COMPETITIVE FIGURE SKATING 

When our first coach suddenly told us he was moving to Florida in only two weeks, we had to hurry and switch coaches without much notice. For a while, we skated near Boston with a famous Olympian and former Soviet coach from the USSR. The commute was too long for us, though, so he recommended Ukrainian coaches who taught at the Connecticut rinks.

 

Our new coaches were strict Ukrainian figure skaters who had competed at the World Figure Skating Championships. At our peak level of commitment, we practiced 5 times a week, 2 hours a day.  To get to the rinks on time, we got special permission for early dismissal from school.

 

Once we got to the rinks, we would usually skate for about an hour and then do at least one, and sometimes two hours of off-ice conditioning. The off-ice conditioning was the hardest part about skating. It ranged from core workouts and weightlifting to using spinners, practicing jumps in a harness, acceleration training, and even ballet.

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It was during these times and at the higher levels that our coaches were the strictest. We did box jumps, push-ups, lunges, jumped rope, and ran laps. My last competitive skate was in California when I was 10 years old. In California, we had two very supportive and encouraging new coaches who got me ready for the higher skill levels by raising the difficulty level of my program. With their help, I placed 6th of 10 competitors in my first California competition, becoming a First Alternate at Sectionals. 

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On the ice, we spent our time either practicing our jumps and spins or preparing our competition programs. For me, jumps were the most fun. Once you knew how to fall correctly, it didn’t hurt, and there was no need to be scared. By the time I stopped skating competitively, I had a triple jump.

 

However, I also disliked preparing my programs. I never liked the theatrics of the sport, plus we usually had to skate to music that someone else chose for me, something I didn’t enjoy.

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Figure skating looks and is graceful, but getting to that skill level was some of the hardest work I've done in my life. I'm grateful that I did it because it made me more confident, and I learned to push myself outside my comfort zone.  I’m grateful because skating taught me discipline, and it is probably the reason why I'm as athletic as I am today and enjoy focusing on physical fitness. 

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Also, skating created some special memories with my brother and sister, Jackson and Emmy, and we have inside jokes about the unique experiences we shared.  Also, it was fun to meet so many Olympic and world-class skaters over the years that we know, recognize, and root for when we watch figure skating Nationals, Worlds, and the Olympics.

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 COSTUMES AND MUSIC 

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Costumes and music are important parts of the competitive figure skating experience. Both of them can affect the judges' score. Judges grade the athleticism of your performance according to the level of difficulty and how you execute your required elements. The other factor is your artistic expression while skating your program. This is why choosing the right music and deciding exactly what type of costume to wear that would best reflect your program was a huge deal.

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The first couple of times we competed, Mom got our costumes from Amazon. But the higher the level, the fancier everyone's costumes get. When competition season rolled around the second year, we started going to Del Arbor to get fitted.

 

We were sad to hear that Ms. Del passed on a few years ago. We used to love going to her shop for our design sketch and fitting appointments. The drive was two and a half hours, crossing from Connecticut into Massachusetts. 

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She always treated us like she was a close relative.  We told her she reminded us of Edna from "The Incredibles."

Her costumes were high-quality. We learned from her about why she used Swarovski crystals on them, which was to make the costumes flash on the ice, but it also tended to make the costumes rather pricey. 

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Music, besides the execution of your jumps and spins, is the most important part of the skating routine. Music dictates the tempo of your routine and which performative moves and spins you will use in between jumps. Most people don't realize that some spins are so difficult that they're worth more than some jumps. The music also sets the tone of your routine. Some judges will score you based on their own biases and preferences for music that is more formal or "traditional."

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I would often skate to upbeat music. I started with Michael Jackson's “Don’t Stop ‘til You Get Enough.” In Lake Placid, I skated to "Kryptonite." Later, because of Nathan Chen, who (along with Yuzuru Hanyu) was one of my all-time favorite skaters, I skated to "Nemesis," which was his program music the year before.

 

My costume design that year was also based on Nathan's for the "Nemesis" program. When I met him and he found out I was basing my program on his from the year before, the first thing he said was, "Wow! That costume is SICK!" That was a big deal to me at 9 years old.

 

If you want to see an example of excellent skating, look for Nathan's 2015 Nationals on YouTube. The pace of the music and the excitement from the crowd really contributed to his power and execution of his program.  Plus, he's a really great person who was fun and kind to us when we met him in person. 

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