The Haydenettes Have Won 11 Consecutive U.S. Titles, but Take Nothing for Granted

To an outsider, it may seem as if the Haydenettes are both charmed and unflappable.
 
The team has won 11 consecutive U.S. titles and 28 overall, plus five bronze medals at the ISU World Synchronized Skating Championships, and is far and away the most successful program in U.S. synchronized skating.
 
But a peek behind the curtain shows that it's not nearly as effortless as the numbers appear.
 
Take, for instance, the 2020 U.S. Synchronized Skating Championships.
 
After the short program, the Haydenettes sat in first place by more than five points and were very pleased with their performance. The free skate, however, was not as clean as they had hoped it to be.
 
"During the free program, we obviously had a couple unfortunate mistakes, and it definitely was not the skate that we'd hoped to put out," said skater Cameron Feeley, who has skated on the Haydenettes for three years. "We knew after we skated that we did not have our best skate by any means, so I think we were all a little worried, just that, was it enough to still maintain our title?
 
"We definitely were sweating it out for a while."
 
It was indeed enough to win the title, as the Haydenettes topped the Skyliners by 8.25 points overall, but their margin of victory in the free skate was just 1.61 points over Miami University.
 
"Winning a U.S. title when you have the best skate of your life is not the same as winning a U.S. title with an okay skate. It's not the same feeling," Feeley said. "Obviously, we are so grateful and so happy that we were able to do that still, but we wish that we had a clean skate and just a more powerful skate in general."
 
The Haydenettes had hoped to put together those clean skates at the ISU World Synchronized Skating Championships 2020 in Lake Placid, New York, but with the event's cancellation due to the coronavirus, the season has come to a premature end.
 
Even without the chance to compete on the world stage, the Haydenettes' season was as strong as one would come to expect. They finished fifth at the French Cup while dealing with several injuries, first at the Brittania Cup and second at the California Cup for their first medal on the inaugural ISU Challenger Series.
 
Heading into the California Cup in November, the team was beginning its international slate of events earlier than it ever had before, and the skaters were unsure of what to expect.
 
But the Haydenettes won the short program, and it's a memory Feeley says was a highlight of the whole season.
 
"Our short program is Celine Dion, and it's obviously a very emotional program," Feeley said. "And it was the first time we were really performing it in front of a big crowd. So I think the way that we were able to play off each other's energy as well as the energy from the audience was very special, and it just felt like we were in our own little bubble on the ice.
 
"There were quite a few good teams there. And we won the short program, but even before that, just the feeling after we finished the program, it was just an incredible feeling."
 
It was a feeling the team worked on recapturing all season long, and one that helped their short program set a new season's best score at the U.S. Synchronized Skating Championships.
 
Competing at the national level presents a unique set of challenges for a team with such a legacy to uphold, and it's one the current crop of skaters – as well as the groups before them – did not take lightly.
 
"With the title of U.S. champion comes the pressure of, 'Are we going to win this year? Will we be as good?'" Feeley said. "And everyone's always talking and speculating, and I think with that comes some criticism. But we just keep our heads down throughout the entire season, and we know that if we work hard, we trust each other and we trust our coach, then everything will work out in the end. And it has, year after year.
 
"I think most importantly is just trusting each other and (head coach) Saga (Krantz). We have a great bond as a team every year, and we're able to come together and make it work."
 
Krantz hails from Finland, a synchronized skating powerhouse, and has brought that high-level perspective to the Haydenettes for the last 15 years. It has allowed the skaters to trust her and buy in completely, and that work ethic has contributed greatly to the caliber of skaters the program attracts.
 
"When you come and you make the Haydenettes, you are giving your all 100% of the time, and we all are willing to do whatever it takes," Feeley said.
 
With the book closed on the 2019-20 season, the Haydenettes now must turn their attention to 2020-21, and a 12th consecutive U.S. title.
 
They'll keep their noses to the grindstone and keep working hard, because nothing comes easy, and nothing is guaranteed.
 
"We don't take it for granted," Feeley said. "I think if we didn't put in as much effort as we do at practices throughout the entire season, we would not be able to maintain that status. So it's definitely not a given for us, and we don't take that for granted at all.
 
"Honestly, I feel the same exact way as I did after (U.S. title) No. 1. It never gets old. I think every year, we put in the same amount of hard work and everything, so seeing that pay off year after year is just really exciting."

You can rewatch the Haydenettes' gold-medal performances at the 2020 U.S. Synchronized Skating Championships with the Figure Skating Pass on NBC Sports Gold.