OXFORDSHIRE'S British figure-skating champion Tammy Sear came home from the European Championships in Venice this week and admitted her first taste of international skating was 'a real eye-opener', writes Niall Jeger.

She finished a disappointing 23rd but became the first British woman for six years to qualify for the final stages of a European Championship, after going through from a field of 36.

The 23-year-old Kidlington skater admitted that nerves got the better of her and said: "I told myself to relax. I said 'I can do this'. I do it every day in practice. But I got nervous."

Her nerves were understandable. When Sear won the British title in Belfast back in November, there were 300 spectators. At the weekend, she skated out into a huge arena with 8,000 spectators and TV cameras watching her every move.

She said: "I have never been in that situation before. It was my first international and a real eye-opener. But it has put me on the same level as a lot of the top skaters." Her coach, Tony Barron, said: "In terms of what we had hoped for, it was a bit disappointing.

"Personally, I know that she would have liked to have done better."

"It's totally different when you step out into that huge arena. However, the experience will stand her in good stead for the World Champion- ships."

They start in Nice, France, at the end of March. With the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics in mind, Sear will be using the World Championships as a trial run for next year's event, because, if she finishes in the top 24, she should make the Olympic squad. Sear took up skating at the age of eight and fulfiled her lifelong ambition when she clinched the British skating title in Belfast last November. That terrific performance earned her a ticket to the European and world events.

Sear is off to California on Saturday for some intensive work with top US coach Evelyn Kramer before the world championships.

And she goes into those, confident of a much better performance now that she has had her first taste of the big time.

When she is in the UK, Sear trains at the Olympic size arena in Milton Keynes, where she also coaches.

Story date: Thursday 17 February

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