On the World Stage

We have arrived in Boston! 

DREAMers Ashley and Ashleigh ready to go

With a plane ride of only 2 hours, the trip was short and sweet. Upon our arrival, we met up with our team leader, Robin, and the Haydenettes at our outstanding hotel located right in the heart of Boston… it even has a Starbucks inside – a perfect treat for hard-working skaters! We all went to bed the first night with excitement for what was to come.

At the beginning of each day here, Robin has been giving us all a slip of paper with a quote that has fired us up for our practices. We love our awesome team leader! Wednesday and Thursday were long days, but the adrenaline of this competition and excitement of the atmosphere propelled us through some great practices that left us feeling so ready going into the short program competition tonight. 

USA 2 about to take the ice for practice at Agganis Arena

The official draw ceremony was held last night. Each team had made a short video about themselves and these were shown as the teams were called up to draw. It was so much fun to see the unique personalities of all of the teams showcased in their videos. We had so much fun making ours! 

Miami skaters Vanessa, Ashleigh, Maggie, and Chandler at the draw

We drew 6^th and will have clean ice to skate on for our short program. It is hard to believe the time is finally here to show off our programs. Miami is ready to astound the world.

Let the competition begin! 

GO USA!

Ashleigh

Welcoming the World as they Ship off to Boston

The Haydenettes and I could not be more excited about the upcoming World Championships in Boston!  In preparation for the competition we have been upping our practice hours and increasing the amount of program run-throughs during practice.  Our main focus had become consistency, so besides a few changes here and there we have been making sure each element of the program is clean and performed with an effortless look.

               

After winning U.S. Championships in March!

Two weeks before our scheduled departure for worlds we sat down as a team and discussed what we were excited for with the upcoming competition. It is very clear that we each realize that this World Championship is going to be unlike any other we will ever have the privilege of skating in. Our team comes from 10 different states across the country, but each one of us made Boston our home when we joined the Haydenettes.

Skating at U.S. Championships.

This is going to be the first time many of our families and friends will be able to attend the World Championship event. I can only imagine what it will be like to have that much support in the stands. After skating in Finland and Sweden for the last two World Championships and seeing their extreme fans, it will be fun to see the United States give them a run for their money! It will be great to join Miami at the World Championships. I could not be more excited to skate for the same team as many of my former teammates once again, Team USA. 

Me and a few former teammates, Chandler Carroll, Maggie Maier,  and Vanessa Thornton 

In the past few days we have begun to spot teams from around the world walking around the city. We cannot wait to join them and spend the week doing what we love, with all the people that we love around us!  

See you in Boston,

Lindsay

Miami Ready to Take on the World

Hey Everyone!

After an exciting Nationals, where we were overjoyed to have regained our spot back on the World Team, it’s hard to believe we will be headed to Boston in just a few short days. This World Championship is particularly special to Miami because it will be the first time we compete at a Worlds in our home country.

2013 World Team DREAMers

Building off the momentum from Nationals, we have spent the past few weeks hard at work, fully committed to pushing our programs to their fullest potential. We’ve taken our training to new heights by not only concentrating on the technical mark, but designating each day to focus on a specific program component. We couldn’t be more excited to show off our polished programs.

It’s surely going to be an extraordinary week. To have the support of the home crowd, with so many members of the Miami Skating family in attendance will be an experience we know we won't forget. We can’t wait to welcome all of our competitors to the United States - we couldn’t be more ready for this fierce competition to begin!

See you in Boston!

Love and Honor,

Ashley and Ashleigh

Hei maasta Suomi! (Hello from Finland!)

So far we have been having a great time here in Helsinki. We flew in on Tuesday and began our week by getting off the plane, making a quick stop at our hotel and heading straight to the rink. It felt good to loosen up on the ice and skate. After practice, we took a peek at the competition arena and were impressed by the size of the rink. The venue is enormous and the arena is decorated with pink balloons and signs. This is the first ever ISU Junior World Championships and it looks like this event is going to be huge! I am so excited and honored that we are a part of it.

