Alexa Knierim and Brandon Frazier began their partnership amidst a world of uncertainty.
With the country shutting down to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, when would they be able to safely begin training together? When and where would their ice time come? How could they build a partnership with Knierim sheltering in place in California and Frazier in Florida?
However, even with all the question marks, there was one thing that neither of them questioned: their partnership.
Frazier made the mid-pandemic, cross-country move in late April, their training base of Great Park Ice in Irvine, California, opened to skaters in late May, and Knierim and Frazier have been full steam ahead ever since.
"It's been going, I think, way easier and (more) natural than we anticipated," Knierim said. "We've worked really, really hard every single moment we've had, because we know the mountain that we have to climb to be successful. But for some reason, we have gelled quite quickly in terms of elements and skating together, and it feels as if we've been skating together much longer than the few months that we have been.
"We have a lot of work to do, and a lot of areas to improve, but I'd say we're both pleasantly surprised at the quickness of our ability to do things together and do them well."
The two have been friends since they were training partners in Colorado Springs, Colorado, in 2012, but have begun an entirely new chapter now as a team. They began the off-ice process of getting their basics down in April, and have been deepening their relationship and learning about each other as partners.
"We started fresh on page one," Knierim said. "We still had a lot of learning to do with each other and getting to know one another, and just building a very genuine, honest relationship. I don't think either one of us knew the real person that we were skating with until we kind of jump-started the skating side of things."
For instance, Knierim has learned that Frazier likes boba tea and wants to get a dog. Frazier, for his part, reiterates Knierim's love for cats.
Is the cat vs. dog debate a point of contention in their new relationship?
"No, Alexa's a dog-lover too," Frazier joked.
"I have dogs and cats," Knierim added. "I love them all."
Of course, the process hasn't been all sunshine and rainbows and boba tea. Both Knierim and Frazier left extremely successful, long-term partnerships at the end of the 2019-20 season – Knierim and husband Chris were three-time U.S. champions and 2018 Olympic Team Event bronze medalists, while Frazier and Haven Denney won the 2017 U.S. title.
"For me personally, it wasn't necessarily the easiest transition, just because I was with my former partner for most of my skating career," Frazier said. "Any time a chapter in that arena ends, it takes a lot of digesting to move on, even though we both knew it was for the best and it was time, and we both want the absolute best for one another.
"No big journey is without its obstacles, and I'm just very thankful to have the people around me that I have right now."
Knierim still gets to see her former partner every day, as he is both her husband and part of the new pair's coaching team. The Knierims' transition has had its own challenges, though Alexa is now enjoying skating with someone who shares her mindset – she and Chris, she says, were more yin and yang, balancing each other out.
"I sometimes feel like Brandon and I share the same brain when it comes to training and work ethic," Knierim said. "It's almost like we don't need to ask or say what each other wants or needs. We're just kind of like two bodies that are working the same way."
That synergy has been incredibly helpful as they begin nailing down their elements, working out the kinks and nuances of skating with someone new. While many things came together quicker than they'd anticipated, Frazier says it's a continual learning process.
"It's just a different dynamic in timing and balance and things like that," Frazier said. "So for us, most of the lifts come naturally and easily, but that doesn't mean that we're necessarily like, 'Okay, this is feeling good so we're going to keep it.' We're constantly pushing ourselves to have a more unique lift, or a more unique transition with a certain throw. So that has its own learning curve."
Now, even with ice time five days a week, with their elements coming together and program run-throughs becoming staple in their training schedule, some questions have begun to arise again. The competition calendar, which once ran like clockwork, faces unprecedented uncertainties in 2020-21.
But regardless of what competitions are or are not ahead of them in the future, Knierim and Frazier are relishing the opportunity to not just skate, but skate together.
"We're in a unique situation, because everything we're doing is so new and fresh and exciting that we have all the motivation and drive right now just to see what we can do," Knierim said. "So I don't think it really bothers us too much not knowing what's going to happen or not happen, because at the end of the day we have so much work to do that we're going to be here grinding away regardless of the competitive calendar."
"We're excited to just be skating, and I'm just so very thankful that I'm here with the team that we have," Frazier added. "They're pushing me above and beyond what I know that I'm capable of, and it's been great to learn alongside Alexa. She's very good at what she does. The whole thing's been a huge, huge step in the right direction for our new chapter."
