The 2021-22 synchronized skating season was an opportunity to start anew. After the 2020 U.S. Synchronized Skating Championships in Providence, Rhode Island, competitions came to an abrupt halt due to the COVID-19 pandemic with the ISU World Synchronized Skating Championships 2020 and following international season completely canceled. The Skyliners senior team had been slated to compete at the 2020 World Championships, but would not return to international ice until February 2022.
After a strong showing at 2022 French Cup, the Skyliners had their eyes set on the 2022 U.S. Championships, and hopefully, another Worlds berth. With mainly fresh faces and a few returners, the Skating Club of New York squad found themselves in third place and off the World Team for the first time since 2017.
"Last year we set very high goals for ourselves," said three-year Skyliners skater Leatrice Bulls. "Some of them we achieved and some of them we didn't. The end of the season was disappointing, but we really rallied together. The returning skaters really embraced that this does not define us as athletes and this does not define us as a team. We are excited to come back this season and tell our story the way we want to tell it."
Under the guidance of coaches Josh Babb and Pam May, the Skyliners took the time to refocus and recharge, embracing a new story through their program themes and off-ice work with sports psychologists. Their 2022-23 programs honor figures that have taken back their stories.
"Our short program is 'Crazy' by Britney Spears," said third-year Skyliner Kat Koehler. "We started working with a new off-ice coach, Nicole Colon, who was previously a Broadway dancer. She has been helping us bring out our inner Britney and portray this character. Nicole has been really pushing us to embrace this sexy, raunchy persona. That has been the focus at practice. We all have had to find that within ourselves and deliver that through our body movement and facial expressions."
Their free skate is a medley of songs from
SIX The Musical, which tells the stories of the six ex-wives of Henry VIII.
"These woman are known for their role in his story, but they are rewriting it for themselves," Bulls said. "They are rewriting history to center the story around themselves instead of centering it around a man. It has been cool to bring this story to life on the ice. The idea of writing your own story and owning the narrative is something we have really taken to heart as a team this season. It is our time to go out there and tell our story the way we want to."
While not everyone on the team has seen the show, the overarching themes of women's empowerment and owning the narrative is one that the whole group has embraced. Both programs have pushed the team to turn up the performative aspect of synchro to another level.
"There is definitely a fire within each of us," Bulls said. "Every time we take the ice there is this mentality of, 'I am doing this because I love it and I want other people to see how much I love it.' There is something incredible about that and it really shows up in our themes. I'm going to go out there and you are going to watch me and enjoy it. I think we all have that little flare in our personalities and that really shows in our performances. I think our themes this season really lend to that mentality. Show up as yourself and take the stage as the authentic you."
In addition to embracing their own story on the ice, the Skyliners have been working on their mentality and goal setting off the ice with the help of sports psychologists Lauren McHenry and Caroline Silby.
"Our team has been focusing on small goals while keeping the big goal in the back of our minds," Koehler said. "Lauren and Caroline sat us down in October and asked us to picture that we are at the World Championships and think about what we want to feel at that moment. How do you want to feel personally? How do you want to feel as a team? How do you want the audience to feel? We all wrote it down on a piece of paper and I think that really helped us direct our smaller goals. It really made it feel more tangible and achievable. We all talk about those goals and lift each other up through our passion, motivation and determination."
"I have been trying to focus on what is actually in our control, and that is making sure that each of us is technically sound, healthy and bringing our best selves to each practice," Bulls said. "We have really been focusing on those things with the mindset that if we do all of those things, we can achieve the perfect moment that we have all dreamed about."
Their internal and on-ice work has paid off this season with strong showings at their Challenger Series events, particularly Neuchatel Trophy where they earned bronze. Next stop, the 2023 U.S. Synchronized Skating Championships in Peoria, Illinois, then hopefully, the ISU World Synchronized Skating Championships 2023 in Lake Placid, New York.
"It was really motivating and exciting to see how much our scores have jumped from competition to competition, but also how much room there is to improve," Bulls said. "We have not peaked yet. Our training is definitely showing up in our performance and scores under the pressure of an international competition. There is still room to grow and there are tangible steps we can take to get our scores higher."
More than the outcome, the Skyliners look forward to the feeling that comes when you do what you love on the national stage.
"While we obviously have goals in terms of scores, but we also want to entertain the audience," said Bulls. "We know that we have really entertaining programs this year and we are doing everything we can to make the crowd love it and feel what we feel when we skate."
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