UMass Magazine Online

Winter 2005

Departments

Prerequisite

Features

A Fruitful Partnership

A New Kind of Farm a New Breed of Farmer

Dear One Absent This Long While

Prerequisite

Synchronicity
Skater Caite Renzi ’07 keeps it all together – on and off the ice

–Mandy Murray ’05




	Caite Renzi has been a member of the Haydenettes synchronized skating team for five years. (photo by Ben Barnhart)

THE ICE RINK AT JOSIAH Willard Hayden Recreation Centre Arena in Lexington, Mass., is decorated in sterile shades of white and gray, with hints of forest green that do little to warm it. When Cathleen “Caite” Renzi ’07 and her teammates take the ice in matching purple uniforms and bright smiles, they instantly cut the chill. Twenty girls between the ages of 15 and 20 dance across the ice in perfect formation; synchronized skating looks like a combination of couples’ ice dancing and synchronized swimming. The girls turn, twist and jump in time to loud dance music.

The blur of bright colors and grins doesn’t hide the fact that these girls mean business. The Haydenettes skating team is ranked fourth in the world. Renzi has been a member of the 14-time national champion team for five years. Athletes can’t claim this sort of prominence without sacrifice. Renzi makes the four-hour round trip to Lexington several times a week to practice nearly a dozen hours with the team. She also skates on her own time. Her teammates have similarly full schedules.

It’s a commitment that can take its toll, especially since Renzi is a pre-med biology major. “Balancing everything has taught me better study skills and improved my work ethic,” says Renzi. “When you have less time on your hands, procrastination isn’t really an option.”

With sacrifices, however, also come rewards. Renzi has traveled the world with the Haydenettes, competing in Italy, France, Finland, Canada, Croatia and Switzerland. This year the team travels to the Czech Republic for an international competition; if they qualify for the world championships, they head to Sweden.

Despite her full schedule, Renzi co-coaches MassAttack, a local synchronized skating team she helped create this year. It comprises students from both UMass Amherst and Mount Holyoke. They’ll compete at the national championships in Lowell, Mass., in February. “It’s a great way to get more skaters involved with the skating club,” says Renzi. “Many girls don’t continue skating in college, so this is a fun way for them to do what they love.”

Most people aren’t familiar with synchronized skating—yet. Renzi says its popularity is on the rise; it could become an Olympic sport in 2010. The main hurdle is financial. Since each team has 20-plus athletes, training and travel expenses are formidable. Begun in Ann Arbor, Mich., in 1956, synchronized skating wasn’t officially sanctioned by the International Skating Union until 1994. It became a worldwide competition sport in 1996.

Watching the Haydenettes perform is like riding a roller coaster. The girls flow across the ice in unison with the grace of dancers, but every so often, they pull off a trick, passing by each other at top speed, barely a hair’s breadth between them. Exhilarating performances likes those given by the Haydenettes contributes to the sport’s growing popularity. “It’s growing faster than ever,” says Renzi. “We are confident that one day it will be as well known as most other sports.”
http://www.usfigureskating.org/AthleteBio.asp?id=18665 www.fortunecity.com/olympia/hill/140/haydenettes.html http://www.usfigureskating.org/

[top of page]

Supergalactic X-Ray Vision

Supergalactic: larger image

Synchronicity

Synchronicity: more images

A Spot for Tea

A Spot for Tea: more images

Art Under Glass

Art Under Glass: larger image

Black is back

Black is back: larger image

Movin' and Groovin' at the Eric Carle Museum