WHERE ARE THEY NOW?
Coaching brings out the best in Franks and Botticelli by LOIS ELFMAN W
hen they were about 10 and 12, coaches and par- ents brought Sheryl Franks and Michael Botticelli to-
gether for a pairs tryout. Franks had been skating at the Hayden Recre- ation Center in Lexington, Mass., and Botticelli at Te Skating Club of Boston. “We skated around for about 45 minutes and then the parents and coaches went upstairs to de- cide our future,” Botticelli recalled. “Sheryl and I were on the bench downstairs taking our skates off. I said, ‘I’m not skating with you.’ She said, ‘Good, I’m not skating with you.’ I said, ‘Fine.’ She said, ‘Why aren’t you skating with me?’ I said, ‘Because I want to go to the Olym- pics.’ She said, ‘I do, too.’ I said, ‘Ten we should probably skate together.’ Tat’s how we started our career.” From that inauspicious initial
interchange, Franks, now 51, and Botticelli, 53, went on to com- pete at the 1980 Olympic Winter Games and four World Champi- onships (1977–80), notching all top-10 finishes. Tey also skated in the first Disney on Ice show (1981), touring for four years before return-
8 MARCH 2013
ing home to the Boston area and becoming coaches.
Teir coach for most of their
amateur career was Tom McGinnis at Te Skating Club of Boston (they trained with Mark Militano from 1979 to ’81), and their choreog- rapher was the late Paul McGrath. Te early programs that McGrath created for them, Franks said, not only won them medals but also helped shape her love for the beauty and artistry of skating. “Paul gave us a program; I
don’t even know if we got a press lift up, but because our program was so exquisite we beat all these kids that had overhead lifts and throw dou- bles,” said Franks, referring to the year they finished second in junior pairs at the U.S. Championships. “When I was nominated for the [PSA’s] Paul McGrath [choreogra- phy] award was when I knew my ca- reer had achieved everything.” Botticelli recalled that program as being unique, with moments where they played off each other rather than simply skating in uni- son or mirror skating. Forty years later, he still remembers the music and the steps — although a current day re-creation of the program is
not imminent. Given the relatively small amount of skating on television during the years they competed, Franks and Botticelli are probably best known for their Olympic short program, which they performed moments after five-time U.S. pairs champions and reigning World champions Tai Babilonia and Ran- dy Gardner withdrew from the competition due to injury. “I tried to remove myself from what I saw was going on in the rink and stay in my own zone, but you couldn’t help but feel that empti- ness,” Franks said. “We passed in the hallway. It was horrible. “When I stepped up into the
open ice area, it’s funny how like with a trauma happening it gives you the strength for what you’re meant to do. Strength was just driv- en into Michael and me. We got this adrenalin rush of ‘Tis is the Olympics. Tis is our moment. We need to step up to the plate.’” “It was absolute magic,” Botti-
celli said. “We were on fire. Tere was a kinetic energy between us. It was amazing. Our heart rates, pulses and breathing were in sync. I never, ever attacked a program as
ferociously as we went out in that short program.” Franks said that desire to seize the moment and perform well for the U.S. Team came out of a closeness that generation of skaters shared. She tells her students that as a team they had relationships that continue to today. She remembers all of her international competi- tions, but most of the memories center on events off the ice. When they were just teenagers,
she and Barbara Underhill of Can- ada explored London. Without any chaperons, they hopped on a bus and headed downtown. Over the course of several hours, they went to Piccadilly Square, Westminster Abbey and London Bridge. Franks and Botticelli’s four
years on the road with Disney on Ice were also magical. It was where Franks said she learned how to skate under pressure and perform, lessons she passes on to her students. To- day one of her closest friends from the show, Trish Mills, coach of the Canadian
synchronized skating
team NEXXICE, has Franks do the team’s choreography. Teir touring ended when Botticelli’s youngest sister (he’s the third of six children)
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84