After dedicating herself to pairs skating for the past six years, Audrey Lu made a triumphant return to the singles skating scene with a second-place finish at the 2022 U.S. Collegiate Championships & Invitational, which took place from July 22-24 in Richfield, Minnesota.
Lu decided to register for the U.S. Collegiate Championships before heading off to UCLA for her freshman year in mid-September. The last time she had competed in singles was at the intermediate level at the 2017 U.S. Figure Skating Championships. Now she's a senior, so she had to adjust to longer routines, programs packed full of jumps and rule changes.
"Whenever I take the ice and I start on my starting pose, I just breath and then my mind just goes blank. I forget about everything," she explained about her mindset. "I just enjoy the program."
Choreographer Adam Blake put together her two routines, which she'll continue to use for the remainder of the collegiate season. Her programs include a triple toe-double toe, double Axel, triple toe, triple salchow, double Axel-double toe, triple Salchow-half loop-double Salchow and triple loop. She is also consistently landing a triple toe-triple toe in program run-throughs in practice, but on the day of competition, she opted to go for the triple-double combo instead.
Lu chose "Primavera" by Ludovico Einaudi for its crescendos and Billie Eilish's "No Time to Die" from the James Bond film of the same title for her free skate.
"I remember hearing that song when I watched the movie and I was like, 'I have to skate to this song.' I was still doing pairs at the time. I was like, maybe we'll do it for a show program, but then when I decided to go to college and decided to do collegiates, I was like, 'I'm skating to this song!'" Lu said.
Although she had only met her new teammates the day of the short program, they kindly put her on the ice. While performing, not only did she feel the love and support from her fellow UCLA Bruins, but "everyone in the stands were cheering for me from all different schools," she said.
Lu enjoyed her first U.S. Collegiate Championships so much that she plans to enter again next year. From there, she will see how her course load is when she is an upperclassman.
Lu also plans to enter intercollegiate competitions as a member of the skating club at UCLA and is excited for her school to host the National Intercollegiate Final in April.
"I have so much pride when I wear UCLA sweatshirts and their colors," she gushed.
Despite her early success, Lu isn't yet ready to commit to the 2023 FISU World University Games, set to take place from January 12-22 in Lake Placid, New York, the site of the 1932 and 1980 Olympic Winter Games.
"I'm transitioning to college, so I'm not sure if I'll have time for that, but I'll definitely see if I can do it," she said.
Turning the Page
Lu spent six seasons competing with former pairs partner Misha Mitrofanov. The two ended their partnership in April of this year after winning bronze at the 2022 Toyota U.S. Figure Skating Championships and gold at the ISU Four Continents Figure Skating Championships 2022.
"As of right now, I want to focus on academics. I definitely want to keep skating. I guess if any opportunity comes up, I'd take it, but for now I am just going to focus on school," she said of the possibility of finding a new pairs partner.
Committing to the next four-year Olympic could mean continuing to postpone her pursuit of higher education, and at the age of 20, Lu is already a bit older than the majority of her freshman class.
Plus, she's ready to continue her pursuit of excellence in the classroom. Not only somebody who lands on the podium in skating competitions, Lu is just as competitive in school. She graduated salutatorian of her high school class in 2020, and although she deferred her college acceptance for two years to chase her Olympic dream, Lu is one of only 100 incoming freshmen to be invited to the UCLA Alumni Scholars Club, which offers scholarship money, as well as networking and volunteering opportunities.
Lu has declared neuroscience as her major, but is entering her freshman year with an open mind to explore other subjects, majors and minors.
"The brain has always fascinated me, especially with figure skating," she explained. "How we can do all these elements or spin so fast and we don't get dizzy. It's so dangerous and we do it with ease. Also, I want to go the medical route because I want to help athletes with injuries and help them recover faster."
Lu and Mitrofanov originally trained in her native state of Texas, but followed their coaching team to The Skating Club of Boston in Norwood, Mass. Lu thought their coaches would relocate to California, so she concentrated much of her college search on California universities.
When their coaches chose The Skating Club of Boston, Lu put college on hold and, in addition to training, she filled her two gap years with coaching, volunteering with the rink's adaptive skating program, and completing a social media internship for the club. She was responsible for gathering content and creating posts, reels and videos, as well as increasing engagement.
When it comes to volunteering, the U.S. Collegiate silver medalist has a heart of gold. She finds volunteerism very fulfilling, especially with the adaptive skating program. She helped children and adults with disabilities learn basic skating skills for the pure fun of the sport.
"Seeing the kids happy and smiling, it gives me a lot of joy," she said.
College Life
When Lu reports to campus, she'll be living on-campus with a randomly selected roommate for an authentic college experience. She plans to decorate her room in soft tones, such as light gray and lavender.
"This will be my first time living on my own, but I am used to being independent because I've traveled so much for competitions by myself that it'll be a smoother transition," she said.
Lu is eager to soak in the West Coast by exploring Westwood, all of Los Angeles and beaches and enjoying the food, rooting on the Bruin women's gymnastics team and attending the UCLA versus USC rivalry football game.
"UCLA has always been my dream school. It's just so well-rounded. The academics are amazing. The school spirit is amazing. And, it's in California. The weather is amazing!" she explained. "I'm ready for the whole LA vibe."