On Wednesday morning, we enjoyed the breakfast at the hotel. I personally was a fan of the Finnish meatballs and fruit cocktail. All the competing teams are staying at the same hotel which has given us the chance to meet skaters from all around the world. We saw some of our friends on Great Britain and befriended some skaters from South Africa. They told me it was the first time many of them have seen snow (there’s a lot of snow here!) and it is also their first competition. What an exciting way to debut their programs: at the Junior World Championships! We had a good time bonding and hopefully we will continue to meet some more skaters throughout the week. After breakfast we had another practice where we worked on sections of our long and short programs. We were satisfied after skating and later on we headed into town to do a little shopping. Many of my teammates bought “Luhta” jackets, a popular Finnish brand. I think they look very stylish in their new clothing. We ate a delicious dinner at Stone’s Pub to end the day and took a tram ride back to the hotel.

This morning we had a quick unofficial practice and this afternoon we skated for the first time in the competition arena. The rink is olympic sized and the ice feels perfect. We skated solid run throughs of both of our programs and are feeling confident for the competition tomorrow. Tonight ended with the opening ceremonies. The show was a circus theme and was an incredible experience. There were acrobats, hula hoopers, pairs skaters and lots of synchro teams. During the circus show, the announcer said, “It looks like there’s magic in the air.” I couldn’t agree with her more. I definitely think this will be an unforgettable experience and a once in a lifetime opportunity. I can’t wait to take it all in with my teammates and compete tomorrow! Wishing great skates to all teams!

GO TEAM USA!

Dana

Lexettes at Spring Cup

We started off our exciting route to Italy at our home- rink dressed in a “USA” themed Spirit Practice! Between the American Flag Pants, tons of flags, and great spirit, we were all prepared to take off for The Spring Cup in Milan, Italy.

After a very long flight from Boston, taking off at 10:15 pm Wednesday night, we landed in Milan around 12:30pm Milan time! We quickly got changed and headed to the rink for an hour practice. Though we were rather tired after only a couple hours of sleep, we had a great practice with Coach Saga.

  

We went back to the hotel after our late night practice, and then quickly went to bed to get some sleep before our very early unofficial practice this morning. Once again we had a great and very productive practice, working on both programs as the sun rose.

               

After our practice and our yummy breakfast, we headed off to The Duomo with Coach Saga and our Managers (thank goodness Regina speaks Italian J) The moment we stepped off the metro we were in awe being greeted by the beautiful Duomo, as well as our Team Leader and Team Doctor! As we climbed what seemed like millions of steps to the top, we realized it was extremely worth it. The view of the city was breathtaking and we were able to take lots of pictures.

We’ll update soon! Ciao!

-The Lexettes

A Summary of the French Cup

Feelings before the short

“Everyone has butterflies, champions are those who are able to make them fly in formation”. 

While sitting in the locker room waiting to take the ice for our first official practice (the short program) our Co-team leader Justin Dillon entered the room filled with excitement and spoke those words. We then took the ice and had a very solid official practice, really feeling the ice and skating as a team.

We began our week on Tuesday the 29th with an evening flight out of Boston that landed in the city of Paris around 8a.m. on Wednesday morning. The weather was cloud filled but the temperature was comfortable. We then began our two hour bus trip into Rouen. After preparing for our first unofficial skate we arrived at the arena and were greeted by the sun through the large windows that opened up to the city alongside of the rink. The feeling of skating a program you have been training extremely hard for while looking into a completely foreign land is magical, a dream come true.

Thursday morning began with a very early practice, (as we took the ice at 7:45 am) but due to jet lag,  none of us were too bothered as our internal clocks were already a bit off. From there we were able to get a look at the city. Rouen is extremely gorgeous, scattered with historical cathedrals and old French charm. In the evening we participated  in the competition parade. It was amazing to hear all of the different cheers in multiple languages while winding through the city filled with locals who seemed to be just as excited as we were!

