The first time the world watched Michael Jackson slide effortlessly through his Moonwalk, it was hard to believe legs could move that way – so fluidly, so precise, and almost independent of the rest of the body. With certain dance, the legs and feet become an entity of their own. Watching Fanny Violeau slice gracefully on inline skates is like a dance; as a pro slalom freestyle skater, her legs move like rubber amongst the cones.For Worcester resident Megan McIntosh, it was so amazing to watch that she decided she wanted to do it, too.
“It floored me, really,” says McIntosh. “I now believe in love at first sight.”
Now, you could consider McIntosh a pioneer of the sport of freestyle slalom skating. Though it is popular in Korea, China, France, Spain and German, it has yet to catch fire in the United States. McIntosh is literally one of the only internationally competitive skaters in the county. “I was surprised at how many people don't even know what the sport is,” she says. “Outside of the skating world is one thing, but skaters are constantly coming up to me and asking me what the heck I'm doing. People are going to see this and immediately want to do it, because it's so flipping cool.”
McIntosh beat out her first coach, Denni Palmer, for second place in Battle US in Seattle in August, and he remains one of her best friends and fellow teammates. But she credits Naomi Grigg, whom she met in April of 2008 at a slalom workshop, as helping to elevate her in the sport. Now, McIntosh is a member of her team – Team Skatefreestyle – which traveled to Singapore in December for the World Slalom Championships. McIntosh joins Palmer and Doug Persons as the US contingency on the team.
Practicing in her “scary” basement on a daily basis, as well as Roll On America in Leominster, Newton Circle and Rocketland, McIntosh is disciplined and hopes to not only make a name for herself in the sport, but inspire others to pick it up. Styles vary from the more “dancey” to those concerned with mastering technical tricks. For McIntosh, she does a little of both, but says she is working harder to master those tricky tricks.
There are a number of European competitions on the horizon this summer, and McIntosh plans to compete in several of them, as well as Battle US III in June of 2009 in Boston.
For more information on the sport:
http://www.freestyleskaters.org/
http://www.skatefreestyle.com/
http://www.worldslalomseries.com/
http://www.freestyleskaters.org/
http://www.skatefreestyle.com/
http://www.worldslalomseries.com/
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