![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Vaclavikova-Lissauer-2026-6895DB.jpg?resize=600%2C492&ssl=1\")
by Anne Calder | Photos by Daphne Backman & Robin Ritoss<\/p>\nby Anne Calder | Photos by Daphne Backman & Robin Ritoss<\/p>\n
Aneta Vaclavikova & William Lissauer became ice dance partners in March 2025.\u00a0 <\/span>Vaclavikova represented Slovakia in the previous season, so the new team had to sit out international competitions for a year. Recently the team won the junior silver medal at the 2026 Lake Placid Ice Dance International, that included fifteen other competitors from Azerbaijan, Canada, Ireland, Israel and the United States.\u00a0<\/p>\n Aneta Vaclavikova, who will celebrate her \u201csweet sixteenth\u201d birthday on August 14, 2026 was born in Bratislava, Slovakia. Her mother is a former Czech Republic figure skater. Her father is Slovakian.\u00a0Vaclavikova\u2019s two older brothers also compete at the international level in figure skating. Tadeas represents Czechia and Lukas skates for Slovakia.<\/p>\n William Lissauer was born in Baltimore, MD on November 5, 2006. He is a huge Formula One racing fan, but added – a depressed Ferrari Fan. The high school graduate plans to put his advanced education on hold at this time. \u201cI can always go back to school, but not always go back to skating.\u201d<\/p>\n The Beginning – Following their Siblings<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n Vaclavikova began her skating journey at age four when she tagged along to her brothers\u2019 practice every day.<\/p>\n \u201cI started really liking it and just got on the ice with them,\u201d Vaclavikova shared.<\/p>\n Lissauer had a similar on-ice beginning.<\/p>\n \u201cMy sister really wanted to skate. My dad was a surgical resident at the time, so he wasn\u2019t home as much because he was always working. My mom brought me whenever my sister wanted to skate. I just went on the ice with her, and that\u2019s how it all started.\u201d<\/p>\n Neither of the partners liked to jump, so ice dance was a natural figure skating choice.<\/p>\n \u201cI was more into the dance and artistic style, so I just chose dance,\u201d Vaclavikova said. \u201cIt\u2019s much more fun. I enjoy it more.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe same thing,\u201d added Lissauer. \u201cI also didn\u2019t like skating alone, so that drew me to ice dance.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOur partnership got together because I had recently split with my old partner,\u201d Lissauer explained. <\/span>\u201cIn the process of having tryouts, Aneta\u2019s dad texted me and asked to set up a tryout. She came (to Connecticut) for two weeks, and the rest is history.\u201d<\/p>\n Vaclavikova & Lissauer competed domestically (NQS) during the 2025-2026 season.<\/p>\n The new team medaled at the 2025 Lake Placid Championships (3rd) and Challenge Cup (1st). In Las Vegas, Nevada at the 2026 U.S. Ice Dance Final, their third place finish earned them a ticket to the U.S. Championships in St. Louis. The rookies won the pewter medal at their U.S. Nationals debut.<\/p>\n New Partner – Changes – Adjustments<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n \u201c(Lissauer) is very different from my last partnership,\u201d Vaclavikova noted. \u201cHe\u2019s very talkative, very outgoing. What I wasn\u2019t used to, but I love it.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhen we first met and partnered, she was very shy, so I wasn\u2019t expecting her to be as mush of a talker as she is,\u201d Lissauer said. \u201cThe more we\u2019ve gotten to know know each other, the better friends we\u2019ve gotten. She talks a lot and makes practice really fun.\u201d<\/p>\n Lissauer also shared her ice dancing contribution to the team.<\/p>\n \u201cShe is more like the balletic artistic side of things, which is something I\u2019m working on, but she has naturally,\u201d Lissauer said. \u201cIt\u2019s nice that she\u2019s helping me with it. I\u2019m trying to build it on my own.\u201d<\/p>\n Vaclavikova added, \u201cHe brings the power.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cShe\u2019s very easy to skate with. It\u2019s very easy to work things out with her. I feel our styles go really well together. Everything is just really smooth, really flowy.<\/p>\n As a new team, there are also adjustments.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019d say it\u2019s probably just Aneta moving to a different continent to train,\u201d said Lissauer. \u201cShe was training in Italy at the time with another coach, and she moved all the way to America to skate with me.