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Canada’s NEXXICE crowned World Synchronized Skating Champions

(April 4, 2009 - OTTAWA, ON) – NEXXICE, the synchronized skating team from the Burlington Skating Club and Kitchener-Waterloo SC, were crowned world champions today at the ISU World Synchronized Skating Championships in Zagreb, Croatia. The 2009 Canadian Champions, NEXXICE stood in second place to the strong team from Finland after the short program, but came back with an outstanding free program to take the title over the Finnish 2 team with a 3.30 margin.

“Congratulations to the entire group of athletes who have worked so hard to take NEXXICE to the top of the podium in Croatia. It was certainly a team effort, and on behalf of Skate Canada, we’d like to congratulate the entire team, and their coaches Shelley Simonton Barnett and Anne Schelter,” said Mike Slipchuk, High Performance Director, Skate Canada. “The training and hard work they have put in this year certainly showed at this competition, and we are so proud to see them win this gold medal.”

NEXXICE scored 80.12 points in their short program, skated on Friday, April 3rd. That left them 2.24 behind the Finns as they headed into the free program. Canada dominated today’s free program with a total of 143.46, a significant margin over the second place skate by the Finland 2 team, who scored 137.92. The outstanding free program propelled NEXXICE to victory with an overall score of 223.58.

Canada’s second entry in the competition, black ice from the Upper Canada North York SC, finished fifth in the pool of 23 teams from 18 different countries. The team, coached by Cathy Dalton, was in sixth place after the short program. Their strong free program pulled them up to finish in fifth place overall with a total of 201.10.

For more information on the event please visit the official website.

NEXXICE Gold Medal
NEXXICE Kiss & Cry	NEXXICE Celebrates
NEXXICE short program	black ice short program

Photo by Jim Coveart

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Skate Canada, the national governing body responsible for the development and administration of skating in Canada, is the largest figure skating association in the world. With skating programs for athletes of all ages, offered at 1283 clubs and 54 skating schools* across the country, Skate Canada is an association dedicated to providing every Canadian the opportunity to learn life skills while experiencing the power, strength and creativity of one of Canada's premier sports.