{"id":30264,"date":"2023-02-12T00:11:16","date_gmt":"2023-02-12T05:11:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/?p=30264"},"modified":"2023-02-12T00:13:43","modified_gmt":"2023-02-12T05:13:43","slug":"u-s-teams-reflect-on-world-university-games","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/u-s-teams-reflect-on-world-university-games\/","title":{"rendered":"U.S. teams reflect on World University Games"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"p1\"><em>by Anne Calder<\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">The World University Winter Games is the largest multi-collegiate athletic event in the world. The event is held every two years in the odd year. The 2023 Games were held in Lake Placid, NY and several surrounding towns. It was the second time the small Adirondack Mountain village hosted the Games.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Over 1400 athletes from 595 universities and 43 countries participated in 86 competitions in 12 sports. The USA had the largest delegation (150), followed by JPN (139) and CAN (121). The figure skaters competed in men (31) and women (34) singles and ice dance (13 teams).<\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\">The figure skating competition was held at the Olympic Center 1980 Herb Brooks Arena, site of the \u201cMiracle on Ice\u201d. The building also houses the 1932 Jack Shea Arena, the first Winter Olympic indoor ice surface and the USA Practice rink.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><strong>ICE DANCE PODIUM<\/strong><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li class=\"p1\">FRA &#8211; Marie Dupayage &amp; Thomas Nabais (176.04)<\/li>\n<li class=\"p1\">USA &#8211; Lorraine McNamara &amp; Anton Spiridonov (175.33)<\/li>\n<li class=\"p1\">FRA &#8211; Natacha Lagouge &amp; Arnaud Caffa (167.35)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p class=\"p4\">Lake Placid has a 90-year history with ice dance.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>Every July, the Olympic Center hosts the Ice Dance Championships, the oldest continuous ice dance competition in the world. The first event was held in 1933, the year after the Village hosted the 1932 Olympics. In 2015, the Lake Placid Ice Dance International (LPIDI) was added to the ISU calendar.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p4\">The six ice dancers who represented the USA at the Games also competed in July 2022 at the LPIDI or the Lake Placid Championships. After the Games, they shared their thoughts about their recent unique experience and also competing at the smaller summer event.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><strong><i><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"30271\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/u-s-teams-reflect-on-world-university-games\/22lpidi-srfd-ms-0696_600\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/22LPIDI-SrFD-MS-0696_600.jpeg?fit=401%2C450&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"401,450\" data-comments-opened=\"0\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;1&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"22LPIDI-SrFD-MS-0696_600\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/22LPIDI-SrFD-MS-0696_600.jpeg?fit=401%2C450&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-30271\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/22LPIDI-SrFD-MS-0696_600.jpeg?resize=401%2C450&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" width=\"401\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/22LPIDI-SrFD-MS-0696_600.jpeg?w=401&amp;ssl=1 401w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/22LPIDI-SrFD-MS-0696_600.jpeg?resize=267%2C300&amp;ssl=1 267w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/22LPIDI-SrFD-MS-0696_600.jpeg?resize=134%2C150&amp;ssl=1 134w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 401px) 100vw, 401px\" \/>Lorraine McNamara (University of Maryland) &amp; Anton Spirodonov (Community College of Northern VA) (175.33) are the 2022 Lake Placid Ice Dance International (LPIDI) gold medalists.<\/i><\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><strong>IDC: What were your overall impressions of the Games.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><strong>Lorraine:<\/strong> The facility is beautiful &#8211; magnificent.<b> <\/b>It was so memorable. It wasn\u2019t just the magical atmosphere but because of the other athletes. You\u2019re<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>surrounded by such elite athleticism, so inspiring. Every competition we go to is wonderful with different skaters from other nations, but it was different there meeting athletes from different disciplines.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">It was really remarkable and so inspiring because you see the drive and the fire of every athlete in a different way than what we\u2019re used to, and it just fueled us throughout our competition.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">We took it with us leaving the competition. It stayed with us. We know there\u2019s the wonderful side of the competition, but Lake Placid in its own right is beautiful and especially for Team USA such an Olympic spirit. It was just a well rounded trip.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><strong>IDC: Describe your Opening Ceremony experience.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><strong>Anton:<\/strong> We felt that the Opening Ceremony and meeting all the other athletes was amazing. There was a huge crowd &#8211; very receptive, very warm. It will go down as one of my favorite competitions.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><strong>IDC: How was the Lake Placid experience different from the summer competitions?