 "Photo: courtesy of Tisa Della-Volpe")
After a successful start to its season, the Delaware synchronized skating team finished by bringing home a national bronze medal from the United States Synchronized Skating Championship held in Minneapolis, Minn. two weeks ago.
The highlight of the season was at the Dr. Porter Classic 2009 in December in Ann Arbor, Mich., where the Hens defeated the Miami University of Ohio collegiate synchronized skating team, ending their six-year winning streak.
The team’s president, senior Andrea Williams, believes the whole season’s worth of work was definitely worth everything the team got out of it.
“Nationals was great, we had a really fun time,” Williams said. “I was really proud of our skate, I think the team gave everything they had, really skated their hearts out and we were really happy to medal.”
Wendy Deppe and program director Megan O’Donnell coach the 12-time East Coast Champions coaches. Deppe, an alumna, skated on the team before eventually becoming one of the head coaches of not only the collegiate synchro team, but also the adult, intermediate and juvenile synchro teams.
The collegiate team is made up of 22 students from all over the country. Despite boasting skaters hailing from as far as Minnesota, Wisconsin, Missouri and Washington, the coaches insist they don’t go out and recruit.
“Our best recruitment tool is how well we do at Nationals,” O’Donnell said. “That’s what really gets us the quality skaters.”
Deppe agreed.
“Many people seek us out at competitions,” she said. “They come up to us and ask what they can do to get on the team.”
Deppe said the team holds a recruitment weekend every fall in which they invite any skater who has shown interest in the team to come stay with current members of the team, skate with the team, take a campus tour and attend an informational session.
“Most come during recruitment weekend, but some still come during the rest of the year
to meet with us, come watch practices and participate,” she said.
O’Donnell said that although they are often encouraged to get their name out to the university community, it’s not the kind of sport any student can decide they want to give a try.
“It is important for people to be aware, but that’s not how we recruit people because it’s so specialized,” she said. “People decide whether they’re going to Delaware based on the synchro program. You have to be a skater and a synchro skater. You can’t just pick up any Joe from the street.”
Going into the national championship both Deppe and O’Donnell had high hopes, but they knew how tough the competition would be. Although they managed to knock Miami off the top podium spot earlier in the year, they didn’t know if they could stage a repeat.
“We hoped they would skate to their potential and get rewarded, but knowing that when you come from a team like Miami, it carries a name and a reputation,” O’Donnell said. “Some judges don’t want to step outside of that box. We knew it would be nearly impossible to beat them again, but we wanted to go out there, do a great job and prove to everybody that we were a team that could be competitive.”
The coaches said the team is proud of their bronze medal, an improvement over last year’s pewter medal at nationals. They also revel in the fact that when Miami lost their first nationals since 2004 they lost to a club program rather than a varsity one.
“At this point, we are okay with not being a varsity team,” O’Donnell said. “Although varsity teams get more funding, we pride the fact that our girls graduate from college. They’ve skated competitively, they’re serious about it, they’ve done well in school and they can experience college. They’re in sororities and other academic clubs. They don’t just skate and go to school.”
Win or lose, the team’s passion is obvious. Her time at nationals was junior Heather DeSimone’s favorite.
“It’s amazing,” DeSimone said. “It’s honestly the best five days of skating, just because we were all together and there’s no way we can get out of each other’s sights. There’s never a time that we’re not bonding. I remember being a freshman in high school and knowing I wanted to come to Delaware and be on this team. I thought this team was the greatest team ever.”
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