Photo Credit: Cynthia Slawter Photography
By Darci Miller
If there’s one word to describe the Skyliners coming into the 2023-24 season, it’s hungry.
The team from Stamford, Connecticut, had a strong 2022-23 season, winning bronze at the Neuchatel Trophy for the program’s second Challenger Series medal in history and placing third at the U.S. Synchronized Skating Championships.
However, that third-place finish left them off the World Synchronized Championships team for the fourth year in a row. (The 2020 and 2021 events were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.)
“Going into it, you obviously want to put out your best performances, and I think we did that, and we know we did that,” skater Emily Schneider said. “So looking back on it, there’s no what-ifs. We’re proud of what we did and we’re proud of what we put out, and I think it just lights a little bit of a fire this year to make sure that we’re still proud of what we did, and we’re skating for ourselves rather than the outcome.”
“There was a real hunger going into this season to sort of take care of some unfinished business of some goals they didn’t achieve last year,” head coach Josh Babb said.
So the Skyliners reconvened for the 2023-24 season determined to better their showing last season. Babb and fellow coach Pam May went with a different choreographic approach for the team this year, featuring a slower, more lyrical piece for the short program, which this team hasn’t really explored yet. They’re focusing on dramatic body movements in the short and sustained intensity in their free skate, but also putting as much focus on the mental side of things as the physical.
“Something that we’ve really been focusing on as a team is skating for ourselves, and skating to make ourselves and our organization and our support systems really proud of what we’re doing, and proving to ourselves the work ethic that we have,” skater Leatrice Bulls said. “And I think that having that insular mindset is really helping us to build off of what we did last year, and to carry the confidence of that, of knowing that we have the skills underneath our belt forward to then push ourselves to these new levels.”
So far, the work has been paying off. They finished fourth at the Marie Lundmark Trophy in Helsinki, Finland, last week, and won silver at the Lumiere Cup in January.
It was the program’s third-ever Challenger Series medal and tied their best result on the circuit.
“We were really proud of our skates, and it’s really exciting to know that we can put that out there, but there’s also still room to grow,” Bulls said. “Because we don’t want to peak too early in our season, and that definitely was not our peak. So it’s exciting to be confident and proud of what we did, but also know that there’s room for improvement.”
Despite winning a very coveted medal, the Skyliners aren’t resting on their laurels.
“Obviously, it’s really nice to see and to accomplish, but it is really early in the season,” Schneider said. “So having this as sort of a benchmark and just keep going from there is what we have been doing and what we plan to keep doing, just to keep improving from this good, great, amazing accomplishment.”
One of the advantages the Skyliners have had this season is that most of the team returned from last year. This not only means that most of the skaters have senior-level experience already and are extremely hungry to win, but that they’re already familiar with who they take the ice with.
“This is a really solid group of athletes,” Babb said. “It’s a really solid team. From a coaching standpoint, having the consistency of people from year to year does make it easier to progress in a timely fashion. They understand the process. There’s probably less frustration, and they understand what the process is and how it will end up at the end of the season.”
At the end of the season is, hopefully, the World Synchronized Championships on April 5-6 in Zagreb, Croatia.
The Skyliners competed at the event two years in a row, in 2018 and 2019. Only two skaters remain from those World Championship teams.
“Should we qualify for the world championships, I don’t see it as very different than any of our other competitions,” Bulls said. “I personally try to practice like I compete so I can compete like I practice. That’s a motto that I have, and I think that a lot of people on this team feel that way as well. So yes, it is a huge deal and it’s a huge goal that we’re all working towards, but I think that we train in a way where we know that we would be able to perform should we have the opportunity.”
They will attempt to earn the opportunity at the 2024 U.S. Synchronized Skating Championships on Feb. 21-24 in Las Vegas.
“Internally, within the team, we all know that we’re capable of it,” Schneider said. “And so now, we have to prove it, and there’s a real hunger within this team to do that and to fight for that. So our skates are going to show that.”
The team has worked extensively with a sport psychologist about focusing only on what they can control, and that’s the strategy heading into Las Vegas.
“What’s in our control is putting out the absolute best performances we can, and what’s out of our control is whether we make the World team or not,” Bulls said. “So that’s something that we are striving towards, but I think what we know is that we perform the best when we go out there and just try to do our best. So that’s what I’d say we’re focusing on going into that competition, is just putting out skates that show what we are capable of and hopefully prove to the people who are actually making the decision for the world team that we are the team that they should select.”
When asked if he thinks his team can finally achieve their goal, Babb is coy.
“If they do their job,” he said. “That’s what they can control.”
Follow the Skyliners at the 2024 U.S. Synchronized Skating Championships here. To purchase tickets, visit ussynchrochampionships.com.
