Combining teamwork, precision timing and grace, synchronized skaters make the difficult look easy. As the 16 members of the Northern Lights Junior Classics team rocketed around the rink at Center ICE Monday night, they practiced their moves with a military exactness - with a dancer's flair added for good measure. As lines spun into pinwheels and pinwheels dissolved into spirals, each skater matched her moves with her teammates' moves while never letting her smile fade. It is totally different that individual skating, it doesn't involve jumps.
Timing is the key, both to keep everybody in synch and to prevent high-speed collisions.
This is especially important when performing trickier moves that merge lines or have some skaters ducking under the linked arms of others. Potential crash aside, it is jarring to the watcher, and judges, if all skaters are not moving precisely the same. You are constantly striving for more difficult footwork and the precision of the movements is very important. The Junior Classics team is one of four synchronized skating teams fielded by the Twin Bays Skating Club, including adult, teen and a youth introductory teams. The teams began four years ago and are coached this year by Stephanie Miller, a veteran skater, coach and costume designer.