On January 20, Anastasiia Smirnova and Danil Siianytsia will take the ice for the junior pairs event at the 2021 Toyota U.S. Figure Skating Championships. Last season, the team won silver in junior pairs and placed 10th at the ISU World Junior Figure Skating Championships 2020. This season, they hope to move up a step and claim their first U.S. title.
Smirnova, 16, and Siianytsia, 20, train in Shakopee, Minnesota, with coach Trudy Oltmanns. However, their skating journey started not in the United States, but in the city of Dnipro, Ukraine, some 5,000 miles from Shakopee. Smirnova and Siianytsia were both born and raised in Dnipro in Russian-speaking families. Both started skating at a young age, even taking lessons at the same rink in Dnipro. However, due in part to their four-year age gap, Smirnova and Siianytsia did not actually get to know each other until years later, when they teamed up in the United States.
Siianytsia arrived first, in early 2016. "I came five years ago, to train with Trudy and to try pair skating," he said. Oltmanns, who was coaching another international pair team, reached out to the Siianytsia family after seeing Danil's bio on IcePartnerSearch. Siianytsia's mother approved her son's move, hoping his skating career would flourish in the United States.
"He came to try out for pairs, and I went to pick him up at the airport," Oltmanns recalled. There, she found a 15-year-old boy who weighed 90 pounds, knew no English, and had not yet fully mastered a single Axel.
"He's come a long way," Oltmanns said. "He was very coachable in the beginning and made a ton of progress. He did what I asked him to do, jump-wise. And he has all his triples [now], and has done a triple Axel."
But Siianytsia was not interested in singles skating; he wanted to do pairs. Finding the right partner proved a challenge. Siianytsia had many tryouts and competed briefly with two partners. But Oltmanns was not satisfied.
Then Anastasiia ("Nastyia") Smirnova entered the picture in mid-2018. After her partnership with Artem Darenskyi of Ukraine ended, Smirnova was looking for a new partner. Siianytsia saw her bio on IcePartnerSearch. "I asked Trudy, 'Why don't you text her, and ask her if she wants to come here?'" Siianytsia said.
Smirnova came to Minnesota for a tryout. All three immediately felt the partnership would be a good fit.
The duo's shared cultural background and language was an extra bonus.
"Personality-wise, they get along great," Oltmanns said. "They work really well together. We don't have your typical pairs fights and blowups."
In the beginning, there were some growing pains. Like Siianytsia, Smirnova arrived in the U.S. speaking little English. She had to learn the language and the training style of Oltmanns' group. Smirnova also lacked confidence and struggled with her jumps.
"It was about fostering her development, on and off the ice," Oltmanns noted. "You have to make sure the whole skater is considered. If she's fearful, figure out why she is, and help her through it. She's much more confident now than she was two years ago." By the end of their first season, Smirnova's jumps were improving, and she was comfortable in the new environment.
To help with the adjustment, the team made it a priority to stay in close touch with their families in Ukraine. "We call them every day [via video chat], and send messages," Smirnova said.
Smirnova is in her last year of Ukrainian high school, which she attends online. Siianytsia is doing a gap year before college. "I want to get better with English first," he said. "So I'm taking English language classes, and will then try to get into an online college."
Oltmanns took a measured approach to developing the couple's skating. "We made a plan from the beginning; there was no need to rush," she said. "They had three years of [junior] eligibility. I thought that they were very talented, and I wanted them to learn in a step-by-step fashion."
Some of the first elements to come together for Smirnova and Siianytsia were the triple twist and the lifts. "Despite all the levels and difficulty, lifts are still our easiest elements by far," Siianytsia noted.
Their throw jumps and side-by-side jumps came more gradually. This season, the couple is planning two triple throws (Salchow and loop) in their long program, and side-by-side triple Salchows and a triple toe loop combo.
The duo has yet to perform all their triple jump elements in a competitive free skate. However, Oltmanns is satisfied with the consistency of the elements in practice. She says it's just a matter of timing until it all comes together.
"It's less about trying to get the elements than it is to try to
perform the elements," Oltmanns said. "They haven't been ready [yet] to put them all in at the same time." But she's confident the team has the technical skills they will need for the future.
Oltmanns also directs their artistic development, choreographing their programs. This year, Smirnova and Siianytsia are skating a jazzy short program to "Dixie Biscuits" by Tape Five and a lyrical free skate to "The Prayer" by Andrea Boccelli and Celine Dion. Oltmanns called on Randi Strong, of
So You Think You Can Dance?, to "spice up" the short program and add more detail. Well-known designer Elena Pollack of Ladu created their costumes.
It's all part of preparing for what the team hopes will be a full career representing the United States. Both skaters came to the country under P-1 performance visas and are now moving through the process to gain U.S. citizenship. Siianytsia chose to pursue citizenship after he moved to Minnesota.
"I love representing the United States," Siianytsia said. "I never got a chance to compete for Ukraine. But going out under Team USA has been pretty awesome."
"Everything's going along perfectly," Oltmanns said of the citizenship process. "The plan is to have it before 2026."
After their success last season, Smirnova and Siianytsia had high hopes for this season. "The goal was to hopefully win Nationals [U.S. Championships] in juniors and make a top 5 at Junior Worlds," Siianytsia commented. "One didn't happen, because they canceled Junior Worlds. But we still hope for Nationals, to get our first title." (The ISU canceled the ISU World Junior Figure Skating Championships 2021 due to pandemic concerns.)
Due to the shortened season in 2020-21, the pairs is already making plans for next year. "The plan is to skate senior domestically, and junior internationally," Oltmanns said. Since this year's programs haven't received much exposure, they may keep them for next season, depending on feedback."
First things first, though. Right now, Smirnova/Siianytsia's focus is on winning their first U.S. national title.
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