Among the thousands of competitive roller figure skaters who participated in the 49th annual Roller Figure Skating World Championships was Brandeis' Sharyn Lincoln, a graduate student in the genetic counseling department. Lincoln was one of only three American women to qualify in her category of the Championships, which were held the past two weeks in Fresno, Calif. Lincoln qualified for roller figure skating's biggest competition by capturing third place out of 20 skaters at this year's national competition.

Lincoln skates in the figures event, in which she must navigate a number of circles and loops on one skate, all while straddling the lines on the floor.

Lincoln skated four figures in the Championships. She was in eighth place after the first two, and with a perfectly executed performance on the third, moved her placement up a notch.

In her final figure of the competition, she incurred a mandatory deduction after committing a fluke mistake that bumped her down to ninth place. It was still a very good finish in a group that featured 27 of the world's best skaters, including representatives from Italy and Germany, America's toughest rivals in roller figure skating.

"It was a great experience," Lincoln said. "I came back after the mistake and skated well for the rest of it. My coaches were very proud of me."

Lincoln expected to retire after this year, but feels the need to skate one more year given the circumstances that led to her ninth place finish.

"Some of the judges came up to me after the competition and told me how well I did despite the deduction," Lincoln said. "I was going to retire but rethought it. When you have world-class judges telling you to stick with it, you sort of have to."

Lincoln's long and successful career began in her hometown of Marietta, Ga., at a friend's birthday party that was held at a roller skating rink.

"At first, I was one of the wall-huggers," Lincoln said. "I was horrible at skating, but I asked my mom to sign me up for classes and eventually I joined a club and started competing."

After quickly advancing through her beginner, intermediate and advanced classes, Lincoln joined a local club and participated in her first competition in the spring of 1990 at the age of eight.

Lincoln enjoys the friendships she has developed over the years with other skaters-with both teammates and opponents.

In the little spare time she has, Lincoln enjoys watching movies and reading books. Having grown up in Georgia and attended the College of William and Mary in Virginia, her current challenge is trying to deal with her first New England winter.

The Championships were a highlight of Lincoln's skating career, one she is proud of and looking forward to repeating in her next year of skating.

"The World Championships are the highest level of skating, so being able to go is a big achievement," she said. "And finishing in the top ten is an even bigger achievement.