For freshman sports medicine major Tori Vollmer, sports is not just part of her academic curriculum — it has always been a part of her life. She performed internationally as a member of Team USA, being a 2010 National Novice silver medalist in pair ice skating.
Vollmer said she “felt passion for skating right from the start.
“Once you start gliding, you’re just flying through the air and it is so much fun. And even at a young age you can feel that you love it.”
The legacy of outstanding sports performance lies in the genes of Vollmer’s family.
Vollmer’s father was a member of Pepperdine’s 1992 College World Series championship baseball team. He was drafted by the Chicago White Sox in 1993 after graduation and played professional sports for five years. One of Vollmer’s younger brothers skates juvenile in pairs and singles and intermediate in dance, while the other is an all-star baseball player.
Vollmer describes her path in ice skating as “exciting and intense.” Being involved in sports since she was 7 years old, Vollmer attributes her success to her parents. “My parents wanted us to try everything they pushed us into trying everything that we wanted to, putting us into different things, trying to find out what we loved to do and from there to pursue that,” Vollmer said. “We went with trying out for little league baseball, I really liked to play soccer. They supported me in whatever I wanted to choose and I went on from there. I ended up picking figure skating first.”
“I started with parks and rec, then they signed me up for classes and that’s how it all started,” Vollmer said.
Her father’s career influenced her sports work ethic.
“My dad worked really hard and it served as a good example for me,” Vollmer said. It helped me to be the best I can. He was very supportive of all my decisions and he wanted me to love what I did because he loved what he did. He wanted to see me succeeding as much as I can.”
Despite the fact that skating was her first passion, she had to switch to running because of her rapid growth during her sophomore and junior years of high school. “I grew about two inches and because I grew so tall it was really hard for me to continue on with skating,” Vollmer said. “I have tried to find a right partner, which was not easy either. My coach trained me for figure skating endurance-wise and strength-wise and once I grew so tall he actually pushed me into running.”
Vollmer started doing cross country during her junior year in Santiago High School in Corona, Calif. Vollmer ran two years on the varsity team, primarily 800-, 1,600- and 3,200-meter events. As a part of the team, she won league finals in 2011. “That sparked my interest in running even more,” she said, smiling.
As of now, Vollmer enjoys her freshman year at Pepperdine and at the same time works as a figure skating coach at her local ice rink.
