Winter Olympics Bring A Boost to Local Figure Skating Lessons
Wednesday, February 19, 2014
By: Carmel Delshad

February 20, 2014 | WMFE, Orlando - Ice skating has taken center stage during this year's Olympics- with the US team picking up two medals in figure skating. Interest in the sport in Central Florida has jumped since the start of the Olympics.

If you’ve been watching the Winter Olympics in Sochi, you might recognize the sound of a figure skater landing after a jump.

You'll hear that same sound at the RDV Sportsplex Ice Den in Maitland.

During Winter Olympics years, the Ice Den gets about a 25 percent increase in skaters.

“People are seeing it on TV and it motivates them to learn how to skate,” says B-j Shue Chapman, director of figure skating at the Ice Den.

She says motivation is a big part of skating.

“There’s a cliché in figure skating: ‘It’s not how many times you fall, it’s how many times you get up.’ You have to be so determined,” Chapman says.

It’s that sense of determination that keeps 14-year-old Sydney Rose on the ice. Like many of her skating classmates, Rose has Olympic aspirations.

“I just love seeing the Olympics and you’re just like, ‘Oh, you could be there one day if you work hard enough!’ and it gives me hope,” Rose says.

It’s hard to talk about the Olympics without asking—what exactly is a twizzle? 

“A twizzle is basically a traveling spin,” says Chapman.

And during the twizzle-full ice dance finals earlier this week, Chapman says the group sat in the lobby with flags and cowbells cheering on the U.S. Figure Skating Team.

As the figure skating competitions in the Olympics come to a close, the Ice Den’s skaters will have their own regional competitions to prepare for in the coming weeks.

There may be a twizzle or two in the dancer’s routines.