By Liz Leamy
Sentinel Correspondent
Two weeks ago, four of the New York metro-area based Skyliners teams scored some serious hardware at the 2016 U.S. National Synchronized Skating Championships in Kalamazoo, Michigan, proving they are indeed a force to be reckoned with.
These four teams, which featured more than a dozen Greenwich residents, scored bronze in the Championship division, silver in the Junior showdown and gold in the Intermediate and Juvenile events, while the Novice team placed sixth, designating a top-grade outcome for the organization on all fronts.
“It’s been a record season for the Skyliners,” said head coach and director of the Skyliners Josh Babb. “As our team [organization] grows, so do our accomplishments. Our skaters work extremely hard and their efforts have really paid off.”
As a result of clinching silver at Nationals, the Skyliners junior line will be representing the U.S. at the 2016 World Junior Synchronized Championships in Zagreb, Croatia later this week.
There were a plethora of Greenwich residents who competed in Kalamazoo last month.
On the senior team was Brooke Abbott. The junior team included Greenwich residents Whitney Elmlinger, Katherine Elmlinger and Neha Reddy.
The novice squad includes Madison deBlasi, Nicole Huber, Kristen Lewis and Mary Ashley Mendik.
Teammates Elizabeth Essaid, Nathalie Felton and Raven Vaz comprise the intermediate squad, while .
Sherlynn Arcuri, Maya Hirani and Melissa Woo compete at the juvenile level.
Skyliners score medals at Easterns
This past January, five Skyliners teams also clinched a gold, two silver and two bronze medals at the 2016 U.S. Eastern Sectional Synchronized Championships in Richmond, Virginia, solidifying their reputation as a vital organization among the burgeoning American synchronized figure skating community.
The Skyliners, comprised of nine lines ranging from introductory through the senior levels with nearly 30 skaters from Greenwich, did well at this event, with their Novice and Intermediate lines each scoring silver and Juveniles winning gold, something all team members appeared to be happy about.
“I’m so excited,” said Kristen Lewis, 15, a Greenwich High School sophomore and member of the Novice line and who has competed at two U.S. Synchronized Skating Championships so far. “Nationals is the coolest experience, you see teams from all across the country and meet so many incredible people.”
At Nationals, the Novice, Intermediate and Juvenile Skyliners contingents were also joined by the the senior (championship) and junior teams, who had been granted bypasses by U.S. Figure Skating officials due to the fact that they had been representing the country at international competitions in Switzerland and France during Easterns. (At these competitions, the seniors were fourth and the juniors were third, respectively.)
“I think these teams are all on the right path and are continuing to steadily improve,” said Jenny Gibson, head coach of the Skyliners Novice team and assistant coach of its junior and senior lines.
Meanwhile, the Skyliners’ younger pre-juvenile and preliminary lines also delivered the goods at Easterns, with each team claiming bronze in their respective divisions.
“I am so pleased with how the Pre Juvenile and Preliminary lines performed at Easterns,” said Sarah LeBlanc Blosat, Preliminary head coach and Director of the Non-Qualifying lines. “Competing in two of the biggest divisions with 30 teams in Pre Juvenile and 19 in Preliminary, bringing home a bronze medal in each is a huge accomplishment.”
According to the Skyliners, the best thing about Easterns was the experience of being part of such an important and exciting U.S. Figure Skating event.
“It was really amazing being there with all of the different teams,” said Lewis, who trains at the Dorothy Hamill Rink in Greenwich where she also first learned to skate. “It was a great experience to be there with everyone, we had such a good time skating, cheering one other on and meeting so many skaters from different teams.”
Lewis, who has skating with the Skyliners for eight years, said she was excited about her team’s performance.
“We’ve been working really hard, so it was great for the team to get out there and skate such a good program,” said Lewis.
The Skyliners’ parents agreed.
“They have been working hard this season and it shows,” said Chris Abbott of Cos Cob, whose daughter Brooke, a Barnard College junior, skates on the Skyliners senior line. (Abbott is also president of the Windy Hill Skating Club, based at the Hamill Rink.)
Skyliners part of a red-hot skating trend
The Skyliners’ high standings at Easterns is also indicative of what an integral role they play right now in terms of helping to increase the popularity of this red-hot sport, one of the fastest-growing disciplines in U.S. and international figure skating and also one that is being potentially being considered to be named as an Olympic sport by the International Olympic Committee at some point in the future.
This year alone, a total of more than 300 teams participated in three U.S. Figure Skating Synchronized Sectional Championships, a telling number in considering that there are also scores of beginner and intro teams all over the country as well.
“I think synchro is so appealing because of the group dynamic and the fact that these skaters have the total skating package that includes freestyle, field moves, dance and [some] pair elements [such as lifts and death spirals],” said Abbott, whose daughter, Brooke, a U.S. Figure Skating gold medalist, has been a longtime competitor for the Skyliners. “It also a sport that attacts and retains skaters through the college and adult levels.”
