HIGH ACHIEVERS: Coach Marilyn Thompson couldn’t watch her two world-class figure skaters compete

By Martin Cleary

When Marilyn Thompson was a figure skating coach at the Minto Skating Club, she urged her top students to strive for perfection.

It was a tough objective, but Lynn Nightingale and Kim Alletson Henderson trained their hardest and executed their routines to the best of their abilities to try to reach that goal. They were Thompson’s first two international skaters and represented Canada at global events, world championships and the Olympics in the 1970s.

Despite overseeing hundreds of their training sessions in bitter cold Ottawa arenas or the warmer Civic Centre on occasion and spending an equal amount of coaching time with them off the ice, Thompson never once watched her world-class skaters execute their compulsory figures or perform their short or free-skate programs at any competition.

As tough as she was as a highly technical and motivating coach, it was too much for Thompson to stand on the other side of the rink boards and watch her students jump, spin and interpret the music, which she spent hours upon hours selecting and blending for programs during her summers.

“She was just too nervous,” Alletson said about Thompson’s desire to hide away during her students’ skating, but quickly reappear when the music stopped. “She couldn’t bring herself to watch.

“It’s different now (for coaches) as everyone watches at the boards and cheers. In our day, coaches watched, but you didn’t see them cheering.

“It was difficult for us. It could have undermined us. Did she not have confidence in us to do it? We went, ‘take’s Marilyn.’”

Thompson, who was a figure skating coach for about 45 years, passed away on March 21 at the Barrhaven Manor, after a lengthy period of dementia. She was 82.

Nightingale, who was coached by Thompson for six years (1971-76), also understood her decision to let the skaters face the music by themselves.

“She was too nervous, I guess. I knew she didn’t watch, but there was nothing she could do,” explained the four-time Canadian women’s senior champion (1974-77).

Alletson, who was born in Brockville and moved to Ottawa with her family in 1967, started taking lessons from Thompson a year later. By 1972, Thompson had guided Alletson and Nightingale to the national championship medal podium for the first time at different levels.

Nightingale won the Canadian women’s junior title, while Alletson was the silver medallist at the women’s novice level. A year later, Nightingale earned the bronze medal in her women’s senior debut and Alletson took silver as a junior.

The 1974 Canadian championships were a milestone event for Thompson and the Minto club as Nightingale won the first of her four consecutive senior titles and Alletson took the junior title.

For the next three years as Nightingale topped the senior standings, Alletson was right behind her as the 1975 and 1976 senior silver medallist and the bronze winner in 1977.

At the world championships, Nightingale had four top-10 results with a personal-best of sixth in 1973, while Alletson recorded a pair of 12th-place results in 1975 and 1976. At the 1976 Winter Olympics, Nightingale was ninth and Alletson finished 14th.

Nightingale turned professional in 1978 with Ice Capades and Alletson’s career was halted at 19 years old, after a major right-knee injury during the 1978 Canadian championships.

Coaching Canada’s top two women’s skaters for six years was a learning curve of sheer joy for Thompson, who was passionate about skating, a sport she had to stop in her youth because of a serious car accident.

As in any athlete-coach relationship, there were moments of tension, but they were far outweighed by the technical knowledge, hours of training (many unpaid) and unquestionable support provided by Thompson.

Both skaters felt they were fairly treated by Thompson. But, jokingly, Nightingale would say Thompson liked Alletson more, and Alletson would say it was the other way around.

“The fact Marilyn (coached) both of us was amazing,” Alletson explained. “We were both kept on our toes. I never felt I didn’t get my fair share.”

“She was a huge part of my life,” Nightingale said about Thompson. “She shaped the way I was, similar to a second (mom). We knew that she loved us, which is a weird thing, when you’re talking about your coach.”

On the day Alletson learned about the passing of Thompson, she was cleaning her house in Toronto and came across a photo and story about her former coach. She spent half an hour reflecting on how Thompson impacted her life. Then Alletson received a phone call from Thompson’s husband Gordon to say she had passed away.

“She was technically very good. I think I was technically very good as a result of that,” Alletson reasoned. “She put her heart into everything.”

And not only the on-ice skating elements. Thompson also served as a choreographer, selecting the appropriate music and designing the creative programs.

“She expected perfection, but you’re never going to get it. There was a perfect way to do it, and she was technically an excellent teacher and coach,” Alletson continued. “She was a tough coach, but you don’t get two Olympians under your belt without being tough.

“She was never quick to say that was great. That was good, but if you did this, it could be even better.

“She was the same with her own life. She was fierce. She was so tiny, but she knew what she wanted. She loved skating.”

Nightingale remembered so many practices in cold Ottawa arenas and wondered how the five-foot Thompson handled the bone-chilling temperatures. But she was warmed by her love of the sport.

“Clearly, it was her passion. She loved the sport,” Nightingale added. “Through all of that she worked tirelessly. At 6:30 a.m. practices, her little body must have been freezing cold.

“She gave up a lot of time and treated us like part of her family. It was her work ethic and undying support for us.”

When Thompson put so much of herself into coaching, Nightingale and Alletson knew they had to respond accordingly.

“She also was a perfectionist and wouldn’t accept anything less than your best,” Nightingale continued. “When your coach works hard, you want to work hard. When she was committed, you had to be committed.

“As someone who demanded a lot, she fuelled the passion and love of the sport in me.”

A Celebration of Life for Thompson will be held June 28 at the Barrhaven Legion, 3500 Fallowfield Road, in Nepean, from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.