Ice angels play with fire

- The couple formed by Federica Faiella and Massimo Scali is aiming at following the steps of the ice dance world champions. And to guide them there's Walter Rizzo, coach for vocation and fireman as a job. Obliged to share his time between his skaters and rides with blaring sirens to put out fires, he says: "Perhaps it was my fate that I had to help someone anyway". -

"After all it's always teamwork: I give a hand, suggest, come to the aid of someone." Walter Rizzo, a 41 year old Milanese, not a Red Cross nurse, lives on the edge. His days are made of water and fire, fire and water. There's not a middle course: "But after all", he repeats, "it's always a teamwork". Two jobs, two passions. He is on the water -- or better, on the ice -- since he was a child: he was 11 when he first put a pair of skates on. It's 12 years, instead, that he walks among the flames, since he entered the fire brigade (Vigili del Fuoco) after passing the special examination. "Command of Milan, via Messina, shift D, team 14", he says proudly. There's team and team. On the ice, as an athlete -- figure skating, ice dance -- it was he and his partner. Now, as a coach, it's he, his assistants and his pupils. Federica Faiella and Massimo Scali -- who have been skating together for 2 years and are currently the best Italian team -- have a beautiful idea in mind: to step on the podium at the Olympics of Turin 2006. For fires, collapses and floods the group has a fixed number: 8 people, not one more, not one less. Water and fire, fire and water. The extremes sometimes touch themselves. "I come from Sesto San Giovanni, in the Milanese hinterland", tells Rizzo. "Still today it's a kind of capital for figure skating. A bit as Alcamo, in Sicily, is for fire brigades." Two years ago Sesto reached the top of the world with Barbara Fusar-Poli, since it is where Barbara was born and currently lives. "There, it is almost natural to try skating. To me, it happened on a Sunday morning. After skating with a couple of girls, the long partnership with Brunilde Bianchi began." They were 13th at the Europeans of Göteborg 1985, the best placement of a good international career. Four years later Walter and Brunilde -- 3 years younger -- got married. Their most precious medals are now called Francesca, 10, and Matteo, 5. "As coaches, seeing the tradition, we hadn't much chance in Milan. So, in 1988, we courageously decided to move to Rome. The ice rink in Mentana became our new home." The results of more than 10 years of work have been excellent. Bianchi - Rizzo (she's involved with choreography, he with technical aspects), starting almost from nothing, have created Federica Faiella - Luciano Milo, two times junior world silver medalists, and Flavia Ottaviani - Massimo Scali, third at their first junior Grand Prix Final. "I
used to work by Breda as electrician for industrial upkeep", Rizzo recalls, "and among my pupils there was the son of a crew commander of the fire brigade. It was he who suggested me to try the examination". Since then water and fire have become one element. In 2000 they came back to Lombardy. Meanwhile, of the two couples only one had remained: Faiella - Scali. They also moved to Milan to follow Bianchi - Rizzo. More or less by chance, Federica and Massimo, together with a friend hairdresser, live in a rented apartment in Sesto San Giovanni. "We like it there", says Massimo, "even if it takes about 45 minutes with the subway to reach Agorŕ, our home rink. From one end of the red line to the other." Inevitably, with the passing of the time the two have been affected by the passion of their coach. "When we compete abroad", Federica smiles, "we always visit the local fire station. We exchange T-shirts and badges. We did that last year at Worlds in Washington too." Someway the strange profession touches them too. "Sometimes", adds Massimo, "Walter gets to practice panting, because there was an emergency during his shift or he hasn't slept all night. He makes superhuman effort, but nothing seems to be a burden for him." It's a matter of passion, evidently. "On the ice, as on the fire engine, you need a lot of imagination", says Rizzo, "And then, even if I.... "burn" my vacations going around ice rinks, thanks to the understanding of the ministry and of the command I can have special holidays for the important competitions." Faiella - Scali, 18th at the Olympic Games of Salt Lake City 2002, last season were 8th at Europeans and 11th at Worlds. In February in Budapest and in March in Dortmund they'll try to move up a few positions in the standings. The 4th place at Skate America in mid-October, the first Grand Prix event of the season, has confirmed known values. In Reading, Pennsylvania, even the new judging system hasn't changed the hierarchies. "But in the end", says Federica, "it will favor us. Because it rewards programs that, like ours, beside the quality of the presentation have also high technical levels." Rizzo, who counts also Alessia Aureli - Andrea Vaturi among his skaters, bets on his team. A team that, beside his wife, is
formed also by the long time friends Natalia Bestemianova and Andrei Bukin -- Olympic champions and 4 time world champions --, the ballroom dancers Stefano Atti for the jive OD and Claudio Jurman for the tango FD, a modern version of an Astor Piazzolla's composition. According to someone, there where the extreme touch themselves, a siren blaring in the middle of the night has the same fascination of those notes.

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