SynchroNice / Fourth Edition / 2019

we qualified for more advanced teams, the amount of training increased and eventually we had to choose one sport to focus on. Even though we succeeded very well especially in ballet despite of our young age, we decided to choose synchronized skating and have never looked back or regretted it. We are very thankful that we chose to do ballet and gymnastics, because that has given us skills we to­ day need in synchronized skating; e.g. extensibility, body control and elegance. Our family has always supported us with this sport from the very beginning, we couldn’t have made it up till here without them! Besides all that, our teammates & coaches are THE BEST in the world, Team Fintastic is our other family! We support, respect and love each other very much and that’s social life too. And what is the best the 2 of you got out of Syn- chronized Skating so far? Synchronized skating has brought us a lot of happiness in life. It has en­ riched our lives with life-long friendships. We have met our best friends on ice, and it is a privilege to share something so special with them. Did it define your character? Yes, for we have learned to endure stress during competitions and other tough circumstances. We have also learned to be more responsible, to take care of our own belongings and to travel alone. These are skills we wouldn’t have learned if it wasn’t for Synchro. Also, we have experienced so many wonderful moments through synchro; we have shared the happiest kiss & cry moments, we have had opportunities to perform in many big events and we have seen the world by traveling to many different countries with our amazing team. To achieve all this, you have to practice? Yes, we have training sessions five times a week. Our trainings always include an on-ice practice and an off-ice practice, except for Saturdays when we have two ice practices. Off-ice trainings can be e.g. ballet, dance, perfecting our program, physical training or a stretching and recovering frommore physical training. How about music, costumes and themes? Our competition music and dresses are also very special to us. We especially enjoy skating to both of our programs this season, because they are so strong and powerful. Our favorite program so far is this season´s short program, the Curse of the Ghost Riders, because we love our costumes and the program has a lot of speed, the choreography is amazing. It makes our program very unique. But what if your father wouldn’t have suggested skating? If we weren’t synchronized skaters, we would probably be doing gymnastics or ballet. We actually started dancing ballet while we lived in England at the age of three and in addition to bal­ let, we did gymnastics. When we moved back to Espoo, Finland, we tried both rhythmic gymnastics and artistic gymnastics for Olari Gymnastic Club. But as we grew older and I guess you both are still in school? Yes, we both study at Mäkelänrinne Sports High School which is a High School dedicated for athletes compet­ ing at National and International level. The school provides extra benefits for athletes like a couple of training sessions a week both on and off ice, extra meals, opportunities for physical treatment etc. ‘Märsky’ is a High School that allows athletes to combine their sports with studies well. They really care and support their students and that has a positive effect to our career as athletes as well! For the future, we don’t know what the future holds for us because we are so passionate about skating and sports but fortunately there’s time enough to plan for that at a later stage in life. What is it you love so much in Synchro? In Synchro, we love our practices, but we also enjoy competing very much. And then there’s always specifically the traveling to different countries for those amazing competitions - these are always the highlights of our season! Our all-time favorite competition is the French Cup in Rouen, France. We competed in French Cup in 2016 and we fell in love with the great atmosphere at this competition. We also have golden memories from the French Cup because we won the advanced novice competition. Rouen is a beautiful and lovely city. We are both anxiously waiting for a new opportunity to go back to Rouen to participate in French Cup again! IT IS QUITE NATURAL THAT WE BOTH WANT TO BE BETTER THAN THE OTHER ONE SYNCHRO NICE 143