Synchro in the News

As a member of the news media, I get really annoyed when coverage of figure skating gets cheeky. It comes from a place of total ignorance, and it doesn't do the sport and its disciplines any justice. Also, in fairness, as a member of the media, I know journalists are stretched thin and do not often have time to go in depth on their stories. But since I am both a member of the news media AND a figure skater, I have a right to be irked at this coverage of a synchro team that has re-formed in upstate New York.

From the article's lead graf:

Figure skating isn’t something you think of as a team sport. Nonetheless, there is a figure skating team forming in Ithaca and Cortland. How’s that? As it turns out, there is a team version of figure skating, called synchronized skating. It’s kind of like synchronized swimming - but frozen.

Um, how much can one trivialize synchro skating in one paragraph? First, synchro has been around for ages. Second, it is NOTHING LIKE synchronized swimming. Ok it's synchronized, but that's where the similarities end. And figure skating not a team sport? Tell that to the legions of synchro fans and skaters and coaches and officials who work their butts off to make synchro relevant.

My synchro team skated against the Crown City Jewels (the team featured in the article) all the time. They were our arch-rivals! I'm happy to see they're back on their blades though, the sport needs more good teams--and more publicity.

Despite being a member of the media, I have to show some bias here for a cause I'm 100 percent behind. Let's get synchro in the Olympics! Sign the change.org petition here. SYNCHRO IN 2018!