\u201d WOW!<\/p>\n Training with the Elite<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n Vaclavikova & Lissauer train in Newington, Connecticut with Melissa Gregory & Denis Petukhov.<\/p>\n The Arena is also home to the reigning World Junior Champions, Hana Marie Aboian & Daniil Veselukhin. The 2025-26 World Junior Champions, Noemi Maria Tali & Noah Lafornara split their training between Newington and the IceLab in Milan, Italy.<\/p>\n Lissauer spoke about training with these champions, \u201cIt\u2019s very nice. It pushes us to keep getting better, and hopefully one day to also join alongside them and make it three World Junior Champions all training together.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t know if it\u2019s anything that\u2019s ever been done before. It\u2019s definitely not a common occurrence for that to happen. It just pushes us every day to try and get better and better.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cLooking at them inspires me to keep pushing through to achieve it as well,\u201d Vaclavikova added.<\/p>\n Working with Melissa and Denis is a new experience.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019re really amazing,\u201d Vaclavikova said. \u201c They help me get through hard mentoring blocks.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThere is definitely some things they do differently,\u201d Lissauer added. \u201cThey\u2019ve helped me be a lot more confident in my own skating. They\u2019ve helped with the stress of competitions that is now at an all-time low with me. It\u2019s not as stressful as it used to be because I\u2019m more confident in my own abilities.\u201d<\/p>\n Lissauer is also closer to his Glastonbury, CT. family home rather than two and a half hours away in New Jersey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Second Season – New Beginnings<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n As the team enters it\u2019s sophomore season together Lissauer noted what was learned last year and how they will approach their international challenges.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s just mostly being together for a second season. We have more experience with each other. We know how to skate with each other better. Because the partnership is fairly new, a lot of things are just going to keep building as we get more experience together.”<\/p>\n \u201cStepping out onto the large international stage for the first time as a team, it\u2019s just going to be new for us. It\u2019s going to be a learning experience. Obviously we still have another junior season next year, so that will be nice. This year is just all about learning.\u201d<\/p>\n 2026-2027 Music Lissauer explained the choice of their Waltz Rhythm Dance music to selections from The Great Gatsby<\/i> soundtrack, including \u201cYoung and Beautiful\u201d by Lana Del Ray and \u201cA Little Party Never Killed Nobody\u201d by Fergie.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was something that the coaches decided. We also really like it as well because we thought it would be unique. Not many people would use it, and that\u2019s what we were going for.”<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s kind of funny. Our actual waltz music originally isn\u2019t waltz music. Melissa and Denis have their person or whatever who changed the beat to be a waltz specifically so we could use it. I have no idea who did the changing.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOur Free Dance is the same music as last season – \u201cMoonlight Sonata\u201d. We kept it because last year we were only allowed to compete domestically. We really like the music, and we thought it fit us, so we decided to display it internationally this season.\u201d<\/p>\n 2026 Junior Grand Prix Assignment<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n Aneta Vaclavikova & William Lissauer have been assigned to their first Junior Grand Prix in Riga, Latvia. They will be joined by former training mates: Rylen Lukanin & Patrick O\u2019Brien. The teams will compete August 27-29, 2026.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Anne Calder | Photos by Daphne Backman & Robin Ritoss Aneta Vaclavikova & William Lissauer became ice dance partners in March 2025.\u00a0 Vaclavikova represented Slovakia in the previous season, 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A New Partnership<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.ice-dance.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/26LP-JrAwards-4091-1.jpg?resize=1024%2C606&ssl=1\")
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