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><strong>Anton:<\/strong> It was a completely different experience. At the Lake Placid Ice Dance International everybody is used to going. It\u2019s almost like coming home every time, but this was such a huge event. There were so many different sports, countries and skaters and disciplines. We\u2019ve never been to the Olympics yet, but everybody said it was like the Olympic experience &#8211; the Collegiate Olympics.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><strong>Lorraine: <\/strong>When we go up to LP in the summer, we don\u2019t get to see the speed skating activity. The oval was right there, so to see it being used was so cool. We actually met a few really cool speed skaters and got to know them. They came to watch us, and we watched them. Lake Placid is beautiful in the summer, but it\u2019s also made to be a winter town. To see it in its absolute element was really magical.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><strong>IDC: Did you get to go to other competitions?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><strong>Anton:<\/strong> We were really busy and focused on our own competitions, but on the last day we went to watch ski jumping. There was this sense of camaraderie. You really get to appreciate other athletes in their different sports.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><strong><i><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"30270\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/u-s-teams-reflect-on-world-university-games\/22lpidc-srrd-5779_600\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/22LPIDC-SrRD-5779_600.jpeg?fit=385%2C450&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"385,450\" data-comments-opened=\"0\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;Ritoss&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;1&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"22LPIDC-SrRD-5779_600\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/22LPIDC-SrRD-5779_600.jpeg?fit=385%2C450&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-30270\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/22LPIDC-SrRD-5779_600.jpeg?resize=385%2C450&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" width=\"385\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/22LPIDC-SrRD-5779_600.jpeg?w=385&amp;ssl=1 385w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/22LPIDC-SrRD-5779_600.jpeg?resize=257%2C300&amp;ssl=1 257w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/22LPIDC-SrRD-5779_600.jpeg?resize=128%2C150&amp;ssl=1 128w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 385px) 100vw, 385px\" \/>A<\/i><i>ngela<\/i><i> Ling (University of California, Berkeley) and Caleb Wein (University of Maryland) (158.52) attended the 2022 Lake Placid Championships, but withdrew after the Rhythm Dance due to injury.<\/i><\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><strong>IDC: What was your experience like at the Opening Ceremony?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><strong>Caleb:<\/strong> Doing the March into the Arena was something we\u2019ve never done before, and that was very cool.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><strong>IDC: What were the audiences like?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><strong>Caleb:<\/strong> The audience there was different because it wasn\u2019t just skating fans. You had other sports and families of other sports plus the locals, so their reactions were a little different, so it was fun. We didn\u2019t quite know what we were going to get, but they were super friendly. It was a different experience, but really good.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><strong>Angela:<\/strong> The audience got excited about things a typical skating audience wouldn\u2019t. They didn\u2019t care about the twizzles, but thought all the sliding was so cool.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><strong>IDC: Did you get to mingle with athletes other than figure skaters?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><b>Angela: <\/b>It was really cool. We\u2019ve never done a competition with other sports. In the dining area we got to see different athletes from different sports. We got to watch them do the long track. They were warming up and practicing, but it was cool because we go in the summer and never get to see the oval in use.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><strong><i>Raffaella Koncius<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>(Pennsylvania State University) and Alexey Shchepetov (Temple University) (154.03) are the 2022 Lake Placid Championships bronze medalists.<\/i><\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><strong><span class=\"s1\">IDC:<\/span> What was the overall impression you took home from the University Games? <span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<br \/><\/span>Raffaella &amp; Alexey:<\/strong> It was absolutely incredible participating in such an enormous international event and seeing so many athletes from other countries participating in the same competition you are\u2026it was surreal. It was also really cool experiencing ice dance on a world stage like this, and seeing the tremendous support each country (and fans) had for their athletes.