SynchroNice / Third Edition / 2018

“I DO KNOWWHERE TO DRAW A LINE, IF IT GETS TOO FEMININE FORMYTASTE.” personally- I learned to stop hiding behind everyo- ne and everything and had to lead and represent the team, together with our coach of course. In that time I became more and more self- confident and didn’t feel like a little boy anymore (Although most man stay little boys ha ha ha). Nowadays, I enjoy being the only male skater in the team. Wouldn’t you like to work with about 20 pretty girls around you all the time? I guess it’s almost every man’s dream. To me however it didn’t feel strange, I was used to practice with girls on the ice- in single skating because in my training group, there were also just female athletes. So, I never felt uncomfortable. And now you feel comfortable in your role within the team? Yes, I certainly do, but when practicing choreographic elements for instance, I do know where to draw a line if it gets too feminine for my taste, because I don’t like to be labeled gay when I’m not. I’m also very aware of me being checked out first out there on the ice, every competition over and over again. Of course, the audience can see I’m the only man in a girls’ team. That felt a bit strange for me in the beginning, of course I was somewhat nervous to make mistakes and I still am a little ;) If it happened to be that my girls might be nervous, I always explain them that the audience is watching me, so they’d better be nervous for me as well and I always believe it to be helpful for them to concentrate on their own again. It is quite an extra responsibility, being the team captain, isn’t it? To me being a captain for the team always meant, I had to be a role model for my girls and I want to help them improve their skating, I give tips to the team and together we make Team Berlin1 better and better. Together with coach Gert Hofmann and a mutual team captain we lead on in the training sessions, think about new elements and skating patterns, try to improve us choreographically and make decisions for the team. How about any romance, wouldn’t a girl be jealous knowing you’re working with all these girls all the time? Well luckily, being the only male in this synchro team helped me indeed to find my lovely girlfriend Aida Aleskerova. Aida skated in Team Tatarstan also known as Russia 2 and spotted me first in our “Samba and Indian”- season 2012/2013. After taking pictures together things took its course: I visited Aida in her beloved Russia, she visited me in beautiful Germany and after a while, she moved to Germany, where we are happily living together at this point and are able to skate in the same team. To be honest, I also believe she is the main reason I’m still skating Synchro…. much longer than I actually planned, but what a good reason she is. Is there a life after or even next to skating? I believe so, but I already spend 13 years of it in school, after which I started studying Medicine at the Charité- Berlin. Charité is one of the largest Univer- sity Hospitals in Europe. Funny thing I remember is, that I got the call for my enrollment just minutes before we stepped on the Ice for our free program at Worlds in Zagreb 2009. I bet you were happy then regardless your skating results, but, are you still studying now? No, after my graduation, I commen- ced working in a Berlin hospital as an orthopedic surgeon and luckily my work lets me combine skating and working. In the high season, I’m able to participate in competitions because I can arrange my shifts accordingly to the trips we take. My chief Physician used to be an athlete as well, so he under- stands that any good result comes by hard work. On the other hand, during summertime I usually have more time to work due to a lower training intensity. Than you must be loaded with energy to keep that combination going? Not especially, in fact I’m just really glad to have my sport next to my work. It’s a perfect compensation after an exhausting day at work. I love going on the ice every day for some practice and to relax from work. So, I’m quite positive that I will miss skating a lot when I’ll quit the sport. Until now I’ve enjoyed every minute I was able to practice because it’s a thing in my life I really love. Many friends ask me how I’m able to combine work and sport, they wonder if it isn’t too difficult- but I can just say that if you love do to something… it’s no burden at all. What do you with your spare time? Well, in the little spare time between skating and work I like to tra- vel very much, like I said though, there isn’t all that much time through the year. A big round trip for instance is impossible. For now, when I’m traveling I do prefer a more relaxed holiday to calm down from things - preferably on a nice warm beach. The rest of the little time there is I like to spend with my family of course. I’m glad living together with my stepfather and my girlfriend - so I have the 2 most important people in my life, around me all the time. If you like traveling that much, you must love the skating competitions? I do of course, it’s just great that (Synchro) skating gives us the opportunity to travel the world. It brought me to the USA, to China, to South Africa and many European countries as well. It’s just great to discover new countries and cities, although there isn’t that much time to go sightseeing when you’re in competition. But for world championships and in 2016 also for Shang- hai for instance, we usually plan a few extra days to make sure, we discover some of the country. So, we established you’re an adventurous type of man, what more would people that know you, say about you? Some people would definitely call me a perfectionist, ambitious, versatile, furthermore I believe they’d call me determined but certainly harmony seeking. SYNCHRO NICE 135