SynchroNice / Third Edition / 2018

Before we start talking Olympics, is there any progression going on in Synchro in your country? If you want to talk about the German figure skating community, I feel confident to say that Synchro Skating became more popular over the past decade. People start to understand that the sport is far more challenging and needs a lot more practice than they thought at first. Say 10 years ago, people thought Synchro is something for hobby skaters, who can’t compete or at least make it in Single skating. Many skaters who came into our team from other disciplines had this kind of attitude but had to change that after only a few days. On the other hand, there’s the audience, when people see Synchronized Skating for the first time, they’ll love it immediately. It has all the features like speed, grace, artistry, acrobatics etc. etc. It is far more interesting than just one single skater or maybe a pair. People see pictures, lines and stories that are told by thee team and will be moved by a good and emotional program, but it is also easier for the au- dience to determine whether a team is good or not. That’s why synchro gains on popularity in Germany and more and more skaters switch to synchro or start skating in synchro from the beginning. More audience would be nice? Yes of course, I really hope figure skating in general and especially Synchro- nized Skating of course will get the appreciation again. it had some 30 years ago. It’s a pity that nowadays people don’t even know when a world championship is being held. In the past, our streets were empty whenever a German skater took part in an international competition. Unfortunately, this era media, except yours of course hahaha, only con- centrates on soccer and maybe a few other major money sports. But I believe Synchronized Skating is making an impressive progress all around the world synchro to get more and more recognition. Teams from South Korea, Georgia or for instance the Ukraine are developing and therefor our sport is growing and progressing. I guess we could do with some more recognition from the Asian continent to popularize synchro more for the big audience. “IN THE PAST, OUR STREETS WERE EMPTY WHENEVER A GERMAN SKATER TOOK PART IN AN INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION” SYNCHRO NICE 137