Kimmie Meissner finds renewed confidence in Florida

Kimmie Meissner was sitting in the lobby of a suburban Chicago ice rink, taking a break after rehearsals for a benefit ice show last month. She had flown the day before from South Florida, where the sun and sand have become irresistible to her.

"You can tell I've been working on my tan," Meissner said, with a deadpan expression. "I go to the beach a lot."

Fearful of sunburn, the fair-skinned figure skating champion actually has not managed to make a noticeable change in her complexion.

But the major changes Meissner made by going to Florida have allowed her to shake the wan look of resignation that reflected a mood darkened by a series of crash-and-burn performances last season.

Meissner moved in May from Baltimore to Coral Springs, Fla., where, at 19, she is living both on her own and away from home for the first time, happily calling herself "the queen of cereal," in recognition of her limited cooking ability.

She has a new coach -- actually, two: Richard Callaghan and the most decorated of his many successful former skaters, six-time U.S. champion Todd Eldredge.

"I have a different attitude toward things," she said.

Meissner never lost her love for skating, even as she searched vainly for the mental and physical skills that disappeared after she became world champion at 16, a month after finishing sixth at the 2006 Olympics.

"I think I have my confidence back a lot," Meissner said. "Not that I'm perfect all the time, or ever, but I think I'm so much better. I just hope everybody can really see this."

The first chance comes next week at Skate America in Everett, Wash. Skate America was the only event Meissner won a year ago, and her performance, although flawed, was by far her best of the season.

It was also the only event of the season in which she did not fall. By the end of the year, just staying upright was such an accomplishment that Meissner would be proud of having done that in the short program at the 2008 worlds -- even if it earned her only ninth place in that phase of the competition.

The insouciant poise that helped her become world champion had deserted her. She fell three times in the long program at the 2008 Grand Prix Final and three more a month later at the U.S. Championships, finishing seventh a year after she had won the national title.

She would be flawless in practice, a wreck in competitions. Six weeks before worlds, Meissner finally realized something drastic had to be done.