In addition to all the varsity sports that have been canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic, New York University's club sports have also lost their seasons.

One of those sports, Figure Skating, is relatively young (established in 2010) but has reached national prominence under Head Coach Stacie Krinsky, who took over in September 2016. She lifted the team to a best-ever fourth-place finish in the North East Section in 2019-20 and was headed to the program's first National Championship competition in March at the University of Minnesota, an event which includes the nations' top 16 teams.

Alas, the pandemic denied these Violets a chance at vying for a National Championship.   

But, how did the team reach these heights? Coach Krinsky took a few minutes to answer questions about the Figure Skating Club and some of its members. 

Q: Coach, how did the NYU Figure Skating Club become so good so soon?
A: "After becoming coach I worked to transform the team into one that is now competitive with the top teams in the country. I did this by evaluating my skaters to determine which skaters should be entered in the specific events so that we would have the strongest competition and maximize our point totals in each of our three Sectional competitions."

Q: Do you recruit your skaters? 
A: "As a Club sport we cannot actually recruit athletes. However, many incoming and current students reach out to us on Instagram and/or by e-mail seeking to join the team. I spend a great a great deal of time speaking with these students to answer their questions about our program and about training in New York City. Some of these are high level competitors who have competed, or are currently competing, in the U.S. Qualifying System, at Sectionals and at Nationals, while others are lower level skaters who have been skating for years, some competitively, others more recreationally. Some of these athletes had completely stopped skating during high school to pursue other interests, but find that they missed the sport that had been such a big part of their lives. All are excited about the opportunity to join the team and to continue or return to skating in college.  
 
"In addition to the skaters who are matriculating at NYU as freshmen, transfer or graduate students, or who are upperclassmen who have decided to return to their sport, I receive many inquiries throughout the year from skaters who are high school juniors and seniors who are interested in attending NYU and being on the team."
 
 
Q: Tell us about some of your top skaters and team accomplishments.
A: "Sophomores Rena Ikenishi and Olivia Serafini are a pair of very accomplished skater. Rena is from Japan, but began  competing in the U.S. during high school. She is a three-time North Atlantic Regional Champion and four-time Eastern Sectional Competitor. She placed fourth and won the pewter medal in Senior Ladies at Eastern's in 2019 and 2020. These finishes qualified her to compete in the Championship Ladies event at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships (Nationals), where she placed 13th in 2019 and 10th in 2020.
 
"As a singles skater, Olivia was a four-time National competitor and was the 2015 National Junior Ladies Silver Medalist. She became a pair skater about two years ago. One week prior to entering NYU in January 2020, Olivia competed with her partner, Mervin Tran in the Championship Pairs event at the U.S. Championships and placed seventh. They have competed internationally as members of Team USA and most recently represented the U.S. at Skate America, where they finished sixth. 
 
"One week after 2020 Nationals, both Rena and Olivia competed with the NYU team at MIT. Rena won both her individual events – Senior Ladies Short Program and Senior Championship. Rena and Olivia (who did not skate in any individual events at MIT) competed on NYU's four-member High Maneuvers team at MIT, which won the team's first-ever gold medal in the event. This was one of the great event results that led to the team's third-place finish at MIT, the team's best finish ever at a Sectional competition."
 
(Olivia was featured earlier this year by the Times Union. That story can be found here.)
 
Q: What are some of the challenges you and the team face both pre- and during this pandemic?
A: "The biggest challenge we face as a team is the fact that we do not have a rink on campus; we train at Sky Rink at Chelsea Piers. This makes the process of our team members getting to know one another take a little longer than it does for members of figure skating teams at other schools. We have full team practices once per week, on Sundays, and the rest of the week team members will skate with each other depending on what freestyle sessions work with their class schedules. Of course, the pandemic and cancellation of Club Sports prevents us from holding team practices, which makes it difficult to bond. But, we are fortunate that Sky Rink is open and that new and returning team members are beginning to meet. I miss seeing the entire team practicing together and being able to evaluate the skaters who have joined the team." 

Q. Describe some interesting stories about team unity/bonding during your tenure.   
A: "We have had quite a few team bonding experiences over the last few years, resulting in a team that is extremely close. As figure skating is inherently an individual sport, this is a new experience for most of the team members. Last year, there was a performance by a group of team members at Flurry, the all-University skating party held annually at Wollman Rink in Central Park. In addition, our skaters have done performances between periods at NYU hockey games and at the outdoor rink at Brookfield Place during the holiday season. We have had team picnics in Washington Square Park, a Friendsgiving last year which was attended by the entire team. Our holiday and end-of-year dinners are always memorable for our team members.
 
"Figure skating is an inherently individual sport and most NYU figure skaters have never been a member of a team. It has been exciting and very special to watch this group of individual athletes become a family."