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p6\"><strong><span class=\"s1\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"30269\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/u-s-teams-reflect-on-world-university-games\/22lpidc-srfd-20117-mh_600\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/22LPIDC-SrFD-20117-MH_600.jpeg?fit=503%2C600&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"503,600\" data-comments-opened=\"0\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;2.8&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;Canon EOS R3&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1659137671&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;\\u00a9 Melanie Heaney \/ Ice-Dance.com&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;200&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;3200&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0.001&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;1&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"22LPIDC-SrFD-20117-MH_600\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/22LPIDC-SrFD-20117-MH_600.jpeg?fit=503%2C600&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-30269\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/22LPIDC-SrFD-20117-MH_600.jpeg?resize=503%2C600&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" width=\"503\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/22LPIDC-SrFD-20117-MH_600.jpeg?w=503&amp;ssl=1 503w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/22LPIDC-SrFD-20117-MH_600.jpeg?resize=252%2C300&amp;ssl=1 252w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/22LPIDC-SrFD-20117-MH_600.jpeg?resize=126%2C150&amp;ssl=1 126w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 503px) 100vw, 503px\" \/>IDC: <\/span>What was it like marching into the Arena with all the athletes during the Opening Ceremonies?<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"p6\"><strong>Raffaella &amp; Alexey:<\/strong> The opening ceremony will never be forgotten. We felt like we were marching in the opening ceremony at the Olympics.<b> <\/b>It was truly surreal. We felt so much pride and honor being able to partake in something so big, and it was so cool seeing USA march out last and getting the biggest cheer. It was awesome being backstage with all the athletes from other countries and seeing how genuinely happy and excited everyone was to be there.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p6\">It didn\u2019t feel like this was a competition between countries and athletes, but rather a once in a lifetime experience that we all got to share with each other.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p6\"><strong>IDC: Did you get to see other disciplines compete?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"p8\"><span class=\"s3\"><strong>Raffaella &amp; Alexey:<\/strong> <\/span>We did not since figure skating was one of the first sports to compete. We had to leave as soon as the competition was over in order to get back to Florida and train for Nationals. We did get to see some of the speed skaters practicing on their outdoor track.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p6\"><strong>Raffaella: <\/strong>I really wanted to see the skiers! I was sad to have missed that.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p6\"><strong><span class=\"s1\">IDC: <\/span>Did you make some new friends?<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 <br \/><\/span>Raffaella:<\/strong> <span class=\"s4\">Yes, We both made friends.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p6\"><strong>Raffaella: <\/strong>I definitely got to know and grew closer to the other skaters representing Team USA. It was nice meeting dancers from other countries!<\/p>\n<p class=\"p6\"><strong>How was this Lake Placid experience different from competing in July? <span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"p6\"><strong>Raffaella &amp; Alexey: <\/strong>It was much different. This competition felt MUCH bigger, like a mini Olympics. The entire Lake Placid village was transformed. There was a Team USA booth, free S&#8217;more stations down the street, flags for both the USA and other countries everywhere, a massive outdoor TV showing live figure skating events as they were happening. There were people on stilts, music, and so much more. I<\/p>\n<p class=\"p6\">It felt so warm and welcoming, along with creating an exciting environment. It was a winter wonderland \u2013 it was snowing, the lakes were frozen over, quite a different feel than the summer warmth during LPIDI, but just as beautiful. And a LOT more people!<\/p>\n<p class=\"p6\"><strong><span class=\"s1\">IDC: <\/span>What will you remember the most about the Games?<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"p6\"><strong>Raffaella &amp; Alexey:<\/strong> We will always remember the insane amount of support for Team USA at the games. We would be walking down the street in our Team USA gear and people would constantly shout \u201cGo team USA!!\u201d and start cheering. It was really cool.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p6\"><strong><span class=\"s1\">Raffaella:<\/span> <\/strong>One of the things I will never forget is hearing \u2018representing the United States of America\u2026\u2019 and then our names, followed by the biggest cheers we have ever heard.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p12\"><strong><span class=\"s1\">Raffaella: <\/span><\/strong>This was by far the coolest competition experience ever. I am so grateful to have been representing Team USA. I felt like I was part of a giant family while I was there. It was truly surreal. I wouldn\u2019t have traded this experience for the world. The amount of pride felt by the athletes and fans showing their support for Team USA was incredible.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p6\"><strong><i>Oona Brown &amp; Gage Brown performed in the exhibition-only. The New York siblings are the 2022 World Junior Ice Dance Champions.