Tonight is the short competition for the Junior and Senior teams from the United States and we could not be more excited and proud to represent our country. Best of luck to all of the teams!

After all was said and done

France was unlike any competition I have been to. From the beauty surrounding the city of Rouen, to the energy in the stands it was really something to behold. It was an absolutely amazing week for synchronized skating. So many teams from around the world illustrating just how far this sport has come. It gives me butterflies to think about where synchronized skating is headed.  After skating a free skate that I am sure the Haydenettes and I will never forget, we had the opportunity to get a look at our competition. As team after team came to the ice I was filled with emotion; what I saw was inspiring. There was so much talent and each and every step was finished with grace and power.  After the competition was over it was a mutual feeling between my teammates that we cannot wait to get back to work!

               

Before heading back to the United States there was one more place on our list of things to see: the Eiffel Tower!  We were filled with emotion as we stepped off the bus, taking picture after picture in hopes of never losing the memories we had made on this trip. We all took the ride up into the first level of the tower, and many of us continued all the way to the top. It was absolutely exhilarating to see all of Paris and its gorgeous landmarks from the Arc de Triomphe to Notre Dame.  There is no other feeling like that of representing one’s country and we could not feel more honored to be members of the United States Figure skating team.

Goodbye for now:]

Lindsay Grajek

               

Skyliners French Cup Wrap Up

Time flies when you’re having fun! Au revoir France!

Our trip to France blew by and I can’t believe we’re already home. After the first three days of sightseeing and practice it was finally competition time on Friday and Saturday. Friday was the short program. We arrived at the rink early and were able to get pumped to skate by playing our animal game and dancing around. When it was time to compete we entered the arena in our shimmering lavender dresses and I could see all the American flags waving in the stands. Although this is my fifth international event, it always seems surreal to see the USA section cheering as we take the ice. Our short program felt good. We had a minor fall, but otherwise a clean skate that we were happy with. The 46.66 we received was not as high as we had hoped and showed room for improvement in both our technical and program components scores. Only 4 points separated our current 7th place position with 3rd place. With such a small gap, we knew the competition was not over yet and were ready to make a come back in the long program. To end the day we headed to “Pizza Pai” for some delicious sundaes, continuing our team tradition of having ice cream the night before the free skate. We all headed to bed excited to bring it for the next day!

At Pizza Pai

 Saturday night we put on our game faces. Knowing we had nothing to lose, we focused on taking each element one at a time, putting our best performance out there and enjoying the skate. We had a blast and a few of my teammates joked that they made facial expressions they had never made before in our program! I would definitely say we brought it that night and had a lot of fun performing! Our score was high enough to pull us up three spots to fourth place overall, which made us incredibly proud.

Performing our free skate

After the junior competition we stuck around the rink to watch senior. We signed some autographs and traded pins with other teams. It was exciting to have a little slice of fame. I ended up handing out all of my American flag toothpicks to a local Novice team from France. We also met a lot of girls from Great Britain. Saying that the senior free skate event was amazing would be an understatement. The programs were stunning and when I thought no team could be better than the last, I would see even better skating. We enjoyed cheering on Team USA, the Haydenettes and Ice’Kateers, who both skated great! The arena was packed. Even the stairs were filled! During intermissions the entire crowd danced and I could see all the different countries’ flags waving. It was like watching the entire world come together, an unforgettable and unique experience. Anyone who bought tickets for senior World Synchronized Skating Championships in Boston is definitely in for a treat!

The crowd for the Senior free skate

Skyliners with Team Great Britain

Team France

Now that we’re back in the States, we are ready to work extremely hard in these last few weeks leading up to U.S. Synchro Championships and World Junior Championships! You’ll know where to find us: At the rink!

Good luck to Skyliners Senior, Chicago Jazz, and Lexettes at Spring Cup this week!

Au revoir!

Dana