We’re
having an amazing time in beautiful Italy so far. We got the day started
early with breakfast and headed straight to the rink for our first unofficial
practice of the day. We had a solid skate at the competition arena with
many friends and family cheering us on proudly.
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| Past and present DREAM Skaters Lindsay, Ashley, Audrey, Noelle, Jenna, and Tessa with Leslie Graham, Manager of Synchronized Skating at USFS |
After having a delicious lunch at the rink in an athlete village setting with
many classic Italian options, we boarded the bus to practice in Aosta.
The second practice of the day went very well. We focused on just a few
elements and applied some last minute corrections from Saga.
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| Lindsay channeling her inner Edmond Dontes, the main character from our long program music: "The Count of Monte Cristo"! |
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| Ashley and her parents outside the practice rink in Aosta |
We had a few minutes to visit with our parents and then we loaded the bus with
our fellow American teammates, the Crystallettes, and headed back to the
stunning mountains of Courmayeur.
-Ashley
To conclude our day we headed back to the official rink for the draw and
opening ceremonies. Audrey and myself represented the Haydenettes, lacing up
our skates and taking the ice with representatives from each of the 23 teams
competing.
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| The quaint shopping streets of Courmayeur |
When it came our turn, Audrey and I were lead around the ice by a very sweet
Italian girl from a local synchro team. We were taken to a table covered in
giant chocolate eggs. I was handed a beautiful red egg, about a foot tall, and
we were then lead to the draw bag. Audrey pulled number 18!
Then
began the opening ceremony. There were many extremely talented Italian skating
stars, but one number I'm particular stole the show. All the male skaters in
the show took the ice in synchronized swimming apparel. By the end of the
number these skaters in nothing more than tight spandex shorts with the words
"Why not Synchro" written out on their bare backs!
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| Representatives from each team on the ice for the draw ceremony |
We are very excited to be skating first in the last group of teams! In bocca
lupo (good luck) to all the teams competing and GO USA!
-Lindsay
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