Olympic figure skater Vanessa James has been a major source of inspiration for tennis starlet and cousin Tyler Smith.Whenever challenges arise on the tennis court, Smith says she uses her cousin’s success on the skating rink to galvanise her own quest for excellence in her chosen sport.“I feed off of her because I see where she is with her career and I want to be that successful as well,” Smith said. “She is so amazing and I am really proud of her.”James, whose father Kevin is Bermudian, was born in Ontario, Canada but lived in Bermuda until the age of ten when her family moved to Virginia.During her time on the Island the top pairs skater attended Mount St Agnes.Her twin sister Melyssa is also a figure skater.Vanessa, who holds French citizenship, is Britain’s first black figure skating champion having won the British national title in singles in 2006 and finishing runner-up the following year.In 2007 she made the switch from singles to pairs skating and eventually teamed up with Yannick Bonheur to compete for France.Together the duo won the 2010 French National Championships and went on to represent France at the last Winter Olympics in Vancouver before going their separate ways following the Games.More recently James and new pairs partner Morgan Cipres placed fourth at the 2013 ISU European Figure Skating Championship in Zagreb, Croatia.Competing in the Pairs Short Programme, James and Cipres recorded a season’s best of 59.27 points during their performance to Rhumba d’Amour and upbeat music by Safri Duo.“I watched her performance and was so excited,” added Smith, who is currently ranked 344 in the world at the Under-18 level. “They say she missed a jump but even if she did miss it I didn’t notice.“I am so proud of Vanessa who is a big inspiration to me. Hopefully one day I can achieve the type of success she has in tennis.”Vanessa first met singles skater Cipres in September 2010 and spent the season just training.Eventually, the duo began competing and won the 2011 Master’s de Patinage which is an annual competition held in Orléans, France before claiming the silver medal at the French National Championships.The pair presently train at Bercy, France with coach Jean-Roland Racle and hope to represent France at the next year’s Winter Olympics.Smith, 16, is a past Caribbean Under-13 champion.She currently attends Laurel Springs High School in Florida where she trains under the watchful gaze of coach Bill Adams.The promising athlete is facing a hectic international schedule this year that will see her compete in South Africa, Costa Rica and the United States.She also hopes to compete locally at June’s Bank of Bermuda Foundation ITF Junior Circuit Tournament at WER Joell Stadium and September’s US Open Junior Championships.“The goal is for me to get in the US Open so hopefully these tournaments will give me some more points,” Smith said.