LETTER FROM THE EDITOR


Hollander, Teets part of one close-knit Crystallettes family


Anyone who attended the 2017 ISU


World Synchronized Skating Championships in Colorado Springs, Colorado, can attest that the energy inside the Broadmoor World Arena was simply electric. Thousands showed up from all over


the world, wearing their team colors and cheering on all 24 teams. For two nights, icenetwork-branded noisemakers, horns, loud shrieks of excitement and deafening applause fi lled the arena located on the door- step of snow-covered Pikes Peak. The U.S. pairs team of Alexa Scimeca


Knierim and Christopher Knierim, who have competed all over the planet, volunteered at the event and were awestruck by the energy in the building. “I’ve never seen a crowd so excited at a


fi gure skating event before,” Alexa said. Experiencing this spectacle is one of


the reasons Crystallette Emily Hollander has remained in the sport for decades, and why Rachel Teets couldn’t wait to make the Crys- tallettes senior team this year. Hollander, 36, and Teets, who turned 16


on April 3, were reportedly the oldest and one of the youngest competitors at the World Synchronized Skating Championships. Both have a passion for skating, which they share daily with members of their team from Dear- born, Michigan. Hollander, who married in October 2015 and has a 10-month-old daughter, Arianna, competed at the fi rst ISU World Synchronized Skating Championships in 2000 in Minneap- olis as a member of Team Elan. She started competing with the Crystallettes in 2001. “I think it’s just stepping on the ice, the


bright lights, the crowd behind you, skating with 15 of my best friends — even if they are half my age and some I coach,” Hollander said, listing some of the reasons for her longevity in the sport. A coach of three of the younger Crystal-


lettes teams, Hollander said a lot has changed in the sport since her fi rst Worlds 17 years ago.


“It’s a lot faster,” she said. “There’s more


demand for physical strength, because of the lifts and pairs elements that we have to do now. So overall, the athlete has to be stronger than was necessary 17 years ago.” The Crystallettes have competed at fi ve


World Championships, with ninth place being their best fi nish three times. Teets, who is the daughter of Crystal-


lettes coach Holly Malewski and niece of co-coach Shannon Peterson, said she’s always looked up to Hollander.


4 MAY 2017 “To be able to


skate with her is such an amazing experience,” Teets, a sophomore at Ste- venson High School in Livonia, Michigan, said. “I wouldn’t trade it for the world.” Hollander, who


remembered when Teets was born, start- ed coaching her when she was 3 years old. “She’s like a little


sister to me,” Holland- er said. The team, Teets said, has been so wel-


Rachel Teets and Emily Hollander


coming. “The fi rst few months I was intimidat- ed because they are all so amazing. I had to catch up to their skill level.” Peterson has had a front-row seat during


Hollander’s and Teets’ skating careers. “Emily is not your average 30-plus-year-


old [skater],” Peterson said. “She’s probably one of the most talented skaters that I’ve ever had the privilege of coaching. Her knowledge and understanding of the elements, how to help when we are struggling with fi guring out what’s wrong — she can tell us.” Hollander and Peterson’s daughter, Kati-


lyn, have provided that unique perspective as skaters and coaches over the years. Katilyn, a fi rst-grade teacher in Dearborn, competed at her fi nal Worlds in Colorado Springs. “They both internalize and they are able


to tell us what we might be missing from our vantage point,” Peterson said. Teets, Peterson said, gives 100 percent at


every practice and competition. “She’s fabulous,” Peterson said. “She’s not only a beautiful skater, but a beautiful performer.” The respect for Hollander and Teets


trickles down through the entire Crystallettes organization. Emily Fitzgerald, who has been with the team for three years, counts herself lucky to skate with them. “It’s amazing to skate with someone who has had this passion and dedication through- out her life,” Fitzgerald said of Hollander. “And Rachel is like a little sister. I lived with Holly my fi rst year. Rachel is an amazing skater. She’s been dying to be on senior for as long as she’s been alive. It’s in her family.” And after watching a weekend of sup-


portive, spirited competition, it feels like the entire synchronized skating world is a great big family.


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