<\/i><\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"p6\"><strong>IDC: What was it like skating your Free Dance in the University Games Exhibition the last night of figure skating?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"p6\"><strong>Gage:<\/strong> That was fun! There was a good crowd. It was good training practice before the US Nationals two weeks later. It was a great experience &#8211; our first time skating on the 1980 rink in a long time (2019 LPIDI).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>by Anne Calder The World University Winter Games is the largest multi-collegiate athletic event in the world. The event is held every two years in the odd year. The 2023 [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":30267,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"off","_et_pb_old_content":"<!-- wp:tadv\/classic-paragraph -->\n<p class=\"p1\"><em>by Anne Calder<\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">The World University Winter Games is the largest multi-collegiate athletic event in the world. The event is held every two years in the odd year. The 2023 Games were held in Lake Placid, NY and several surrounding towns. It was the second time the small Adirondack Mountain village hosted the Games.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Over 1400 athletes from 595 universities and 43 countries participated in 86 competitions in 12 sports. The USA had the largest delegation (150), followed by JPN (139) and CAN (121). The figure skaters competed in men (31) and women (34) singles and ice dance (13 teams).<\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\">The figure skating competition was held at the Olympic Center 1980 Herb Brooks Arena, site of the \u201cMiracle on Ice\u201d. The building also houses the 1932 Jack Shea Arena, the first Winter Olympic indoor ice surface and the USA Practice rink.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><strong>ICE DANCE PODIUM<\/strong><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li class=\"p1\">FRA - Marie Dupayage &amp; Thomas Nabais (176.04)<\/li>\n<li class=\"p1\">USA - Lorraine McNamara &amp; Anton Spiridonov (175.33)<\/li>\n<li class=\"p1\">FRA - Natacha Lagouge &amp; Arnaud Caffa (167.35)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p class=\"p4\">Lake Placid has a 90-year history with ice dance.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>Every July, the Olympic Center hosts the Ice Dance Championships, the oldest continuous ice dance competition in the world. The first event was held in 1933, the year after the Village hosted the 1932 Olympics. In 2015, the Lake Placid Ice Dance International (LPIDI) was added to the ISU calendar.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p4\">The six ice dancers who represented the USA at the Games also competed in July 2022 at the LPIDI or the Lake Placid Championships. After the Games, they shared their thoughts about their recent unique experience and also competing at the smaller summer event.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><strong><i>Lorraine McNamara (University of Maryland) &amp; Anton Spirodonov (Community College of Northern VA) (175.33) are the 2022 Lake Placid Ice Dance International (LPIDI) gold medalists.<\/i><\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><strong>IDC: What were your overall impressions of the Games.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><strong>Lorraine:<\/strong> The facility is beautiful - magnificent.<b> <\/b>It was so memorable. It wasn\u2019t just the magical atmosphere but because of the other athletes. You\u2019re<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>surrounded by such elite athleticism, so inspiring. Every competition we go to is wonderful with different skaters from other nations, but it was different there meeting athletes from different disciplines.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">It was really remarkable and so inspiring because you see the drive and the fire of every athlete in a different way than what we\u2019re used to, and it just fueled us throughout our competition.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">We took it with us leaving the competition. It stayed with us. We know there\u2019s the wonderful side of the competition, but Lake Placid in its own right is beautiful and especially for Team USA such an Olympic spirit. It was just a well rounded trip.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><strong>IDC: Describe your Opening Ceremony experience.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><strong>Anton:<\/strong> We felt that the Opening Ceremony and meeting all the other athletes was amazing. There was a huge crowd - very receptive, very warm. It will go down as one of my favorite competitions.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><strong>IDC: How was the Lake Placid experience different from the summer competitions?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><strong>Anton:<\/strong> It was a completely different experience. At the Lake Placid Ice Dance International everybody is used to going. It\u2019s almost like coming home every time, but this was such a huge event. There were so many different sports, countries and skaters and disciplines. We\u2019ve never been to the Olympics yet, but everybody said it was like the Olympic experience - the Collegiate Olympics.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><strong>Lorraine: <\/strong>When we go up to LP in the summer, we don\u2019t get to see the speed skating activity. The oval was right there, so to see it being used was so cool. We actually met a few really cool speed skaters and got to know them. They came to watch us, and we watched them. Lake Placid is beautiful in the summer, but it\u2019s also made to be a winter town. To see it in its absolute element was really magical.