The International Skating Union (ISU) has been organizing World Synchronized Skating Championships since 2000 every year. Contestants apply from all over the world and are highly skilled in the art of Synchronized skating thus making this competition a highly elite and professional event.
Since its beginning most of the years the first positions have been rewarded to Sweden and Finland. The other counties who have also won the championships are United States of America, Canada, France, Croatia, Czech, Hungary and Italy.
The World Synchronized Skating Championships took place form April 10 to April 11 in 2015. It had different teams with participants from over 10 countries participating in the event. This was one of the highly anticipated sport events of the year and everyone had their own favourites who they wanted to win. Since Finland and Sweden had a good record, they were the strongest contenders for this year’s championship too. What happened though was something that no one would have been able to predict!
Canada had won the championship for the first time in 2003 and then in 2007. This year their team had set their hearts upon winning the championship and so had spent months in practicing and perfecting their skating. Working with a team of 16 girls is not easy and then to make them work together, take every step in synchronization, perform every step together is near impossible. However the Canadian team this year made it seem effortless as they nearly glided across the rink.
As the girls stood taking their positions, their determination and strong focus on winning the championship was etched on their faces. During the introduction only the tram has everyone in awe as they moved seamlessly together all around the rink introducing themselves.
As the music began and they began moving the crowd could not help but gasp and cheer for them. They had stiff smiling, waving, striking a playful pose so as their magnificent sequence began, nobody expected it to be this perfect! They moved in unison, lifting each foot together, not a second out of place and nor making any mistakes. Moving around in groups of four and then in groups of 8, they seemed to be like identical siblings who act at the exact same moment together. As they moved across the rink, they seemed like the waves gently crashing along the shore, tall and fluid like in motion.
They slowly split in two-s, and the way the two performers moved was though they were Siamese twins, conjoined at some place in their bodies; no faltering steps, no hesitation. And then the most spectacular sequence of their performance began.
They separated and while skating throughout arranged themselves in tow concentric circles. They moved all the time, maintaining the two circles, sliding past each other, with their backs turned, never bumping into each other even once. They maintained an equal equal gap between each so well that it seemed as though they had calculated the distance or had invisible ropes trying them in their fixed position! They then combined again, circling the rink as one body, making triangles and circles.
As they twirled and jumped in the air to land on their feet without even the slightest of stumble, one could not help but think that they were more graceful than the ballerinas! They continued to break into groups of four and eight, forming semi circles, intertwining into each other and moving through each other in a fluid like motion. They then circled around the rink, giving everyone a glimpse of their beautiful performance, and then they broke into individuals.
It was hard to bear in mind that these girls had been performing non-stop since more than the last 3 and a half minutes and still showed no signs of exhaustion. Their energy had not gone down; they were still performing flawlessly, smiling all the time. Their speed had also not decreased and now that they were performing separately, their flaws and errors would have become more evident but it was still perfect.
By now they had become more and more confident of their performance and were smiling at the crowd, among eye contact as each went skating across the rink. The crowd absolutely loved them, cheering them on going wild as they twirled or jumped in the air and landed perfectly. It was difficult to convince oneself that they were skating on ice, and not some safe non-slippery surface. To maintain your balance, never lose one step even once throughout the five minutes of their performance is an incredible feat, and to accomplish this with as much grace and beauty as these girls had done, it deserves a standing ovation!
As the girls stood holding hands and their breath together, awaiting the results they seemed a bit out off when they saw the score. Though they had been ranked first with 71.06 points, getting 33.44 out of 50 in technical elements department and 37.62 out of 50 in presentation, not all of then seemed content with it. And that might be understandable given how well they had performed, becoming the paragon of talents there and left the rink with an uproarious cheer and applause from the audience, they deserved a bit more points anything within 80.
However, that put aside this team won at the end. They took back home the championship title again, the third time this time, after leaving everyone asking for more and in utter awe at the sheer brilliance and the incredible way they had completed it. Finland came in at the second position, with a difference of only 0.67 points between them and Canada! However, the difference between the third place was more, around 5 points, which shows how great the Canadian team had been at par with the team of Finland and none of the other teams could successfully match them!
Canada has set the bar high for the next year’s performances and it will be exciting to see what they bring in next year!
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