Lake Ridge teen skates to success at the US Synchronized Skating Championships

While many people enjoyed the excitement of the winter Olympics, Lauren Ashley Jerothe is focused on her own competitive winter sport - synchronized figure skating.

According to the US Figure Skating website, “synchronized skating is a team sport in which 8-20 skaters perform a program together. It is characterized by teamwork, speed, intricate formations and challenging step sequences.”  Elements include complex technical moves such as blocks, circles, wheels, lines, intersections, and spins.

Fifteen year-old Jerothe is part of Team Ashburn, a 15-person intermediate-level competitive synchronized skating team. The team made history at the 2014 US Eastern Synchronized Skating Sectional Championships in Hershey, PA, as the first intermediate-level team to qualify to advance to the US Synchronized Skating Championships.  Jerothe has skated in countless competition with the team since 2004.

I had the pleasure of meeting with Lauren Ashley Jerothe and her mother, Patty Jerothe, as she prepared to compete in the national championship on Feb. 26 in Colorado Springs, CO.

The accomplished young skater has been skating since she was 2-1/2 years old, and has been competing for ten years. “We couldn’t get her off the ice,” said Patty Jerothe. “She skated better than she walked!”

Jerothe’s older brother, Jonathan, is a Junior Men’s Freestyle competitor under the guidance of Roman Skornyakov.  He also skates for the University of Delaware Figure Skating Team.  Lauren Ashley Jerothe credits him for inspiring her to get out on the ice.  “I would see my brother skating with his coach during practice, and I would cry because I wanted to be out there.”

Believe it or not, Patty and her husband, Douglas, did not competitively or professionally ice skate. “We grew up skating on ponds as kids, but that’s about it,” said Patty. “We just drive them around, and they skate!”

In order to maintain the level of technical skill, flexibility and athleticism required for synchronized figure skating, Jerothe keeps busy with a myriad of complementary activities. Over the years, she has participated on the swim team and danced ballet, tap, jazz, and hip-hop. She has played piano since the age of 6, and has begun voice lessons. A freshman at Pope John Paul the Great High School, Jerothe hopes to run for the school track team next year.

Jerothe and her teammates practice at Ashburn Ice Rink for 2-1/2 hours every Saturday.  She devotes 4 hours to practice every Sunday. On a typical Sunday, Team Ashburn begins with off-ice ballet, and then spends time off-ice to mark their routine.  They break to enjoy dinner together, and then practice on the ice for 2-1/2 hours.  Jerothe also practices different elements independently with private lessons on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays.

To execute such complicated moves in such a graceful manner, and then to coordinate with 14 other skaters requires many hours of practice.

“There is a lot of scheduling involved in managing homework and extracurricular activities,” Jerothe emphasized. Ahead of her peers, she has mastered time management.  “I spread my homework out evenly so that I am never overwhelmed, and school is my priority.” At this, she smiled up at her mother.

“If they keep busy, they will stay out of trouble, and that’s a good thing,” said Patty Jerothe wisely.

Just by spending a short time with them, it is clear that Patty and Lauren Ashley have a strong mother-daughter relationship. Patty Jerothe helps her daughter manage her schedule, travel to all of her activities, and study her schoolwork. “We have a great relationship,” said Patty. “I’m here to help her if she needs me, but if she needs her own space, that’s fine, too.”

Lauren Ashley’s father is also very supportive of her synchronized skating career. A retired Colonel from the US Marine Corps, Douglas Jerothe is a pilot and photographer.  He captures the talent and art of synchronized skating and documents Lauren Ashley’s journey on the ice.

When experiencing stress or frustration, Jerothe relies on music as an escape. “I plug in my iPod and listen to music and get in the zone,” said Jerothe. Like many girls her age, she is a fan of One Direction and Demi Lovato.

Jerothe trains with a multitude of coaches. Tatiana Malinina is her freestyle coach. Malinina competed for Uzbekistan in the 1998 winter Olympics. Ruslan Goncharov is her ice dancing coach; he is currently helping Jerothe to improve her posture.  Goncharov earned the bronze medal for Ukraine in the 2006 winter Olympics.

Heather Page is the choreographer, Jenny Cherry is head coach, and Lynn Eisenhower is Assistant Coach for Team Ashburn. “They are great coaches. They are serious but also funny,” said Jerothe.

Jerothe expressed admiration and respect for her teammates as well. “You’re only as strong as your weakest skater, so we focus on teamwork,” she said. The girls meet for team lunches and genuinely enjoy each other’s company.  After spending so much time in practice together, they have become friends.

To manage the pressures of competition, Team Ashburn meets with a sports psychologist.  “He helps us mentally prepare before every competition. If we’re nervous, he helps us to understand that it’s natural and normal and doesn’t mean we are going to fail,” explained Jerothe. The bright young lady is a surprisingly mature athlete.

“These girls are tough,” said Patty Jerothe proudly. “If Lauren Ashley falls, it’s like she’s got springs in her backside, she just pops up and is back on the ice.” She is careful not to try to coach her daughter, but to support her. “They put enough pressure on themselves. As parents, it’s more our role to help them keep their perspective, focus on the positive, and strive for constant improvement,” she said.

Like any athlete, Jerothe has suffered her share of aches and pains, but has not broken any bones. “I have occasional knee pain, but I just wear a knee brace if I need to. After a while, you feel like you become one with the ice,” she said with a laugh.

The US Synchronized Skating Championship in Colorado will be the first event that requires Jerothe and her family to fly to the competition. Jerothe’s excitement was palpable.  Team Ashburn will compete against eleven other intermediate level teams. “It’s intimidating to watch,” said Lauren Ashley Jerothe with admiration. “These teams have so many qualities that we want to pick up on.”

Jerothe aspires to take her synchronized figure skating talents and dreams to college. “I’m working hard to be on a senior-level synchro team in college,” she said.  She plans to apply to colleges with competitive teams in Massachusetts, Ohio, and Miami University. “The Haydenettes are a world-class team for synchro,” said Jerothe. The Haydenettes represent the Hayden Figure Skating Club in Massachusetts and are the most successful synchronized skating team in US history.  Jerothe wants to earn a Liberal Arts degree studying music and education.

Jerothe’s advice to other skaters is to work hard. “If you don’t work hard, you will fall back. To keep up, you need to work hard.”

“Team Ashburn is in it to win it,” said Patty Jerothe. “It’s not just a social activity for them. They are dedicated and they give up so much because they want to win.”

Synchronized skating is not an Olympic sport, but many among the skating community are advocating for it in the 2018 Olympics.  According to the New York Times, US Figure Skating is talking with the International Skating Union to make the formal request to the International Olympic Committee.  A petition titled “Make Synchronized Figure Skating an Olympic Sport” on Change.org has garnered 12,630 signatures and requires just 2,370 more to be presented to the International Olympic Committee for review.  Jerothe would love to one day compete in the Olympics like her favorite Olympic champions, Meryl Davis and Charlie White.