Meanwhile, in considering that the average team features approximately 16 skaters meant that this year, a total of more than 4,800 competitors showed up at the various U.S. synchro qualifying events, an impressive number, to say the least.
Then, when also taking into account all of the individuals attending these events on behalf of the skaters, including parents, families and friends as well as coaches, officials and vendors, which causes the total number of event attendees to increase even further indicate how important a role this sport plays in figure skating.
Invariably, synchro’s burgeoning popularity is something that has not gotten lost on many, including many of the sport’s luminaries, including Kurt Browning, the iconic Canadian four-time World champion.
“I think that the sport is just exploding,” said Gibson, who said that during a ‘Halloween on Ice’ show television show taping in Reading, Pennsylvania last fall (where the Novices had performed), Browning had told her he was ‘blown away’ by the whole thing.
Gibson also said synchro is important for the sport because it is represents an opportunity for skaters to showcase their different styles, skills and artistry in a unique group format, which makes it both innovative and exciting.
“It’s such an incredible thing, I mean, we’re talking about [approximately] 16-20 skaters so gracefully gliding around the ice at top speeds in perfect unison, which is amazing,” she said.
Like a family
Perhaps the most important thing about this sport, as evidenced by the Skyliners, is the power of the camaraderie of the skaters on the different teams, an intangible and critical element that invariably plays the biggest role in their progress, development and success.
“The team dynamic is everything, and that is something you have to really help build as a coach,” said Pam May, a co-head coach of the Skyliners senior line with her esteemed colleague, the former Canadian international ice dancer, Josh Babb. “There’s nothing better than watching these athletes skate and be cohesive with each other, they’re learning life skills.”
Meanwhile, there is also the fact that the skaters have to learn to work effectively with one another, regardless of whether they might close to their various teammates, or in some cases, not.
“Everyone has so much to offer and they learn to work with a range of different people, even those who might not be a best friend, which, I think, is quite an important lesson in life,” said May, a Saint Paul, Minnesota native who is also the assistant coach of the junior line and head coach of the intermediate troupe. (She had also been nominated for the Professional Skaters Association Developmental Coach of the Year several years back.) “As coaches, what we give to these skaters involves is so much more than just skills and I think we all play a very important role.”
Based upon the Skyliner’s recent success, it seems as though May and her colleagues are certainly hitting their mark in terms of doing an effective job as coaches.
When watching the Skyliners practice at local arenas such as Chelsea Piers or Stamford Twin Rinks, it is obvious the skaters are a tightly-knit group who are focused, hard working, respectful and supportive of their coaches and one another.
“These skaters are dedicated to what they do and also to helping one another, and that is everything,” said Gibson.
At the same time, the skaters also like to spend a great deal of their off-ice time relaxing and hanging out together, designating them as a sisterhood of sorts.
Often, the skaters attend movies, go shopping, eat dinners out or celebrate someone’s birthday or bat mitvahs together, designating experiences that further strengthen their already close bonds.
“[A lot of these skaters] are my closest friends and I think it’s because we all spend so much time skating, training and competing together,” said Lewis. “Being on this team has definitely helped nurture my love and dedication for the sport.”
The parents agree synchro is a very positive experience for skaters.
“I love the camaraderie and team dynamic that exists among the skaters, it’s just such a great thing,” said Susan Sloan, a Rye Figure Skating Club board member whose daughter, Emmy, 14, an eighth-grader at Seven Bridges Middle School in Chappaqua, New York, is a member of the Skyliners novice team. “[Synchro] fosters such a sense of hard work, dedication and perseverance among these [girls] and it’s wonderful to see them out there enjoying themselves so much. That is what is most important.”
A plethora of Greenwich skaters are in the Skyliners program. On the Intro to Beginner team is Anna Dolgov, Sophie Ghinculov, Rachel Goldenberg, Eva Jayaweera and Noa Magasiner, while Madeleine Besgen, Ellie Block, Jenny Kessler, Nancy Kessler, Lily Rose Vallieres and Ziyi Yan are on the Beginner team. The Preliminary team has Anastasia Pearson and Christina Zhang, the Pre-Juvenile team has Helena Siebert and the Juvenile squad has Greenwich residents Sherlynn Arcuri, Maya Hirani and Melissa Woo.
Competing on the Intermediate team is Elizabeth Essaid, Nathalie Felton and Raven Vaz, while Madison deBlasi, Nicole Huber, Kristen Lewis and Mary Ashley Mendik are on the Novice team. The Junior team is comprised of Katherine Elmlinger, Whitney Elmlinger and Neha Reddy, while Brooke Abbott is the lone Greenwich resident on the Senior team.
