A life on ice

Art of Life — Produced by Karen Smyles

Very few colleges and universities have figure skating teams, but one of the best in the country is located right here in our area at The University of Delaware. Which should come as no surprise because the campus is also home to one of the best training facilities in the country,The Fred Rust Arena. Champion figure skaters from around the world have trained here.

Friday Arts visits with the University of Delaware Figure Skating Team as they prepare for the 2014 Intercollegiate Championships which will be held in March. The team won the 2013 championship for the 3rd time since their founding in 2000, and no one was more thrilled than UD graduate, Vice President Joe Biden, who sent the team a congratulatory letter.

At UD, figure skating is a club sport and the team is made up of 30–40, male and female skaters. The team is represented by skaters of various levels and many of the skaters have prestigious individual skating careers.

Art of Life takes to the ice for an inside view into how it’s all made to look so graceful and effortless. We talk with team members and the team’s coach and learn why figure skating is such a dominate part of their lives.