The short answer? A team of 16 skaters makes shapes on the ice.
The long answer? Synchro is short for Synchronized Ice Skating. Sadly enough, synchro (somehow) still isn’t in the Olympics, so most people I’ve spoken to don’t know it exists. Nonetheless, I believe it has been gaining traction and popularity thanks to widespread efforts from the synchro community. So what does this curious sport and performing art entail? Picture a drone show on ice but with less complex pictures and more attention on each individual drone. In a way, even as synchro skaters always perform in a team, each competition is also a test of individual skill. Teams of anywhere from 8-20 skaters perform a 3-4 minute program complete with matching dresses, artistic choreography, a plethora of required elements, and music of choice. The entire team can have the same steps executed at the same time, but programs also display carefully blended transitions, special displays of skill by certain members, and varied choreography for ever-changing groups of skaters.
From afar, watching synchro can be like watching a patch of skaters mold and morph smoothly, abruptly, and unexpectedly into various shapes and configurations. Up close, every individual tells the story of the music with dynamic arm movements, dramatic facial expressions, and movements charged with emotion.
How many skaters?
A team can usually compete with anywhere from 8-20 skaters on the ice at a time, but the standard for higher levels is 16. Meanwhile the Elite 12, a very advanced team designed to be competition-ready when synchro is hopefully added to the Olympics, consists of 12. Skating 16 however, doesn’t mean there are only 16 members on the team. Most accomplished teams have around 20 skaters, meaning 4 of them don’t compete. These 4 are usually “sharing” a spot with 4 members who are competing–this means 4 of the positions in the choreography have 2 skaters swapping in and out, practicing, and the coach chooses one skater for each spot as competition nears. Kind of like an understudy situation.
Big Names
There are a lot of synchronized ice skating teams out there. Those at the top, however, rarely change. The biggest US teams that I know of and have competed against are:
- Teams Elite
- Team Image (I’m on this one!)
- Hayden
- Skyliners
- DC Edge
- Northernettes
- Fon du Lac Blades
There are a few other noteworthy names (ie. Miami University, Hockettes, Crystallettes, Capital Ice Chips) that I haven’t added simply because they don’t stick out as much in my memory (kudos to Miami University, the only reason I didn’t list them is because they only have junior, senior, and collegiate level teams).
Top of the top? Elite, Image, Hayden, and Sky.
Rankings vary season by season and even line by line though, so there will always be unexpected highs an lows for every team. Those at the top have to work harder every year to stay there.
What are levels? Lines v. Teams
What confused me the most for the longest time in Synchro was how flexibly the term “team” was used. Team refers to both the overarching team (ie. Team Image, Teams Elite) and each team in that team…let me elaborate. To make this easier, I’ll make Team with a capital T refer to the overarching team. Each Team is more like an organization. It’s a brand name that consists of multiple teams of different skill levels. Kind of like a high school has different grade levels. Line, then, is the name for each of those individual grade levels. Beginner lines can often have varied names depending on the Team, but the most concrete line names (in increasing advancement) is as follows:
- Preliminary
- Pre-Juvenile
- Juvenile
- Intermediate
- Novice
- Junior
Lines before Preliminary are sometimes called Pre-preliminary, Beginner, Aspire, etc. There are also Senior and Collegiate lines (after Junior), but few Teams have them. Collegiate is kind of like a parallel universe to junior teams–it’s for college teams–where skill level can vary anywhere from novice to senior level (Miami University’s collegiate team is incredibly good).
To summarize, Team will more often than not refer to the “organization” but can also refer to the level. Line will always refer to the level.
Elements
Every line has required elements that must go into the program for that line. Coaches choreograph the performance to score as many points as possible. I won’t go over scoring or exact element requirements since it’s a pretty complicated process that also, frustratingly enough, changes every year, but I’ll summarize the main elements so that you can spot them:
- Line: All skaters on the team link hands/arms to form a straight, continuous line on the ice.
- Circle: Skaters form 1-2 circles on the ice. More advanced lines won’t hold onto each other and will often have two circles interacting in some way.
- Intersection: One of the most stressful parts of the program–where the team divides itself into 2-4 groups, and these groups intersect each other. There are many types of intersections that have different strategies, rules, and appearances. Here are some common ones:
- A box/triangle intersection is where skaters form the outline of a square or a triangle and the perimeter of that shape collapses in on itself as skaters move toward the center of the shape and intersect. The goal is usually to come out on the other side, forming the shape once more.
- A Whip intersection has two long lines of skaters first skating in two tight circles right next to each other before the ends fly out and skaters intersect in 2 straight lines (so the circles open up and the ends are whipped around to straighten the line). Here, the skaters on one end are barely moving, while the skaters on the other end are going super sonic (or at least it feels that way).
- An Angled intersection also has two long lines of skaters, but they approach each other from two ends of the rink. Picture two horizontal lines, one on the left and one on the right, moving toward each other.
- Pivot block: The entire team forms a rectangle by getting in 3-4 lines of 4-6 skaters. This rectangle, through a series of edges and turns, travels across the ice, pivoting around itself two times.
- Wheel: The team forms a 2-4 spoke wheel, rotating in straight lines around a center point. Sometimes, an S wheel is formed, where the two spokes of the wheel are curved.
- Moves: The most creative and varied element–skaters are divided into small groups and perform various 1 or 2 foot holds (most commonly spirals and biellmanns but also leg lifts and spread eagles). There’s a lot going on during this element, and skaters will sometimes intersect, connect with each other, duck under legs, and curve around to form a complex pattern of paths.
- Step sequence: This is probably the hardest to spot and has the least rigid guidelines. Skaters must cover a certain distance (maybe from one end of the rink to the other) and perform a series of turns and sometimes jumps with an artistic flair.
Required elements will vary from line to line (ie. for the 2023-2024 season, the Novice line has a Spin element but no Line element), and elements themselves have different requirements for different numbers of points, so every program can be completely unique. Outside of elements, teams are also judged on their unison, flow, speed, skating skills, choreography, and performance, making every score varied and full of variables.
Major Competitions
In the US, the most significant competitions start with sectional championships (Eastern, Pacific, and Midwest). Then, the US Synchronized Skating National Championships takes place, where lines that qualified through sectionals (usually the top 4-5) compete for a national title. Throughout the season, though, Teams will opt to compete at multiple smaller competitions hosted by different rinks across the states (ie. Boston Classic, Porter Classic). Coaches use these competitions to gauge where their line stands compared with other lines and where they can improve (based on the score sheets provided after they compete).
The USFSA then, through Nationals, decides on a number of Junior and Senior level teams to compete internationally. I never competed internationally, so I’m not as clear on the process, but these teams then travel to other countries to compete in international synchro competitions.