At least that's what happened when the women's field gathered for the draw for Friday and Saturday night's World Professional Figure Skating Championship. It started when the only newcomer to the competition, Lucinda Ruh of Switzerland, said her spins had been clocked at 270 rpm and that she hoped to spin fast enough to earn a spot in the Guinness Book of World Records in January.

"Swiss timing," American skater Nicole Bobek said with a chuckle.

That would make sense since two of the greatest spinners of all time, Denise Bielmann and Nathalie Kreig, are also Swiss. However, Ruh grew up in Tokyo, where her father moved when she was 4, and she's returned to Switzerland mostly just for family visits and to compete in the country's national championships.

"I never really lived there," Ruh said.

So what makes her such a good spinner? How is she able to fold her legs, back and arms into a contortionist's posture and spin at a blinding pace without moving barely a degree off-center?

"I think her body is so perfect for spinning," said 1995 world professional champion Yuka Sato, whose father was Ruh's coach in Japan, "because it's long. And she's flexible, so she can get herself into all kinds of positions. I don't have that kind of legs - I've very short, but I try my best."

Ruh, 21, is 5-foot-9, by far the tallest of the competitors at this event. She does a series of stretching exercises for about an hour a day to stay nimble, but she said when she was young she "was really, really stiff - not flexible at all."

While Ruh can spin like a top, her jumps have never good enough to earn her the medals or recognition held by other skaters. She turned pro this year having never finished better than 13th at the amateur World Championships.

But this isn't amateur World Championships or the Olympics. Bad blood is rarely felt among competitors at this level, and Bobek chimed in with praise for Ruh before anyone felt too awkward.

"If I try to spin fast," said Bobek, staring at her palms, "my hands start get little broken blood vessels or something. She's got good blood running through her or something. When she's spinning, she disappears. It's like watching my spins on fast-forward, on a VCR."

Sato offered the final theory on why Ruh spins so well, noting that she and Ruh often had to train at public skating rinks as youngsters, sharing the ice with average and clumsy skaters. Practicing a triple lutz in the corner is not very wise in such traffic.

"That's when you work on your spins," Sato said.

Ruh is a definite long shot in the field, although the competition became wide open Thursday when defending champion Tara Lipinski withdrew. Lipinski had hip surgery in September and hasn't fully recovered.

Sato now becomes the probable favorite. If she's on, her ability to combine the difficult jumps and artistry could be difficult for Sirya Bonaly, Bobek, Oksana Baiul and Ruh to match.

For the first time in seven years, neither Kurt Browning nor Brian Boitano is competing in the men's field. Ilia Kulik, the 1998 Olympic champion, rode in with the new wave of younger winners last year, and he's back to defend his title against Philippe Candeloro, Rudy Galindo and Alexei Urmanov.

Last year's pairs and dance events produced surprise winners, and the defending champions are back trying to repeat: Russian pair Elena Leonova and Andrei Khvalko, and U.S. dance team Elizabeth Punsalan and Jerod Swallow.

There are two major changes this year, both designed to help separate the event from the numerous other made-for-TV specials: