SynchroNice / Third Edition / 2018

during competition. You’re proud, anxious, happy, excited but most of all NERVOUS to the bone!! My god I really don’t know what to do or how to behave when they skate. I’ve been trying to do the steps, singing the music, being a sports commentator, ripping off the jacket frommy assistant coach, but nothing really works to calmme. One time I even asked the team if it would be okay for me to wait it out in the cafeteria while they were competing? But of course they said NO……hahahaha. So what happened to Boomerang, Convivium and you coaching these teams? After Worlds 2016 in Budapest a lot of skaters decided to quit skating, after they’d been skating with the team for years. Then all of a sudden, part of the board demanded a new, maybe even more experienced coach for the team in order to achieve a higher ranking internationally. That’s when I quit coa- ching Boomerang but kept on as a coach for Convivium, especially since I wanted to defend the national gold medal again. 15 years of national gold medals and then one silver medal kept me going to bring them back to the top again. But after the past season I felt more and more opposition from some people in the club, they started questioning my work and my decisions so I cho- se to do the honourable thing and resign ….even from my beloved junior team. Funny however that a majority of the skaters followed me into this new club that we created in April 2017 because they wanted to skate with me so, our idea of starting a new team grew into reality very quickly. A lot of new skaters applied resulting in a new senior team for Sweden called Team Unity. It’s a strong team with wonderful skaters who are totally dedicated to making this new initiative work. So, what are your goals with this team? Our primary goal for the season is to build a strong and interesting team, a team of fighters and of course we want to get some results to be proud of. You don’t want to take it too lightly, starting a new senior team. And to compete on an international level in their first season isn’t easy at all. A lot of work is to be done and pieces have to fall into the right place, to make it work, but even then… Ice is slippery ;-) Still, another achievement you can be proud of? Hmmm Yes, I am proud of my achievements so far, being the founder of four teams, all competing internationally and all being really strong teams. The time and effort it took to create the teams, to develop skaters and to create a team’s signature yes, it’s been a long way to where I´m today and have to admit indeed that I am really proud of what I´ve achieved. And on top of all this I’m celebratingmy 20 years anniversary as a synchro coach this season so, I guess it will be a really interesting time for me. Is there life besides skating? Sure, there is. In between the skating seasons for instance, I love to spend time at my summer house up on the west coast of Sweden and just be out in the nature and out on the sea and spend as much time as I can with my family and friends. Without them and their support I wouldn’t be where I am today and I’m so grateful for all the love and joy they bring into my life. And of course I have my hobbies like travelling, and Skiing (slalom) is also a big passion. I keep great memories fromWorlds in Courmayeur where I combined the competition with some wonderful skiing. Amazing!!! Sounds like you enjoy life, but it’s just not always easy? One of the mottos I live by is “What doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger” So if this is one motto…what are the others? Well I’m quite pragmatic so… “Don’t wish for it - work for it” and “don’t stop when you’re tired, stop when you’re done” and of course, one of my all-time favourites “Seize the day”. Do you look up to other teams or coaches, or do you maybe have favourite teams? Yes of course I do, but my favourite team would be a mix of teams Team Surprise, Team Paradise and Les Supremes. Why those three? Surprise for the speed, their new creative elements and their lifts, Paradise certainly for their skating skills and move elements and Les Supremes of course for their choreography and music choices. So, if it were possible to create a mix of these 3 teams… you’d have an absolute all-time DreamTeam! About music choices, I think it´s re- ally important that a coach finds music that fits the team and their skating style. It´s so nice to skate to music that has its own character so, that you can use modest volume and sound to build up big effects and great stories. And of course, my former coaches Andrea Dohany and Thomas Öberg are definitely my role models. They have been great teachers to me and therefore partly formed me into the coach I am today. Any dreams left or is there a bucket list? One of my dreams is to compete in Australia and Japan before I quit…….but I’ll probably have to work for a looooong time to see this happen. And new to my bucket list is to bring Team Unity into the top 10 in the world and work our way up from there. To finish the interview Helen, what about the future of Synchronized Skating? I think synchronized skating should be far more in the spotlight, it’s not getting the attention it deserves, since the sport is so fantastic. It really has it all, like great music, fabulous dresses, high speed on ice and amazing athletes who perform great even under all the pressure we have to put up with in this sport. So, will it make it to an Olympic Sport? I can’t but really hope and believe that our sport will be an Olympic sport someday. I think we need to grow as a skating family and present our sport more during skating events and even other events, just to get more and more people acquainted with and interested in our sport. Thank you very much Helen, thanks for your open and spontaneous answers. Well, I tried my very best to be personal in this interview and I hope it will be satisfac- tory to your readers.  build a strong and interesting team ‘‘ SYNCHRO NICE 97