By Matteo Morelli | Photos by Robin Ritoss
Team USA’s Christina Carreira & Anthony Ponomarenko loved a implausible junior profession and are on a promising journey as senior ice dancers, with a bronze at 2022 Four Continents and a latest first place on the Golden Spin Challenger Event in Zagreb, the place they reached new season bests. We met with them after Grand Prix of Espoo in Finland, and talked about how they discovered one another, their profession as junior and senior rivals, and their latest change of coaches and workforce.
Christina Carreira (CC): I believe we skated rather well right here. We put out two nice performances, they have been each fairly sturdy. We left just a few factors on the desk within the free, however general it was a greater efficiency than Sheffield, and we wish to enhance once more sooner or later.Â
Anthony Ponomarenko (AP): We had a really distinctive low season, I had my surgical procedure and we needed to begin late within the season so we needed to indicate stable performances in each Grand Prix occasions and I believe we now have carried out that, with a season finest once more. I believe we trip on that momentum till the subsequent competitions and nationals, clean down every thing and maintain that onwards optimistic path.
Anthony, you touched in your surgical procedure after Four Continents. How did it have an effect on your coaching as a workforce and the way did you recuperate from it?Â
AP: I had a fairly large surgical procedure in February, it was a singular low season for us. It was tough for us to cease immediately. I labored so much on the psychological aspect of issues, with a psychologist and a efficiency specialist. I got here again very slowly, improved the muscle tissue and labored on what I wanted to work on. They say that when one accomplice has a surgical procedure, the workforce is recovering. I’m actually proud to have Christina as a accomplice, she labored very laborious once I was gone and drove all the way in which to London, Ontario, every single day to place the work in.
You have been skating collectively for nearly a decade, since 2014. Anthony, I perceive it was your mom that thought that you just and Christina can be a superb match. Seems like she was proper!
AP: Christina was skating together with her previous accomplice, we competed towards one another at a Lake Placid Ice Dance Championship means again within the day. From then on, my mother stored saying how good Christina was!
CC: My mum was doing the identical with me, speaking about all of the competitions he was doing! We break up with our earlier companions across the similar time. Our coach Igor Shpilband had us attempting out for a month. I had a few different trials, however I already made up my thoughts and knew that I needed to skate with him!Â
Your junior profession began with you attaining lots of successes, together with a silver and bronze medal at Junior Worlds, two Junior Grand Prix golds and a Junior Grand Prix Final silver medal. What are your reflections on these years, and the way did they form you because the skaters you are actually?
CC: Our junior years taught us the way to compete, it is vitally completely different than senior. In a means, it appears like junior is a passion and senior is a full time job. We have been fortunate to compete with nice folks, and they’re nonetheless our buddies to today. It was a extremely enjoyable time.Â
AP: It was good to develop up with skaters and to have them to nonetheless be at competitions with us. It is nice to see that and looking out again at junior it was enjoyable. We carried out properly, it was nice to have these outcomes, and have the momentum carrying us within the senior, however it additionally taught us self-discipline and the way to act as an ice dance workforce. I’m comfortable that we had these years in junior. We miss these days, however I agree when Christina stated that junior is a passion and senior is a job.
CC: It takes time to construct maturity and all we require. The competitors within the U.S. is likely one of the strongest on this planet, so we now have to be good to compete for that nation. We are nonetheless working.
In January 2021, you introduced your departing out of your long-time coach Igor Shpilband to hitch the Ice Academy of Montreal (I.AM) in London, Ontario. What led to that call? What did you are taking away with you from these years spent with him?
CC: There have been many the reason why we left, however we are going to all the time be glad about what he taught us. We wouldn’t be the skaters we’re in the present day if not for what he taught us. We are very grateful to him, but in addition proud of our new workforce of coaches at IAM and the place we are actually.Â
What is your relationship together with your new coaches (Scott Moir, Madison Hubbell and Adrián DÃaz) and teammates at I.AM?
CC: We have a extremely nice relationship with our coaches. We have a lot respect for them and we belief their imaginative and prescient, so it is vitally straightforward to work with them. We even have a extremely good relationship with the opposite skaters at IAM. They are all tremendous good and enjoyable to journey and practice with. We are actually fortunate to have such a optimistic and motivating coaching surroundings.
AP: I really like the workforce we now have round us. Scott, Madison, and Adrián are implausible to work with and each brings a distinct power to the workforce. Being part of IAM provides us the chance to coach with a number of the finest and it’s an honour to look at them work!Â
With the primary half of this aggressive season already accomplished, what are your goals in your subsequent competitions?
AP: We intention to make the world workforce this 12 months. The ice dance discipline within the U.S. is robust so we glance to be ready and at our greatest for the nationwide championships.