by Kristin Casale
Associate Editor
Stow -- Dr. Walter E. Horton Jr. said he has enjoyed skating since he was a child, but he would not have predicted then that he would go on to win a Gold Medal for the sport as an adult.
Horton, of Stow, and his partner, Victoria Stanbridge, recently won the Gold Medal in the Gold Dance Division during the 14th U.S. Adult Figure Skating Championships.
The competition took place April 9 to 12 in the Lake Placid Olympic Arena in Lake Placid, N.Y.
The Gold Dance Division is the highest level of dance competition, said Horton.
The event included compulsory dances, such as the waltz, and an original dance, which Horton and Stanbridge composed with a Middle Eastern theme. More than 600 adult skaters competed.
Horton, 51, has been skating competitively for 20 years and has competed in all 14 of the U.S. Adult National Championships. The Lake Placid competition marks the third time he has received a Gold Medal.
Stanbridge, of North Royalton, is a skating professional who teaches at IceLand USA in North Royalton.
Horton and Stanbridge have skated together for nine years, and both are members of the Strongsville Skating Club.
Horton said he became involved with competitive figure skating at the urging of other skaters, who noticed his abilities and said his talents would be appreciated in a sport with a small number of male participants.
"I did skate as a kid in New Philadelphia, just on the outdoor ponds around town," he said. "I didn't really train competitively until I got into college, and I didn't start competing until my late 20s."
Horton said his love of figure skating stems from "the feeling of being able to fly around the ice."
"I've always loved music, and I've always loved performing," he said. "[Figure skating] brought together the music, skating and performing."
Horton said the Lake Placid competition was open to all figure skaters who are at least 21 years old. While he has won two Gold Medals in the past, Horton said they were for lower-level divisions.
He is proud to have won a medal for the highest level of competition after so many years participating in the sport. Attaining such an honor comes with a high level of commitment, though, Horton said.
"My partner and I, when we're really in serious training, are on the ice three times a week, a couple hours in the morning for two weekdays and maybe a good two-hour session on the weekend," he said. "It's certainly something you have to carve the time out for."
Horton said choreographing routines and choosing costumes requires additional time.
The duo worked with a choreographer to craft the routine they performed in Lake Placid, but Horton said he and Stanbridge frequently contribute their own ideas.
"A lot of the really interesting things you end up doing are mistakes you make," he said while laughing.
Stanbridge said she has enjoyed skating with Horton, joking that "it's been a long haul."
"He's actually become one of my best friends," she said. "Being with him is like skating with your best friend."
When Horton is not skating, he serves as vice president of research at the Northeastern Ohio Universities Colleges of Medicine and Pharmacy.
He has lived in Stow since 1999 with his wife, Sara Carlson, and their son, Dan.
Horton said he is content to remain at the non-Olympic level of competition, stating Olympic skating is a "full-time job."
He has skated with Olympic-level competitors in the past, though, stating Stan and Sally Urban are among them.
Horton said he and Stanbridge are unsure what their next major competition will be.
"This was the big one," he said of the Lake Placid event. "We're pretty much in a cruising phase."
Those who would like to watch Horton skate in a local competition can do so next month, when he and Stanbridge are scheduled to appear in the Wooster Figure Skating Club's Spring Show May 17 and 18.
For more information, e-mail Carol Patton at newyorksk8r@yahoo.com.
E-mail: kcasale@recordpub.com
Phone: 330-686-3917