Cool as ice

     By Todd Dewey
     View staff writer
      It might seem odd for one of the world's best pair figure skating teams to live in the Las Vegas heat.
      But Olympic hopefuls Jered Guzman and Amanda Magarian have found a home in the valley, training at the Las Vegas Ice Gardens, 3896 Swenson Street, for more than two years.
      Guzman, 18, and Magarian, 16, moved to Las Vegas from Lake Arrowhead, Calif., in part to be closer to their coach, Peter Gordon. The move has already paid off.
      The talented duo, which practices up to four hours per day, six days a week, recently finished fourth in the prestigious U.S. Senior National Championships. The top two teams at the 2002 event will advance to the Olympics in Salt Lake City.
      "It was really good," Guzman said. "You're competing against those skaters you used to look up to. It's a good feeling knowing you're on an incline and not a decline."
      The team, which has only been together for two years, placed sixth at the senior nationals in 1999.
      "I've been waiting forever to get a medal," Magarian said.
      Guzman, who grew up around the sport -- his mother, Jennie Walsh, won a bronze medal in figure skating at the 1968 Olympics -- is confident he and his partner can qualify for the 2002 Winter Olympics.
      "We're looking good. We're skating better and better as the years go by," he said. "As long as we keep moving up, we'll make it. We just have to keep hoping for that and keep working."
      Magarian, who fell in love with the sport at a birthday party when she was 9, also likes their chances to make the U.S. Olympic team.
      "I think (our chances) are looking really good. Our skating has improved a lot," she said. "Every day we're seeing improvement. It's just a matter of being consistent."
      Gordon, who performed as a pairs skater in the Ice Capades for 10 years, also is Guzman's godfather.
      "Even though he's my godson, I wouldn't be (coaching them) unless they had what it took to do it," he said. "I believe they have the capability to be U.S. national champions. I believe that. Otherwise, I wouldn't be doing it.
      "They're capable, but a lot of it is timing. The best team doesn't always win. In this sport, nobody crosses the finish line first. It's a matter of six people's opinions."
      In Gordon's opinion, the young pair have few weaknesses on the ice.
      "Watch for this duo. Jered and Amanda have everything it takes to become champions: skating ability, style, the never-ending desire and, most of all, their love for figure skating," he said. "You either have 'it' or you don't. They do.
      "They're physically capable and they work their butts off. Everything is there. There is really nothing they're weak at."
      Guzman and Magarian, who are both home-schooled, also placed fourth at the Junior World Championships in Germany this year. They were the highest American team to place and finished ahead of some Russian teams, which set the standard in pairs figure skating.
      "Jered and Amanda are more well-rounded than some of the Russians," Gordon said.
      Despite their already impressive resumŽ -- the pair also won an international junior grand prix in the Netherlands and finished fourth in Japan this season -- Gordon wants the team to wait until 2006 to make their Olympic debut.
      "I don't want them to go to the Olympics unless they can place in the top 10 in the world," he said. "They are the youngest team and there are several teams ahead of them (in the U.S.). The way it's set up now, they would be best represented at the (2006) Olympics.
      "I think they can be a lot better than they are, and I don't want them to be recognized until they reach their potential. They're looking at this as the 50-yard dash, and I'm looking at it as the mile."
      While the pair is already well-polished, Gordon said most teams work together for eight years before competing in the Olympics.
      "They're new. They've only been together two years," he said. "We have to wait our turn."
      Gordon realizes if his talented pupils have their way, though, they'll wear the red, white and blue in 2002.
      "He wants this more than anything," Gordon said of his godson.