Published: May 17, 2008 11:37 pm         

Sargent gets serious about old hobby

A few years ago, Tony Sargent began to wonder if he would ever find athletic success.

Then he found a prized possession while cleaning out his closet one day. That’s when Sargent, a 2005 Stillwater High graduate, stumbled upon his old five-wheel speed skates that he put away once he reached fifth grade.

As a child, he spent countless hours at the local skating rink but as he got older, he decided to pursue an interest in golf. Sargent competed for the Pioneers in high school and hoped to be a walk-on at Oklahoma State, but a dislocated shoulder during his senior year ended any chance of a collegiate golf career.

Once he found those old skates, he found a new dream.

“I had always wanted to get involved with (speedskating) even though we didn’t have an ice rink in town,” Sargent said. “I figured this would be my last chance to do something in sports so I wanted to give it a shot. When I made that decision, I was 100 percent committed to it.”

After watching Chad Hedrick win the gold medal in the 5,000-meter race at the 2006 Winter Olympics, Sargent strived to follow a similar path. He started attending summer camps to learn more about speedskating and was soon invited to train in Milwaukee with coach Bob Fenn.

Sargent’s first big race came in March 2007 when he competed in the American Cup in Milwaukee. He was on pace to set a good time but on the final turn, the injury bug struck again as he separated his shoulder.

Sargent made a speedy recovery and continued his training at the United States’ speedskating headquarters in Salt Lake City, where he had an eye-opening experience competing against Olympians.

“At first, I thought I was better than I was, but it turned out I sucked compared to those guys,” Sargent said. “They murdered me out there. I knew it’d be good for me because it’d be like playing golf with Tiger Woods every day or playing basketball with Michael Jordan.

“You’re training with the best in the world every day and it was really a gut check. After a while, I didn’t know if I was making the right decision. I thought about quitting and I was getting homesick.”

Sargent stuck with his commitment, and last March he participated in the America Cup again and finished the 1,000m in 1:08 and the 1,500m in 2:01. His times were good enough to qualify for the 2010 Winter Olympics trials in December 2009.

“It’s pretty exciting,” Sargent said. “When I first got into this, I’d tell my friends I’m getting into speedskating, and they’d say, ‘Oh, really?’ and laugh sarcastically about it. I don’t know how many times people have told me I couldn’t do it or it wouldn’t happen.

“I don’t want to say I’ve been doing it to prove people wrong, but those people who told me I couldn’t do it have definitely pushed me.”

In addition to his speedskating achievements, Sargent is also an accomplished artist. His most popular piece of work came in late 2005 when he drew a lifelike graphite portrait of Vernon Grant, an OSU football player who died in a car crash earlier in the year.

Sargent presented the original to Grant’s father at the Cowboys’ season opener against Montana State in Sept. ’05, and before he knew it, copies of the drawing were being sold with the proceeds going to the Vernon Grant scholarship endowment fund.

“I will never forget that,” Sargent said. “I didn’t want to profit from this, but then I heard they were coming out with a scholarship fund and figured it would be perfect. I remember walking into a store one time and seeing this line of people buying the poster and I’m thinking, ‘How cool is this?’ It was really awesome.”

Sargent has also composed portraits for the O-State men’s golf team, wrestling coach John Smith and former Cowboy basketball coaches Eddie and Sean Sutton. The 21-year-old insists drawing is strictly a hobby.

“If you give me a photograph, I can draw that photograph but that’s about it,” Sargent said. “A three-year-old can probably paint better than me. ... In Salt Lake City, you have zero time for anything other than (speedskating).”

Because of a demanding time schedule and how expensive the sport is — the skates alone cost $2,000 — Sargent is hoping to earn local sponsorships as he continues his training. He returns to Utah on May 23 with the dream of heading to Vancouver, Canada, in 2010 for the Olympics.

     

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