Thinking of Jim Sladky

Ice Follies

I just heard that 6-time U.S. ice dance champion and World medalist Jim Sladky is in an Arizona hospital in critical condition.

I knew Jim for a brief time as a young skater, when he took up teaching at my home rink. I am thinking of him and his wife and hoping for the best.

Jim is a living legend in the skating world, though perhaps not widely recognized as such among the younger generations of skaters. He and his former partner Judy Schwomeyer heralded the inclusion of ice dancing as an Olympic event when they exhibitioned it in Grenoble in 1968. They later went on to join Ice Follies, and they invented the Yankee Polka, a high-level dance pattern that skaters can test.

Here's a video from 1972 Nationals. I just love the way they bounce around the ice!