Local roller skater competes for world title

FALL RIVER, Mass.—Joseph Farias, III will be representing the U.S. along with Team USA at the 53rd World Roller Figure Skating Championships from November 12-23 in Kaohsiung, Taiwan.

For Farias, roller skating has become a lifelong passion, propelling him to become part of an international championship team in precision skating while he was still a teenager.

Farias, 27, now plans to make a bid for the first-ever international solo dance championship in Taiwan, where he says he will put on a progressive interpretation of ballroom dancing set to the tune of classic standards popularized by Tony Bennett.

A professional hairstylist, Farias juggles his two-year-old business, Celebeautique Hair Spa in Newport, with an aggressive training schedule at rinks in Fairhaven and Whitman, Mass.

Dancing on roller skates is akin to ice dancing, and both sports are sanctioned by the U.S. Olympic Committee, Farias said.  But unlike the athletes who compete in ice dancing at the Olympics, the participants in the roller skate dancing competition in Taiwan receive no help from the Olympic Committee in financing their expenses for the trip, Farias said.

Farias has held several fundraisers to raise his own travel money.

You can watch Farias skating through a live feed from Taiwan at: http://www.RollerSports.TV