14th U.S. Adult Figure Skating Championships coming to Lake Placid April 9

LAKE PLACID — The 14th annual U.S. Adult Figure Skating Championships will be held April 9 to 12 at the Olympic Center in Lake Placid.

More than 800 adult skaters are expected to compete at the historic Lake Placid Olympic Arena throughout the four-day event. The Skating Club of Lake Placid and the Olympic Regional Development Authority (ORDA) will host the event for the fifth time since 1996.

Icenetwork.com, U.S. Figure Skating and MLB Advanced Media’s partnership will provide on-demand video coverage of the event for “Season Pass” subscribers. The site will also feature near-live results, event recaps and photo galleries for subscribers and non-subscribers.

Competitors are divided into five age categories (21-28, 29-35, 36-45, 46-55 and 56+), and two tracks (masters and adult). Events are held in singles, pairs, ice dancing and interpretive. Feature categories include championship masters ladies and men; championship gold ladies and men; championship pairs; and championship ice dancing. Competitors qualifed for these six events through their placements at their respective sectional championships, held March 8 and 9.

The U.S. Adult Championships debuted in 1995 to offer an opportunity to skaters ages 25 and older to compete at the highest level among their peers.

Organizers of the 1995 event in Wilmington, Del., expected 100 competitors, but 421 signed up and competed in 626 starts (competitors often take part in more than one event). By 2000, more than 1,000 starts highlighted the U.S. Adult Championships.

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Adult Figure Skating Championships Slated

Fifteen years ago, figure skaters over the age of 21 were out of luck as far as competitions go. Deemed too old to compete on any other circuit, organizers with the U.S. Figure Skating Program Development Committee got together to plan the first ever U.S. Adult Figure Skating Championships, which were held a year later in Wilmington, Delaware in 1995.

In its first year, 421 skaters showed up for the four-day event — only 100 had been expected. Competitors are divided by age, then into three skill levels — gold, silver and bronze — and finally as “masters” (those who have competed and passed tests as children) and “adults” (those who began to skate later in life). Events include singles, pairs, ice dancing and “interpretive,” where the emphasis is on the skaters presentation.

At age 80, Lake Placid resident and figure skater Barbara Kelly has competed in all but four championships and made her interpretive debut at the 1995 event dressed as a turkey and skating to “Turkey in the Straw.”

Kelly traveled to Delaware with her friend Shirley Seney who, through networking, exhaustive promotion of the Olympic Center’s three ice rinks and a letter of intent to woo the judges and officials, lured the championships to Lake Placid. This year’s event marks the fifth U.S. Adult Figure Skating Championships to be held in the Olympic Village.

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