resulting in two dislocated discs.[1] Her spinning may also have resulted in subtle concussions.[7] A study is underway to determine whether intensive training of spins may cause concussions.[7]

Ruh represented Club des Patineurs de Geneve.[2] She has cited the pair Ekaterina Gordeeva and Sergei Grinkov as the skaters she admired the most while growing up.[1]

Following her retirement, Ruh began working as a coach and a spinning coach specialist. On 3 April 2003 she set a world record for the most continuous spins (115) on one foot at Chelsea Piers Sky Rink in New York City. She nearly doubled the previous record of Neil Wilson of Britain (60 revolutions).[1]

She participated in the 2010 and 2011 iterations of "One Step Closer", a figure skating exhibition to benefit the AIDS Resource Foundation for Children.[8][9] She is the author of Frozen Teardrop, a memoir published by SelectBooks on November 2011.[10]

Programs

Season Short program Free skating
1998–99
[2]

    Competitive highlights

    GP: Champions Series / Grand Prix

    International[2]
    Event 92–93 93–94 94–95 95–96 96–97 97–98 98–99 99–00
    Worlds 18th 19th 15th 23rd 13th
    Europeans 23rd
    GP Cup of Russia 6th
    GP Skate Canada 6th 3rd
    Finlandia Trophy 8th
    Nebelhorn Trophy 7th
    Schäfer Memorial 11th
    Skate Israel 10th
    International: Junior[2]
    Junior Worlds 6th 9th 7th
    Blue Swords 12th J
    Triglav Trophy 3rd J
    National[2]
    Swiss Champ. 1st J 4th 3rd 1st 2nd 2nd 3rd
    J: Junior level; WD: Withdrew

    References

    1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Slater, Paula (April 29, 2004). "Lucinda Ruh: Strong Spirit Defeats Fractured Spine". GoldenSkate.
    2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Lucinda RUH". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 4 July 2016.
    3. ↑ Perry Bind, Barbara (February 25, 2011). "Skating Royalty: 'Queen of Spin' Lucinda Ruh". greenwichcitizen.com.
    4. ↑ Brannen, Sarah S.; Meekins, Drew (June 8, 2012). "The Inside Edge: Young Artists Showcase". Icenetwork.
    5. ↑ https://twitter.com/MWskatecast/status/206101555915657216/photo/1
    6. ↑ "Lucinda Ruh: Online Interview". Golden Skate. July 30, 2002.
    7. 1 2 Kutiakose, Sabina (February 7, 2012). "Dr. Investigates Figure Skating Dangers". NBC Connecticut.
    8. ↑ ""One Step Closer" a big success for David". Icenetwork.com. April 12, 2010.
    9. ↑ ""One Step Closer" to be held April 9". Icenetwork.com. March 7, 2011.
    10. ↑ Manley, Allison (1 December 2011). "Book Review: Lucinda Ruh's "Frozen Teardrop"". The Manleywoman SkateCast.
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