COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The 2009 U.S. Synchronized Skating Championships will take place March 4-7 at the Cumberland County Civic Center in Portland, Maine. The North Atlantic Figure Skating Club of Falmouth, Maine, is the host club of this year’s event.
Competition begins Thursday, March 5 with the juvenile free skate. The event will conclude Saturday, March 7 with the senior free skate.
Event tickets are on sale and may be purchased at comEvent www.theciviccenter.com or at the arena box office during the event. Individual event tickets are $25 per day. All-event passes are available for $60. Discounted tickets are available for senior citizens, children under 10 and active military personnel. All seats are general admission.
Icenetwork.com will provide live and on-demand video coverage of the event for “Season Pass” subscribers. The site will also feature live results, recaps, blogs and photo galleries for subscribers and nonsubscribers. Once Icenetwork.com’s video schedule is confirmed, it will be made available at http://web.icenetwork.com/events/detail.jsp?id=50228.
The event, sanctioned by U.S. Figure Skating, features 92 teams and more than 1,800 skaters competing in eight divisions: juvenile, intermediate, novice, junior, senior, collegiate, adult and masters. Teams qualified for the event through placements at their respective sectional championships or through a bye due to international competition. The top two senior-level finishers will earn the honor of representing the United States at the World Synchronized Skating Championships, April 3-4 in Zagreb, Croatia. Last year’s senior champions, the Haydenettes, placed fifth out of 22 teams at the 2008 World Synchronized Championships in Budapest, Hungary.
Synchronized skating is the fastest-growing figure skating discipline, characterized by speed, accuracy, and intricate formations and transitions performed by teams of 8-20 athletes. It started nearly 50 years ago when a group of skaters was organized to perform at University of Michigan ice hockey games in Ann Arbor, Mich. It has since grown into a competitive discipline, with thousands of athletes participating all over the world.
For more information on the event, visit www.2009synchronationals.com or contact Alan Wolf, local organizing committee chair, at [email protected]. Media credential applications and guidelines are available on the event web site or by contacting Becca Staed at [email protected].
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