"I've been preparing physically much harder," she said last week on a teleconference call. "I've been pushing myself to a new level of training. I'm more confident."
It shows in the results. Cohen finished second - two spots ahead of Kwan - in the World Championships in March under the more technical scoring method, dubbed the Code of Points, which is replacing the 6.0 system.
It was her second straight silver medal at the worlds, to go with four consecutive second places behind Kwan at the nationals. In October, Cohen won the Campbell's Classic and took second at a Grand Prix event, Trophee Eric Bompard, in November.
Chances are good that both members of figure skating's "old" guard - Cohen, 21, and Kwan, 25 - will compete next month in Turin, Italy. A nationals win automatically earns Cohen an Olympic team spot.
Kwan, on the other hand, is petitioning the U.S. Figure Skating International Committee for one of two remaining places, a request that likely will be granted if she is healthy, given all she has done for the sport.
At the 2002 Games in Salt Lake City, neither skater came away happy. Gold-medal favorite Kwan settled for bronze after she fell in the long program; Cohen finished out of the medal hunt in fourth.
Two months ago in Colorado Springs, Cohen spoke about coming of age during the Kwan reign.
"I definitely will say when I was 13-15, she was my role model," Cohen told a conference room of journalists. "I skated with her at Lake Arrowhead and always emulated her work ethic. She was one of the few skaters who could have a bad day but still have a great attitude and come back and try again. And I think that was a huge lesson for me to learn. There's such importance in that."
Yet Kwan's dominance hasn't made it easy.
"It can be frustrating," Cohen said. "And I went through a time a couple of years ago when I thought, "Why doesn't she retire? Look how many national championships she has. It's someone else's turn.' But by the same point of view, it makes you a better skater and gives you drive and motivation. When the field is weak, then you become weak."
But the 5-foot-2 skater with the cover girl looks only seems to be getting stronger, determined to prove she's more than a perennial runnerup.
"I feel that the past four years I've really learned a lot and matured as a skater and person," she said. "I've had a lot of great experiences and not so great experiences and am just taking all that knowledge and experience with me into this."
That includes her increasing knowledge and comfort level with the intricate new scoring system, which awards points based on preset values for various jumps, footwork maneuvers and combinations. She has pored through the rules endlessly and worked with technical advisers who have helped her adjust over the past year to the new system, in advance of its implementation at the nationals and Olympics.
"I like it," she said. "It works well with my skating and I really like the fact that it gives weight to spins, spirals, footwork, transitions."
Cohen knows lots about transitions, following frequent moves and changes in recent years.
After the 2002 Olympics, she left her home in southern California and her longtime coach, John Nicks, moving to Connecticut to work with Russian coach Tatiana Tarasova. A year later, she moved to New York to work with Robin Wagner, who coached Sarah Hughes when she won Olympic gold at Salt Lake City. But last year, she returned home to family and joined forces again with Nicks.
"I've moved six times in the past three years, actually unpacked boxes," she said. "(But) my family and friends are all in California. And I have to admit, it's easier to live in California than in New York City in the middle of all the traffic. And Mr. Nicks has been really great and really supportive. He's constantly analyzing the scores and how to get every point possible."
One lingering rap against Cohen is that she can't put together good programs back to back. She takes issue with that.
"Everyone likes to pin that on me, and I feel it's a little unfair," she said. "I will say honestly that I haven't very often skated perfect programs back to back, but not many people do or have. It's not easy. In the past, it's been a lack of experience and not understanding what you should be thinking. Those are things I've learned from."
Cohen will compete this week against a field of less experienced skaters, with other contenders for the team including Kimmie Meissner, 16, (earned acclaim with a rare triple axel at the 2005 nationals, but has struggled lately), Emily Hughes, 16, (younger sister of 2002 gold medalist Sarah) and Alissa Cizsny, 18 (won Skate Canada, sixth at the Grand Prix final).
Cohen and Kwan faced each other in March at the Marshall's U.S. Figure Skating Challenge in Tampa. Then it was Cohen suffering from a groin injury. She finished second to Kwan in an event using the old 6.0 system.
But this week, Kwan is gone - and the question is where Cohen is goin'.
"I'm interested in so many things," she said. "When I'm done skating, I'm getting an apartment in New York City and I'm just going to try everything. I want to go into fashion. I love travel. I'm interested in writing. I think it would be fun to intern at the Food Network. There are just so many things I'd love to do and so many places I want to go."
Starting with a trip Saturday, she hopes, to the top of the nationals podium.
U.S. Figure Skating Championships
WHEN/WHERE: Today-Jan. 15; St. Louis.
AT STAKE: Berths on the U.S. Olympic team.
TV: ESPN2, ESPN, Ch. 28.
TV SCHEDULE: (ESPN2 except where noted) Men's and women's short programs, 7:30-11 p.m. Thursday; pairs free/dance free, 10:30 p.m.-1 a.m. Friday; men's free, 1-4 p.m. (Ch. 28), men's and women's short programs, 6-8 p.m., women's free, 8-11 p.m. Saturday (Ch. 28); rebroadcast of men's and women's short programs, 1-2:30 p.m., and rebroadcast of pairs and dance free, 2:30-4 p.m. Jan. 15; rebroadcast of Championships, 6:30-9:30 p.m. Jan. 22, ESPN.
