Village Squire, 1978-05, Page 36SPORTS
Double success
in one family
BY FRANCES BARRICK
It. all began at the age of two for Sherri
and Lorri Baier, the world figure skating
champions from Mitchell.
At that early age their mother, Donna
Baier, took the girls to the town's skating
arena for a Saturday afternoon skate.
Mrs. Baier recalls Sherri at two crying
when it was time to get off the ice, whereas
Lorri, was only slightly interested in the
sport.
When the girls were four, they attended
group figure skating lessons at the Mitchell
skating ch,b, and at the age of seven, they
started private lessons.
"It just went on from there," said
Sherri, a trim, attractive 16 -year-old.
Lorri, who at age 14 closely resembles
her sister with short -styled brown hair,
remembers failing her first skating test at
the age of seven. She then went to the
girls' present coach, Kerry Keitch, of the
Preston Figure Skating Club, and passed
one test after another.
And now some 14 years after the
Saturday afternoon excursions, the girls
have achieved world recognition.
In March of this year, Sherri attended
the Ottawa world senior championships,
with her partner Robin Cowan of
Waterloo. Unfortunately, Sherri sustained
a leg injury and the pair were unable to
finish their five-minute program.
"I wished we could have finished, but it
is over now," said Sherri.
Misfortune beset the pair before. This
January at Victoria in the Canadian Figure
Skating Championships, Sherri suffered
from a recurring troubled left wrist, and
Robin experienced a nose bleed. However,
this time the mishap did not hamper their
performance, and they carried off the gold
medal in senior pairs.
At last year's world championships in
Japan, Sherri, plagued by the troubled
wrist, achieved tenth place in pairs with
partner Robin, a feat that allowed Canada
to send two pairs to the 1978 world's held
in Ottawa.
Also, in 1977, Sherri gained second place
in the novice ladies competition in the
Canadian contest.
But Sherri did not monopolize the figure
skating achievements. In March of this
year. Lorri and her partner Lloyd Eisler of
Seaforth, travelled half -way around the
world to Megreve, France to participate in
the world junior figure skating champion-
ships.
Lorri , on the left, and Sherri, with their latest additions to an alreatIN ast collection of
awards. Lorri's gold medal is for capturing the novice ladies title at the Canadian Figure
Skating Championships in Victoria this year. At the same contest, Lorri won this award for
first place in the senior pairs.
The couple finished sixth in the pairs
competition, behind fellow Canadians Paul
Martini and Barbara Underhill of Toronto.
Lorri also placed 14th in the junior ladies
singles.
Earlier in the year, at the Canadian
Championships in Victoria, Lorri distin-
guished herself by capturing the novice
ladies title. Lorri and her partner Lloyd also
placed second in the junior pairs to merit
the silver medal.
Unfortunately, Sherri's skating career
over the past four years has been marred
by a succession of injuries.
In October 1974, while ,practising in
Kitchener, Sherri fell and broke her left
wrist. Since the accident, which left her
with a loss of 25 degrees of movement in
the hand, it has been a constant source of
trouble.
Other injuries include back problems.
strained groin muscle, sprained ankle and