Synchronized Skating

The Skyliners Synchronized Skating team traveled to Hershey, Penn., for the Eastern Synchronized Skating Championships recently. Many Darien skaters take part in the program.

The Preliminary, Pre Juvenile and Juvenile lines all earned the gold medal and the title of Champion in their divisions.

The Intermediate, Novice and Senior lines all earned silver medals.

And the performances of the Juvenile, Intermediate, Novice and Senior lines also earned them a birth to compete in the 2012 National Synchronized Skating Championships in Worcester, Mass., the first weekend in March.

They will be joining the Skyliners Junior line, who received a bye for this competition because of their designation of Team USA and their preparation for the 2012 French Cup in Rouen, France.

“The entire Skyliners organization had an amazing showing at Easterns,” said Skyliners coach and Director of Synchronized Skating Josh Babb. “To come home with no less than gold and silver medals is an incredible accomplishment. The skaters’ and coaches’ hard work and intense training is paying off.

The team will make the last push for the competitive season over the next four weeks in preparation for the National Championships in Massachusetts.”

Three lines earn gold

The Preliminary defended its 2011 Eastern Championship title earned last year in Lake Placid, N.Y., competing against 13 teams from up and down the east coast.

Their expressive and fast performance to the music of “The Wizard of Oz” earned them first place finishes in both the Qualifying and Championship rounds. In the end, they received six out of seven first place marks from the judges, for the gold medal.

The Pre Juvenile line also earned the title of Champion for the first time in only its second season of competition.

The pre juvenile division was the largest in Hershey, with 29 teams competing.

They also finished first in both the qualifying and championship rounds, skating to inspirational music from “The Newsies.”

“Our Pre Juvenile line has worked hard all season,” said coach Sarah LeBlanc Blosat. “Their performance in the final round was strong, sharp and exciting! We are very proud of all they have accomplished.”

The Juvenile line, the reigning Eastern and National Champions, skated a near flawless program and successfully defended their title.

Skating to the music from Sister Act, their fast paced and technically difficult routine earned them first place marks from five out of seven judges.

The line looks forward to travelling to Massachusetts in March to defend their National Championship title.

Three lines take silver

Joining the Juvenile line at Nationals will be The Skyliners Intermediate, Novice, and Senior lines, who all earned silver medals in their quest to qualify for the National Championships.

The Intermediate line skated a fun a fast Swing number to the music of the Brian Setzer Orchestra. The division was a very competitive field of 17 teams, and with only 4 berths available to the National Championships, their second place finish was more than enough to advance. The Intermediate line is the reigning US Silver Medalists.

The Novice line took command of the ice with a near flawless performance to Broadway’s 42nd Street for a solid 2nd place finish. The reigning national pewter medalists are looking forward to keeping up the momentum for Nationals.

The Senior line skated a strong, entertaining and technically difficult Short program to the “Mad Hatter” scoring a 54.30- only 6 points behind the current World Bronze Medalists, the Haydenettes from Massachusetts.

The team took the ice with confidence for the long program, skating a beautiful and powerful performance to “Romeo and Juliet”. With a season high combined score of 159.57, the Senior line will continue its hard work as they prepare for their first National Championship.

Clinics and tryouts for the 2012 – 2013 season start mid-March and run through April 15.

Visit the skylinerssynchro.com for specific dates and to learn more about the team.

About Synchronized Skating

Synchronized skating, originally called precision skating, consists of 12-20 athletes skating on ice at one time moving as one flowing unit at high speeds. For a synchronized team to flow in unison, individual skaters must be competent at a variety of skating skills, including speed, footwork and ice presence. There are international synchronized skating competitions at the novice, junior, and senior levels (with senior being the most elite).

Although not currently an Olympic sport, there is significant movement toward including it at the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, Russia.

Synchronized skating is a varsity sport at several colleges such as Miami University (and many more are developing club-level collegiate teams without varsity status), and has been already been reviewed for Olympic eligibility.

About Skyliners

The Skyliners Synchronized Skating Team was incorporated as a non-profit organization in 2001. Since its inception, Skyliners have achieved acclaim and respect throughout the Synchronized skating community as one of the top synchronized skating organizations in the country. The Skyliners support 164 girls across eight lines, with skaters who range in age between 6 and 22.

The Skyliners qualifying lines, Senior, Junior, Novice, Intermediate and Juvenile, represent the Skating Club of New York. The Pre Preliminary, Pre Juvenile, and Preliminary lines represent Springdale Figure Skating Club in Stamford.

All Skyliners teams compete in U.S. Figure Skating Associationsm sanctioned synchronized skating competitions.