by AMY ROSEWATER As a coach, one can never be too certain of
a skating team’s future, even if it appears bright from the start. Coaches know the many pitfalls of this business. Tere can be injuries, off-perfor- mances and personality issues. Pasquale Camerlengo, an Italian ice dancer who had his share of success and now is one of the world’s top coaches and choreographers, under- stands this all too well. So nearly two years ago, when one of his students, Kaitlin Hawayek, was considering working with Jean-Luc Baker, he was cautiously optimistic. “When we start a new partnership we can’t
be 100 percent sure if this is going to work, but Kaitlin was one of our students and we knew about her great talent,” Camerlengo said. “Since she has a few more years of eligibility to compete junior, we were looking for the best match possi- ble for her and we ended up contacting Jean-Luc’s parents (and coaches) to find out if he would be interested in a new partner. “Everybody knew that he was one of the
great young skaters in the world and the partner- ship with Kaitlin worked out right away. With their talent, passion, perseveration and dedica- tion together, with the right training conditions, we were able to provide them a great cocktail for them to be successful.” In a sport where it often takes years and plen- ty of trials for a team to reach the top — Meryl Davis and Charlie White skated together for 17 years before winning an Olympic gold medal — Hawayek and Baker have surged in the first two years of their partnership. Hawayek and Baker began skating together
in June 2012 and by the end of their first season, they had earned a silver medal at the junior level of the U.S. Figure Skating Championships. Ten this past season, they won both of their Junior Grand Prix Series events and finished second at the ISU Junior Grand Prix Final. Tey went on to win the U.S. junior title and the World Junior Championships. “We set our goals high,” Hawayek said. Tis season, they will make their senior de-
but, and in Hawayek’s words, they hope to “make a splash.” “Tere’s definitely excitement for us for the
senior level,” she said. “We’re in the big leagues now.”
As quickly as Hawayek and Baker have ad-
vanced together, skaters can never put in a rush order on maturity. Tat only can come with time. Camerlengo declined to say what music the skat- ers will use this season, but added he liked the romantic and dramatic personality the team dis- played last season with its Amelie free dance and planned to continue along a similarly styled pro- gram for this season. Although both skaters have just “arrived,”
they certainly put in many years of effort to reach this level. Hawayek, who hails from Buffalo, N.Y., began skating when she was about 3. Her mother skated when she was young and wanted her kids to skate. Little did her mom know she would have one child become a high-level ice dancer and an- other child (Kaitlin’s older brother) go on to be-
come a Division III hockey goaltender. Kaitlin’s younger brother also plays hockey. “I don’t think she ever expected all of us to take such an interest in being on the ice,” Kaitlin said.
Kaitlin loved the combination of athleticism
and artistry that is inherent in figure skating, and gravitated to ice dance in particular because she can play different roles on the ice. She also liked the concept of skating with a partner and telling stories on the ice between a man and a woman. “I get to feel like I’m someone else, much like
an actress playing a different character in a new movie,” Hawayek said. Hawayek began training in Detroit in 2010,
not long before the Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver, and started skating with Michael Bra- mante in June 2010. Kaitlin lived in Detroit and her parents would alternate weeks that they would commute from Buffalo to stay with her. Baker, meanwhile, whose mother represent-
ed Great Britain at the 1988 Olympic Winter Games in ice dance and whose father was a top pairs skater in England, was on skates when he was just a toddler. But it was no easy task as Baker was born with a condition called positional talipes and his left foot was turned in the wrong direction. “We were told by doctors that he would nev-
er play sports or be able to run properly,” Sharon Baker said. From birth, Jean-Luc underwent treatment,
and as a result, his left foot is two sizes smaller than his right foot. Skating, oddly enough, helped with his treatment as being in skates from an ear- ly age, his mom said, helped straighten his foot. When Jean-Luc was 18 months, he appeared in an ice show. At 3, he moved with his parents from En-
gland to the United States and tried skating but did not like it much, preferring tae kwon do. After passing his black belt (at the age of 7), he decided to return to the ice. “He wanted to appear in our local ice show,”
Sharon Baker explained. “He could not glide, only run on the ice, so run he did. He loved the spotlight and the applause, and from then he was hooked.” With his parents as his coaches in Seattle,
Jean-Luc began to blossom as an ice dancer. He was partnered with Joylyn Yang for five years, and they placed sixth as juniors at the 2011 U.S. Championships. When Baker began looking to skate with a
new partner, he and his parents also realized he probably would have to leave Seattle. Baker’s mother was familiar with Camerlengo since the two competed in the same era and she liked his creativity and coaching style. Jean-Luc liked the idea of training in Detroit since he knew several of the skaters there. “I hit a certain point where I needed to train
with the best,” Jean-Luc said. “My old partner and I were the big fish in a little fish tank. I came (to the Detroit Skating Club) and I was the algae at the bottom of the ocean.”
Although it was a little bit unnerving to
2014 U. S. JUNIOR ICE DANC E CHAMPIONS
move across the country at 18, Baker has not looked back. Not only is he working with coaches such as Camerlengo and Anjelika Krylova, but he is now practicing around the likes of the Canadi- an Olympic team and current World silver med- alists Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje. And skating with Hawayek has proven to be
the right choice. “Within 10 minutes of a tryout, I can tell
if it’s going to be the right fit,” Baker said. “And within 10 minutes of working with Kaitlin, I knew it was going to be right.” Te two had been friendly at previous com-
petitions and had thought that a partnership might work. It took Baker’s mother a little longer than
her son to know the pairing with Hawayek would work. “Within the first 15 minutes of them skating together it was obvious that there was a special connection between them,” Sharon said. “It’s hard to put into words exactly what that is … it’s their passion, communication, work ethic, the way they move their bodies, plus many other traits. “It’s easier to just say they have a special and
incredible ‘oneness’ together.” Being so far away, Sharon does not get much
of an opportunity to see her son skate in per- son these days. She watched their World Junior Championships performance in Sofia, Bulgaria, via icenetwork. But their performance came through, even on the computer screen. Sharon said she was moved by how relaxed and confident Hawayek and her son appeared during their free dance, skated to Amelie. After they saw their scores at World Junior Championships, Hawayek fought to hold back tears. Te two hugged each other, as well as Kry- lova, in the kiss and cry and then Baker pumped his arms in the air. “It was wonderful to see the expression on their faces when they realized they were the World Junior champions and that everyone’s hard work had paid off,” Sharon said. Jean-Luc clearly has the classical ice dance training as he skates with such deep edges. Kait- lin, meanwhile, is a dramatic skater but has just the right balance of lightness and ease in her skat- ing. But it truly is their interpersonal connection which makes them a good pair. Te two seem to genuinely enjoy each other’s company, whether it is on the ice or during an interview. Kaitlin said when they are together, it is often a constant laugh session.
Teir skating has not only grabbed the at- tention of the judges, but from other top skaters, including the likes of Meryl Davis and Charlie White.
“I think they are super special,” Davis said.
“I’ve seen them skate for a few years now and I really think their most important quality is that they skate for the audience. As a skater and as a spectator, that’s what I love the most about them. Tey have beautiful lines and a lot of intangible qualities, and I am really excited to see how they progress and continue to develop.”
SKATING 31
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