With winter finally here, some may be excited that the ice skating rinks are reopening for the season. But for junior Princeton Kwong, this is nothing new.

An internationally recognized skating champion who is part of the U.S. team, Kwong has made his mark numerous times. Most recently, in November, he placed second at the 2006 Pacific Coast Sectional Championships, the qualifying competition to Nationals. Kwong, who won the same competition before, expressed slight disappointment about his performance. “I could have done better,” he said.

Still, thanks to his second place rank, Kwong will compete at Nationals in January 2006 in St. Louis, Missouri. As for international competitions, last year, he won first at the North American Challenge in Canada, silver at the Garden Trophy in Italy and bronze at the Junior Grand Prix Germany to become the highest-ranked American athlete there. On average, Kwong has participated in five competitions a year since he was 13 years old.

Kwong started ice skating when he was seven years old. “It was just for fun,” he said. “My parents brought me to a rink, and I was pretty good.” Although Kwong’s skating career started merely as a hobby, people around him discovered his potential early on. At eight years old, he won his first competition, albeit “one of those baby competitions,” according to Kwong. Then, at 14 years old, he won Nationals at the Novice Level in Atlanta, Georgia, achieving his childhood dream that came soon after he started skating. As a result, the Atlanta Nationals was his most memorable competition. “You’re just on top of the nation,” Kwong said.

Such competitions are Kwong’s favorite part about ice skating. “Being able to travel around the world is amazing,” he said. “Also, when they announce you as representing the United States, you feel really special.”

Nearly a decade into his career, Kwong still maintains passion for his sport. “I have the urge to do it, and although I’m using ice skating as an extracurricular activity, it’s more for joy than for anything else,” Kwong said.

This must be the case, as Kwong continues to skate even after injuries that include two shoulder dislocations and a deep cut on his right leg. Other physically demanding aspects of skating include learning difficult jumps. “The routines are pretty hard to get through, especially when you’re doing high altitude training,” Kwong said. “You just have to keep practicing.”

On top of physical challenges, Kwong finds it at times difficult to deal with fame. “Sometimes [people] mistake that you win [a competition] once and suddenly you make the Olympics, which isn’t true,” Kwong said. “It’d be my great honor to represent the United States at the Olympics, but right now, it’s a little too early to determine. Also, it can be pretty tough to deal with publicity, such as regarding what to say in front of the press.”

To make life easier for himself, Kwong has devised his own methods to cope with pressure and stress brought on by skating. “Friends talk with me a lot, and I just walk around and remember to breathe,” he said.

Junior Ming-Yun Tang, a close friend of Kwong for the past four years, cited Kwong’s modesty as one of the most endearing qualities about him. “He’s on top of the world, but he’s not arrogant about it,” Tang said. “[Kwong] is humble; he doesn’t brag, and he’s open-minded about what other people have to say.”

At home, Kwong trains individually with his coach, Sergei Ponomarenko, a Russian Olympic champion of ice skating. Kwong’s mother, Emmy, believes Kwong and his coach are an excellent team. “Princeton has to endure the nerves of the competitive environment, but his coach calms him down,” Emmy Kwong said.

Kwong practices one and a half to two hours a day, five days a week on weekdays in San Jose. “As soon as I get home, I have to start my homework, and sometimes I finish pretty late,” Kwong said.

Nonetheless, the hard work has paid off, and Kwong reminds himself of the necessity for dedication. “No one ever became good at something by quitting,” he said. “You just can’t quit.” According to Kwong, his coach’s and parents’ positive attitude help him focus. “Even after a bad practice, they tell me that you can’t be perfect everyday,” Kwong said.

Between ice skating and school, Kwong’s days are usually full. Still, whenever possible, he likes to spend time with his little brother, a second grader, or with the piano and flute. “After all the tough schoolwork, harsh training and traveling, once in a while, I hang out with my friends and sometimes have gatherings at my house,” he said. “After all, I’m not a robot doing hard, repetitive work. I’m a kid.”

In his freshman and sophomore years, Kwong also used his free time to give back to the community, spending two hours a week to teach physically challenged children ice skating. “It was nice being able to help special kids and to see that my teaching actually paid off in the end,” Kwong said. “I was reminded of how lucky I am not to have such disabilities, and it made me feel sorry.”

In addition, ice skating has shed light on other valuable life lessons for Kwong. “[Skating] taught me to have a strong work ethic, persistence and time management,” Kwong said. His mother agrees. “It’s good training for the mind to face the challenge,” she said. “It’s nice to be at the top but it’s very short-lived. You don’t win all the time, and you have to learn to pick yourself up again when you reach those valleys. It’s a process—hopefully [Kwong’s] character can grow stronger to gain more endurance to tackle the sport.”

However, for Kwong, school still takes precedence over skating. “I just happened to be good at [skating], but school is my top priority,” Kwong said. As a result, the most difficult part for him is balancing school and skating. “I have to miss school, but it helps that the teachers are pretty flexible and understanding,” Kwong said.

“It’s a juggling act and a continual struggle with switching gears—skating hard and hitting the books hard,” Emmy Kwong said. “But he tries to do his best in everything.”

According to Emmy Kwong, Kwong’s ice skating success is due to a combination of many factors. “It’s really a coordinated effort of a lot of people—his coach, choreographers, trainer and [his parents], but a lot of it is Princeton himself,” she said.

“Ultimately, when it comes down to it, it’s the skater facing the ice.”