Eight years old might be a bit young to be sitting in the hot seat. After all, who talks about an 8-year-old besides the parents?

But Nic and Tristan Puehse of Shingle Springs aren't your average 8-year-olds or even your average twins. Nor are they even your average skateboarders, pee-wee division. In July 2004, after only two months of competitive skating, Nic won gold and Tristan won silver at the California State Games in San Diego.

So they are professional skateboarders and then some: They already have been in a feature film, "The Legend of William Tell," due out in March. In it, the twins play - duh! - twin skateboarders, co-starring with Ed Begley Jr. and Cindi Willams of "Laverne and Shirley" fame. They even have lines.

And late last month, the twins signed an endorsement deal with Nike sports equipment for that company's new line, Nike 6.0.

Their dad, Mike Puehse, is an enthusiastic fan and promoter of his boys, even though he admits he didn't know much about skateboarding until the twins took it up just two years ago. Now, he's something of an expert. But he still jokes that he has no idea where his boys got their athletic skills.

And people who see the boys skate - you can catch video of them on the Internet at www.skateboardingtwins.com - are surprised when they speak with them.

"People watch them skate, and then they talk to them and go, 'Oh, these guys are 8!' "

We first spoke with Nic Puehse:

Q: Hi, Nic. What are you working on today?

A: Doing a 540.

Q: What's that?

A: You go one-and-(a)-half rotations. I haven't really landed it; I just got close.

Q: When you "just get close," you're falling, right? Doesn't that hurt?

A: It hurts, but I just keep trying. I don't want to give up. I've never given up.

Q: What was the last trick you nailed?

A: The last trick I nailed was a "kickflip."

Q: What's that?

A: You "ollie" (bounce the board in the air) and then you flip the board and land on the board again. It's hard. But I did it.

Q: Cool. So what's your goal for this year?

A: I want to get really good. Really good.

Q: You're already really good. How do you define that now?

A: Just getting better and better. If I keep practicing and practicing, I'll probably get better. That's my goal.

Tristan is a man of fewer words. As father Mike says, "You'll know when Tristan's done, because he'll ask if you want to talk to Nic."

Q: Hey Tristan. What tricks are you working on today?

A: Kickfoot.

Q: How's it going?

A: Good.

Q: I heard you got to skate with Tony Hawk. What was that like?

A: We just skated around.

Q: What's your big goal for the year?

A: Doing the megaramp.

Q: What's that?

A: It's a 62-foot ramp to go down and a 30-foot jump.

Q: That sounds difficult.

A: Yeah. Do you want to talk to Nic?

Q: Bye, Tristan.

A: Bye.

In a subsequent phone call, Mike Puehse notes that his boys are getting ahead of themselves. Nic's actually trying a kickflip over a spine. "Which is just as hard," says Mike. "He'll get the 540, too, just not quite yet." And Tristan isn't going to drop 62 feet on the "roll-in" ramp, but 45 feet.

"But it's still a 30-foot jump," he adds. "And he'll make it."