The three top-ranked senior men arrive at the 2019 GEICO U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Detroit this week with a lot on their minds, much of it involving major changes they're making this post-Olympic season.
Nathan Chen, odds-on favorite to win his third consecutive U.S. title, is managing a two-pronged balancing act: combining training and competing with his studies at Yale University, and raising his performance quality while still reeling off the quadruple jumps that vaulted him to the top of the sport.
"Overall, I think I managed pretty well," Chen said on his media teleconference earlier this month. "I just didn't want to pass on the option to compete, I still want to do a lot in skating, so I'm glad with the way things have been going and hopefully in the month couple of months, I will keep improving."
Chen understated his achievements. The World champion won Skate America, Internationaux de France and his second straight Grand Prix Final. His first-semester grades at the New Haven, Connecticut Ivy League were good; as he told reporters, "I'm not gonna say the exact number, but there are some As and Bs sprinkled in."
That said, training on his own at Yale's Ingalls Rink and other area facilities is not ideal. Longtime coach Rafael Arutunian, 3,000 miles away in Southern California, communicates via text and FaceTime. Chen travels to California during academic breaks; the latest sojourn ended Jan. 12, when Chen returned to New Haven after two weeks of concentrated work with his coach.
Arutunian makes no secret of his desire to have Chen back in California full-time, but the skater is determined to continue at Yale – at least for now.
"I definitely will for the next semester and then sort of reevaluate for the next year," he said. "I think right now, I will definitely continue for another year as well, and then go from there and see if it is possible to maintain the two."
Chen's winning performances this season didn't equal the technical feats of last season, when he executed six quadruple jumps in his Olympic and World free skates. That's partly due to rule changes: the free skate is shorter by 30 seconds, giving skaters less time to recover and recharge after quads. Plus, a broader range of Grades of Execution, ranging from -5 to +5, put more points on the line for jumping mistakes.
"Throughout the season, I've attempted less quads than I have in previous seasons, and that was partially just because I was not ready to attempt the quads and also because it's not really that worth it right now," Chen said. "If you make a mistake, there's definitely a big weight on the score you end up getting."
In Detroit, Chen thinks he will stick close to the game plan he used at the Grand Prix Final, but he's keeping the door open for surprises.
"The short program will be the same, (but) I'm still playing around with different layouts right now. I want to bring the Lutz back and land it," he said.
"In the long program, it will probably be similar to what I did at the Final, (quad) flip, lutz and toe, the numbers won't fluctuate too much. I will probably just do one of each."
The number of Chen's quads might vary, but the reception to his programs – the joy-filled, energetic short set to Boston Brass' "Caravan," choreographed by Shae-Lynn Bourne; and the edgy, angular free skate to Woodkid's "Land of All" – has been near-universal enthusiasm. Delivering inspired performances in Detroit, rather than showing off his jumping chops, may be his biggest goal.
"Ultimately, I just want to skate clean programs based off of what I've been doing in practice," he said.
Zhou focuses on the "overall quality" of his programs
Hampered by back injuries for much of last summer, and a shoulder dislocation before NHK Trophy, Vincent Zhou is counting on some injury-free weeks of training to help him deliver clean performances in Detroit.
Like Chen, the reigning U.S. bronze medalist doesn't plan to match his quad output of last season. Quality, not numbers, is his goal, especially after technical panels called some of his quads under rotated this season.
"The (technical panel) decisions, I cannot control," Zhou said on his media call. "I can only acknowledge the fact I've been improving that and working very hard on that, and hopefully the results show at nationals. It hasn't been easy redefining my standard of what is OK in terms of rotation or not, but I am getting much stronger in that aspect and I'm ready for nationals."
Zhou is far from the only skater who has gotten more underrotation calls this season, than previous seasons. A rule change tightened up what qualifies as a fully rotated jump; 
now, any jump a quarter-turn short is penalized. Zhou is improving and adapting his programs for maximum scores.
"Put it this way, I'm more concerned about how well my program flows than going for super-difficult jumps – a ton of them and high-risk, high-reward type things," he said.
"The numbers this season speak for themselves," he added. "They (the judges) are rewarding cleaner, well-executed programs, as opposed to ambitious programs that may not be executed so well. So, I am trying to focus on the overall quality rather than attempting five or six quads and hoping that I'll rotate them all."
In addition to working with coaches Tammy Gambill, Tom Zakrajsek and Christy Krall on his jumps, the Colorado Springs-based skater traveled to Toronto for a week last month to "rework" his programs with choreographers Lori Nichol (short program) and Jeff Buttle (free skate).
"We made some pretty significant changes to the programs and I feel they are much better now, than before," Zhou said. "Spending a week in Toronto without hammering away at the quads helped me kind of – I don't want to say rediscover – but it helps me kind of find out how much I really enjoy the creative process and the freedom and flow that comes with just good skating."
Zhou followed up by working with choreographer and coach Tom Dickson in Colorado Springs, focusing on his movement, positions and transitions.
"He's been helping me place my shoulders, my arms, in relation to my head and kind of combining that with the best positions to create flow more easily, especially when I'm tired," Zhou said. "It's not that we haven't tried to incorporate kind of a rest period in free skate, it's just that there is so little time now and so many elements, there is no substantial opportunity for rest. I've been working on my movement a lot, both the short and the free, and I'm going to continue improving that."
Brown's big move starts to pay off
Jason Brown, the 2015 U.S. champion known more for his skating skills and superb performance quality than for his quadruple jumps, may well be rounding into top form just in time for Detroit.
Some seven months after his move from Colorado Springs to Toronto, the skater and his coaching team are finding their rhythm, Brown told reporters on his media call.
"We work on quality every single day, on all my elements and all my skating skills in the programs," Brown said of his work with his Toronto coaches, including Tracy Wilson, his 
primary coach who will accompany him to the U.S. Championships; Karen Preston and Lee Barkell, who focus on his jump technique; and Brian Orser, who "oversees everything."
"It is constantly adapting. I am making these tiny, tiny steps along the way," Brown said. "The thing we are most focused on right now is building a really strong base heading into the next four years. That's really all I can ask for, and that is what I am focused on. That's what my mentality is wrapped around."
After a tough start this season, Brown's performances have steadily improved. At his second Grand Prix in France, he defeated Chen in the short program, notching a personal best score. He ended up winning the silver medal behind his younger teammate. At Golden Spin of Zagreb in Croatia last month, he captured gold.
"I really do think that I hit a turning point in France," Brown said. "I really started to understand (my coaches') technique and I think it has just continued to get better from there."
A lot of his improvement, Brown explained, has to do with communicating better on the nuts-and-bolts of competition, including the six-minute warm-up.
"There is now a sense of calmness, where I am like, 'OK, I have done this before with them, we have our routine,'" Brown said, adding, "There are not as many surprises, or the unknown, and I think that is really helpful going into big events."
Despite the hiccups along the way, the skater has every faith his move to Toronto will pay dividends over the next three years.
"I needed some type of change, kind of a rebirth, starting fresh," he said. "One of the biggest draws to Toronto for me was the fact that Tracy and Brian knew very little about me and about my skating, and I loved that because they saw me with fresh eyes and this new perspective … I give them free rein to tweak whatever they like. It is taking time, but it has definitely been worth it."
Brown and his coaches are in no rush to add quadruple jumps to his programs, although the skater works on them daily and has attempted quad Salchows this season. In fact, he landed a clean one on his first attempt during his first practice under the bright lights at Little Caesars Arena.
"It's about getting the technique under it and building a strong base," he said. "But it is planned (in the free skate) and I hope to do it."
