Tuesday, March 18, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.
LAUSANNE, Switzerland -- At 19, Nicole Bobek has been through it all. Now, she's making a comeback.
Turmoil has followed Bobek throughout her career. She's trained with almost every top coach in the United States. A conservative count is 13 coaching changes in 15 years.
Bobek was U.S. champion in 1995, world bronze medalist the same year. But coaching changes, injuries and rejections followed.
When it came time to defend her national title in 1996, she asked for a bye onto the world team because of her injured ankle and was rebuffed. She was third after the short program, but withdrew before the free skate.
In this year's national championships, with most of the attention focusing on Tara Lipinski upsetting world champion Michelle Kwan, Bobek almost quietly gained third place and qualified for this week's World Figure Skating Championships.
The main competition of the world championships started today with compulsory dances and the pairs short program.
The women return on Friday for their short program, with the free skating finals closing out the meet on Saturday.
By that time, Bobek hopes to continue her comeback.
She finished second in the qualifying group Monday behind Lipinski, and there is talk of an American sweep of the medals, similar to 1991 when Kristi Yamaguchi, Tonya Harding and Nancy Kerrigan went 1-2-3 in Munich.
In the qualifying to cut the field down to 30 skaters, Lipinski nailed seven clean triples -- repeating her title-winning performances at the U.S. nationals last month and at an international competition at Hamilton, Ontario.
Kwan doubled on two of her scheduled triples and cut another jump down to a single, but still won the group opposite Lipinski.
Bobek completed four good triples and nearly nailed a fifth in her routine to the music of the ballet 'Giselle.'
With the focus on the youth of Lipinski and the struggles of Kwan, Bobek, almost past her teenage years, is different.
"It's very intense what's happening in the sport ... In the ladies event, it's a little more the artistic beauty of figure skating," Bobek said. "I hope it doesn't come through to be jump, jump, jump."
Which is what Lipinski seems to be doing now.
Bobek confessed that the rigors of jumping took its toll during the qualifying.
"I wasn't as artistic as I usually am," she said. "I was really concentrating on the jumps. I could feel the lack in the artistry. I have to not let that happen again. I really love the music, and skating is not all about jumping."
She said she was able to get through the tough times with the support of her family.
"My mind was strong. I had a lot of people behind me. I appreciate it more. When you're young, you don't think 'I have to do this, and this.' You just skate," Bobek said.
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