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><strong>IDC: Did you get to go to other competitions?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><strong>Anton:<\/strong> We were really busy and focused on our own competitions, but on the last day we went to watch ski jumping. There was this sense of camaraderie. You really get to appreciate other athletes in their different sports.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><strong><i>A<\/i><i>ngela<\/i><i> Ling (University of California, Berkeley) and Caleb Wein (University of Maryland) (158.52) attended the 2022 Lake Placid Championships, but withdrew after the Rhythm Dance due to injury.<\/i><\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><strong>IDC: What was your experience like at the Opening Ceremony?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><strong>Caleb:<\/strong> Doing the March into the Arena was something we\u2019ve never done before, and that was very cool.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><strong>IDC: What were the audiences like?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><strong>Caleb:<\/strong> The audience there was different because it wasn\u2019t just skating fans. You had other sports and families of other sports plus the locals, so their reactions were a little different, so it was fun. We didn\u2019t quite know what we were going to get, but they were super friendly. It was a different experience, but really good.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><strong>Angela:<\/strong> The audience got excited about things a typical skating audience wouldn\u2019t. They didn\u2019t care about the twizzles, but thought all the sliding was so cool.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><strong>IDC: Did you get to mingle with athletes other than figure skaters?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><b>Angela: <\/b>It was really cool. We\u2019ve never done a competition with other sports. In the dining area we got to see different athletes from different sports. We got to watch them do the long track. They were warming up and practicing, but it was cool because we go in the summer and never get to see the oval in use.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><strong><i>Raffaella Koncius<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>(Pennsylvania State University) and Alexey Shchepetov (Temple University) (154.03) are the 2022 Lake Placid Championships bronze medalists.<\/i><\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><strong><span class=\"s1\">IDC:<\/span> What was the overall impression you took home from the University Games? <span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<br \/><\/span>Raffaella &amp; Alexey:<\/strong> It was absolutely incredible participating in such an enormous international event and seeing so many athletes from other countries participating in the same competition you are\u2026it was surreal. It was also really cool experiencing ice dance on a world stage like this, and seeing the tremendous support each country (and fans) had for their athletes.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p6\"><strong><span class=\"s1\">IDC: <\/span>What was it like marching into the Arena with all the athletes during the Opening Ceremonies?<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"p6\"><strong>Raffaella &amp; Alexey:<\/strong> The opening ceremony will never be forgotten. We felt like we were marching in the opening ceremony at the Olympics.<b> <\/b>It was truly surreal. We felt so much pride and honor being able to partake in something so big, and it was so cool seeing USA march out last and getting the biggest cheer. It was awesome being backstage with all the athletes from other countries and seeing how genuinely happy and excited everyone was to be there.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p6\">It didn\u2019t feel like this was a competition between countries and athletes, but rather a once in a lifetime experience that we all got to share with each other.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p6\"><strong>IDC: Did you get to see other disciplines compete?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"p8\"><span class=\"s3\"><strong>Raffaella &amp; Alexey:<\/strong> <\/span>We did not since figure skating was one of the first sports to compete. We had to leave as soon as the competition was over in order to get back to Florida and train for Nationals. We did get to see some of the speed skaters practicing on their outdoor track.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p6\"><strong>Raffaella: <\/strong>I really wanted to see the skiers! I was sad to have missed that.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p6\"><strong><span class=\"s1\">IDC: <\/span>Did you make some new friends?<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 <br \/><\/span>Raffaella:<\/strong> <span class=\"s4\">Yes, We both made friends.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p6\"><strong>Raffaella: <\/strong>I definitely got to know and grew closer to the other skaters representing Team USA. It was nice meeting dancers from other countries!