Award-winners from around the world train at UD

When Kimmie Meissner competed in the 2006 Winter Olympics and, just two months later, skated her way to a world championship in the premier ladies singles category, she brought renewed international attention to the UD Figure Skating Club.

But, Meissner is far from the only Olympian or international medalist to have trained at the University.

In fact, UD-trained Albena Denkova and Maxim Staviski also won gold medals at the same International Skating Union’s World Figure Skating Championships in March 2006, in the ice dance competition. Denkova and Staviski, who skate for Bulgaria, moved to the United States to train at UD with Natalia Linitchuk.

The University is the training site for skaters from around the United States and many other countries, who come to Newark, Del., to work with coaches who have international reputations. The UD team sent 31 competitors to this year’s national championships in St. Louis, where Meissner placed second in the senior ladies division to win a place on the U.S. Olympic team.

Also at the national championships, UD’s Christine Zukowski finished sixth in the junior division and earned a berth on the U.S. Junior World Team. Zukowski went on to the World Junior Championships in March, where she won a bronze medal.

The University’s Figure Skating Club was well-represented four years ago, as well, with four pairs of its skaters competing in the 2002 Winter Games in Salt Lake City.

Also this year, the University’s synchronized skating team won the bronze medal at the 2006 U.S. Synchronized Team Skating Championship, the premier competitive event for synchronized team skaters each year.

The University Figure Skating Club, chartered in 1986 and now one of the largest figure skating clubs in the country, is dedicated to supporting skaters and the sport of figure skating, in association with the U.S. Figure Skating organization and UD’s Ice Skating Science Development Center.

The center, under the direction of former World and Olympic skater and coach Ron Ludington, offers year-round training designed to meet the needs of first-time competitors as well as Olympic champions. Housed in state-of-the-art facilities at the UD ice arenas, the center provides a complete training environment, including two ice rinks, strength and aerobic training rooms and a dance studio.

Researchers in the College of Health Sciences’ Human Performance Lab also study the biomechanics of skating, analyzing such competitive factors as how fast skaters spin and how high they jump.