Take two

Olympic hopeful Marissa Henderson takes all the bruises and early starts in her stride under the tutelage of coach and ex-skating champion Simon Briggs

Marissa (13) on Simon

Simon has been my skating coach for half my life and if he was ever to move away from Dundee, I'd move too. I get up at 4.45am five days a week. People might think my parents have pushed me (my mum used to skate) but I have never had to be dragged to the ice. I get myself up and then wake Dad, who drives me the 20 miles to the rink. Training starts at 5.45am and Simon and his wife Debra, who's an Olympic coach, are there.

I'm working on triple jumps just now. They're pretty hard but Simon always stays positive. He has never shouted at me or been angry. I don't think I'd take it well if he did.

We spend long hours together travelling to competitions and he's really funny. Once we were driving to England listening to TalkSport on the radio. They were discussing weird things people have stolen and he phoned up and said I once stole a U-bend from a public toilet. They believed him!

Simon and I think the same way about school. I want to leave as soon as I can, but it causes rows at home. I've seen Simon say to Mum: "Marissa has a sore throat today, I don't think she can go to school," then he looks at me and we burst out laughing.

We travel all over the world together. I'm the youngest of five in the British figure-skating squad and I've competed in the USA and across Europe. The other skaters are like brothers and sisters so I never get homesick. I want to start competing in senior events when I'm 14. I could stay in the juniors till I'm 18 but I want to keep pushing myself. I expect to be at the Winter Olympics in 2014, but I don't think about it much. I've loads to do before then.

Mum lets me off doing chores because I train so hard. But sometimes if she asks me to do something I don't want to, I'll say: "I'll tell Simon." Mum says: "Simon's not God, you know." He is to me.

Simon (36) on Marissa

MARISSA stood out at her first training session. Any coach would have noticed from the way she moved that she had talent, and it soon became clear that she also had the focus that's needed to become an elite skater.

I've been coaching her for seven years and she is like a daughter to me. There's no need for me to push her because she pushes herself. All I have to do is explain what she needs to do. If I told Marissa that for her next jump she had to skate down the roof of a house, she would do it.

Of course, that might spoil the trust that has built up between us over the years. Trust is everything. Sometimes in a two-hour training session when Marissa is learning a new jump she might fall over 40 times. The bruises don't show up till the next morning, but that's a lot of falling over to take and just keep coming back to try again.

One of the amazing things about Marissa is that she can analyse exactly what she has just done. She visualises instinctively now, and one of her strengths is that she can remember everything in minute detail. If you asked some skaters – even good ones – to tell you how they did their last jump, they wouldn't be able to tell you.

The other skaters Marissa's most friendly with are the grafters. She doesn't bother with anyone half-hearted.

There have been occasional tears when things haven't gone too well, but for her age she's very mature. She couldn't be in the British squad otherwise – you have to sign a contract of good conduct on and off the ice.

We may not talk about the Olympics much, but my wife and I are working towards it all the time. Marissa is most definitely on target for 2014, and I'll be there with her.

• Marissa Henderson will compete in the Irish Open Figure Skating Championship on Thursday