<\/p>\n<p class=\"p6\"><strong>How was this Lake Placid experience different from competing in July? <span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"p6\"><strong>Raffaella &amp; Alexey: <\/strong>It was much different. This competition felt MUCH bigger, like a mini Olympics. The entire Lake Placid village was transformed. There was a Team USA booth, free S'more stations down the street, flags for both the USA and other countries everywhere, a massive outdoor TV showing live figure skating events as they were happening. There were people on stilts, music, and so much more. I<\/p>\n<p class=\"p6\">It felt so warm and welcoming, along with creating an exciting environment. It was a winter wonderland \u2013 it was snowing, the lakes were frozen over, quite a different feel than the summer warmth during LPIDI, but just as beautiful. And a LOT more people!<\/p>\n<p class=\"p6\"><strong><span class=\"s1\">IDC: <\/span>What will you remember the most about the Games?<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"p6\"><strong>Raffaella &amp; Alexey:<\/strong> We will always remember the insane amount of support for Team USA at the games. We would be walking down the street in our Team USA gear and people would constantly shout \u201cGo team USA!!\u201d and start cheering. It was really cool.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p6\"><strong><span class=\"s1\">Raffaella:<\/span> <\/strong>One of the things I will never forget is hearing \u2018representing the United States of America\u2026\u2019 and then our names, followed by the biggest cheers we have ever heard.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p12\"><strong><span class=\"s1\">Raffaella: <\/span><\/strong>This was by far the coolest competition experience ever. I am so grateful to have been representing Team USA. I felt like I was part of a giant family while I was there. It was truly surreal. I wouldn\u2019t have traded this experience for the world. The amount of pride felt by the athletes and fans showing their support for Team USA was incredible.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p6\"><strong><i>Oona Brown &amp; Gage Brown performed in the exhibition-only. The New York siblings are the 2022 World Junior Ice Dance Champions.<\/i><\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"p6\"><strong>IDC: What was it like skating your Free Dance in the University Games Exhibition the last night of figure skating?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"p6\"><strong>Gage:<\/strong> That was fun! There was a good crowd. It was good training practice before the US Nationals two weeks later. It was a great experience - our first time skating on the 1980 rink in a long time (2019 LPIDI).<\/p>\n<!-- \/wp:tadv\/classic-paragraph -->","_et_gb_content_width":"1280","_gspb_post_css":"","_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","_themeisle_gutenberg_block_has_review":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[415,6,142],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-30264","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-2022-2023-event-recaps","category-articles-interviews","category-featured"],"blocksy_meta":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/2023WinterUniversiade.jpg?fit=957%2C566&ssl=1","uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/2023WinterUniversiade.jpg?fit=957%2C566&ssl=1",957,566,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/2023WinterUniversiade.jpg?fit=254%2C150&ssl=1",254,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/2023WinterUniversiade.jpg?fit=300%2C177&ssl=1",300,177,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/2023WinterUniversiade.jpg?fit=768%2C454&ssl=1",768,454,true],"large":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/2023WinterUniversiade.jpg?fit=957%2C566&ssl=1",957,566,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/2023WinterUniversiade.jpg?fit=957%2C566&ssl=1",957,566,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/2023WinterUniversiade.jpg?fit=957%2C566&ssl=1",957,566,true],"et-pb-post-main-image":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/2023WinterUniversiade.jpg?resize=400%2C250&ssl=1",400,250,true],"et-pb-post-main-image-fullwidth":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/2023WinterUniversiade.jpg?resize=957%2C566&ssl=1",957,566,true],"et-pb-portfolio-image":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/2023WinterUniversiade.jpg?resize=400%2C284&ssl=1",400,284,true],"et-pb-portfolio-module-image":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/2023WinterUniversiade.jpg?resize=510%2C382&ssl=1",510,382,true],"et-pb-portfolio-image-single":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/2023WinterUniversiade.jpg?fit=957%2C566&ssl=1",957,566,true],"et-pb-gallery-module-image-portrait":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/2023WinterUniversiade.jpg?resize=400%2C516&ssl=1",400,516,true],"rpwe-thumbnail":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/2023WinterUniversiade.jpg?resize=45%2C45&ssl=1",45,45,true]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"Team IDC","author_link":"https:\/\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/author\/idcadmin\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"by Anne Calder The World University Winter Games is the largest multi-collegiate athletic event in the world. The event is held every two years in the odd year. The 2023 [&hellip;]","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7GOSM-7S8","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30264","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30264"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30264\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30272,"href":"https:\/\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30264\/revisions\/30272"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30267"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30264"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30264"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30264"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}