In January, Wichita is hosting the U.S. Figure Skating Championships for the first time. In Maize, typically people only hear about school sponsored sports. However, there’s a variety of sports offered in town that aren’t through the school, such as figure skating. Maize High sophomore Lauren Schraeder is a Level Six Adult Novice skater. She started figure skating around ten years ago, but she became more serious about it six years ago. Lauren’s current favorite professional figure skater is Russian Olympian Alexandra Truvosa, known for her quadruple jumps and competitiveness.
“I love her jumps and her spirit to never give up,” Schraeder said. Jumps in figure skating are hard. Even the best skaters struggle with them, and for Schraeder, the flip jump was the hardest to learn.
“It’s not a literal flip. That’s just what the jump is called,” Schraeder said. “I struggled with the singles, doubles and am struggling with the triple.” Currently her most complicated move is a triple salchow jump to a triple toe loop jump.
Once an athlete starts skating more competitively and doing more advanced jumps, it is recommended that they get a good pair of skates and have their skates fitted . The type of skate depends on the person.
“I use Edea Ice Fly boots with Phantom Blades,” Schraeder said. “Usually skaters don’t switch their boots a lot because you would have to re-adjust the way you spin and jump. I’ve used this boot for about five years.”
The stiffness of the boot and the type of blade someone would use really depend on their skill level as a skater and what their coach feels works best.
Figure skating has a reputation of being an inaccessible and expensive sport for good reason. Wichita does not have great resources for figure skaters. If someone wanted to get their skates fitted or sharpened they would have to drive to either Oklahoma or Kansas City. In addition to that expense, most competitions are not held in Kansas.
Skating can also be emotionally draining. Just like every other sport, struggling to do things that you work hard for can be frustrating.
“Skating teaches you to never give up and to be strong mentally,” Schraeder said.
And that’s a great way to put it. Because although falling can be frustrating, when you finally perfect a move, it’s beautiful. It makes every tough fall and all the time spent on it completely worthwhile.
“Whenever you go into competitions, it’s really nerve wracking. So it really teaches you how to get up and go in front of people and perform and also be a good sport at the same time,” Schraeder said.
Schraeder is currently the only national qualifier in Kansas for freestyle competitions. Her first national qualifying competition was this year. She also passed her gold moves test, making her officially a senior level skater. She says this is one of her proudest moments, as she is now at the top of the moves level. “I’m going to be a medal presenter [for the U.S. Championships],” Schraeder said. “I’ll get to see a lot of the people that I really admire, and I think it’ll be really exciting.”
