PSA Coaches Hall of Fame
2001 Inductees
William "Billy" Kip
Stats: 1932-1961 Grew up in Allentown, PA. Died with three students in the plane crash in Belgium.
Halls of Fame: U.S. 2011, PSA 2001
Coached by: Bill Swallender
Titles: Bronze medal in dance at 1953 North American Championships.
Show Biz: Lake Placid summer ice shows with Jean Westwood.
Coached: At Iceland in Paramount, Calif., and Lake Placid. Students who died in plane crash: Dona Lee Carrier and Roger Campbell, silver medalists at 1961 Nationals and North Americans, and Rhode Lee Michelson, bronze medalist at 1961 Nationals. Student Peggy Fleming went on to win gold in the 1968 Olympics.
Cutting Edge: Known for avant-garde, fun-loving choreography.
Claims to Fame: In five years of coaching, had five national champions.
William Kipp, originally from Allentown, Pa., began skating as a child with an asthmatic condition. He was coached by Gus Lussi and passed his gold tests in both figures and dance. He moved to Paramount, CA, to coach after a serious injury to his leg. His most famous pupil was Peggy Fleming, but she was just a Novice Lady when he was killed on Sabena Flight 548 along with members of the entire 1961 World Figure Skating Team. Known as “Billy” to his friends and family, he was a strong voice advocating his opinion that ice dancing should be in the Olympics, a dream that was realized more than twenty years after his death. His students were Rhode Michelson and dancers Roger Campbell and Dona Lee Carrier.
Edi Scholdan
Stats: 1910 – 1961. Born in Austria, came to U.S. in 1938. Married skater Roberta Jenks in 1946. Three children. Died with son, Jimmy, in the 1961 plane crash in Belgium.
Halls of Fame: U.S. 2011, PSA 2001.
Professional Skaters Guild of America President: 1950 – 54.
Titles: Junior champion of Austria. Competed in 1933 World Championships and 1934 and 1935 Great Britain Open Professional Championships.
Coached: In Boston, Providence, New York, Chicago, then Broadmoor Skating Club in Colorado Springs.
Students: More world team members than any coach of his era, including Peter and Karol Kennedy, Jimmy Grogan, Ronnie Robertson, Hayes Jenkins and David Jenkins. Also German champion Ina Bauer. Four students on 1961 World Team: Stephanie Westerfeld, Greg Kelley, Laurie and Bill Hickox.
Cutting Edge: Performed juggling acts in many ice shows.
Edi Scholdan started skating in his native Austria, before joining ice revues in Europe, and eventually, the United States. He served in the U.S. Army military police and in 1945 accepted the position of head coach at the world-famous Broadmoor Figure Skating Club. Among many national and international skaters who arrived to train under Scholdan was Germany’s Ina Bauer, who introduced the famous Bauer move to skating. Scholdan trained many champions, including Men's Olympic gold medalists Hayes Alan and David Jenkins. For his sense of humor, and for often juggling on skates, he earned the nickname "the clown prince of Broadmoor." He was internationally recognized as a fine technical coach and innovative show producer. Scholdan was the first person to combine choreographed dancing with skating numbers and introduced the Colorado Springs Symphony to the arena by arranging a special show in concert with the skaters. He was killed in a plane crash near Brussels, Belgium, on his way to the 1961 World Championships with the entire 18-member U.S. Figure Skating Team.
Bill Swallender
Stats: 1908 – 1961. In 1937, married skater Genevieve Nelson, one of the “Four Nelson Sisters” of Ice Follies; two children. Died in the 1961 plane crash in Belgium.
Halls of Fame: U.S. 2011, ISI 2011, PSA 2001.
Titles: U.S. junior champion 1933 at age 25.
Coached by: Carl Gandry in Minneapolis.
Coached: Kansas City, Baltimore, Colorado Springs, Chicago, Lake Placid, and Philadelphia. Moved to Detroit Skating Club in 1950 with summers in East Lansing, Mich. Coached 1952 Olympian Virginia Baxter, also Bill Kipp and Newbold Black. Started teaching Doug Ramsay when he was 8 years old in 1952. After placing fourth in 1961 Nationals, Ramsay joined U.S. team for North Americans and Worlds.
Cutting Edge: Opened Swallender Ice Studio in Detroit 1955.
Finances and injuries prevented Bill Swallender from trying out for the 1936 Olympic Team. It was the middle of the Depression, his father had passed away, and Bill had developed knee injuries. His decision to retire was cemented when the Kansas City Ice Club, seeking him as their pro, told him he could name his own terms. “I set the price high, thinking they’d never meet it,” he said. “But they snapped at the proposal and that ended my Olympic dreams.” Swallender moved to Kansas City in the fall of 1935, teaching at the Pla-Mor rink. He was the first coach for the newly formed club with 25 members. They hoped that Swallender would stimulate more local interest. Swallender took his students through their figure tests and to the Midwestern competition. He spread goodwill by giving free lessons every Saturday morning to club members’ children, helped mount the club's show in 1936 and performed loop jumps and Axels in his routine, dressed in a jacket and tights. (Bushman, Indelible Tracings, 2010)
Alvah Lynn "Linda" Hart
Stats: 1931 – 1961. Born Alvah Lynn Hart. Married Ray Hadley Sr. in 1954. Died in the 1961 plane crash in Belgium along with Ila Ray Hadley, 18, and Ray Hadley Jr., 17.
Halls of Fame: U.S. 2011, ISI 2011, PSA 2001.
Learned: Roller and ice skating in Oregon.
Show Biz: Performed in the chorus of traveling ice shows.
Coached: With her husband in Seattle, his children Ila Ray and Ray Jr. to 1957 U.S. junior pairs title and 1960 U.S. silver medal. They competed in the 1960 Olympics. Students included Debbie G. Lane and Ron and Cindy Kauffman.
Cutting Edge: Opened the Hadley & Hart Ice Studio in 1960.
Claims to Fame: Served in the U.S. Army. Raised French poodles and promised puppies to students who won competitions.
Alvah Lynn ("Linda") Hart, 31, did not have any competitive experience herself; yet in just five years of teaching, she became an Olympic coach. The youngest of seven siblings, she was born in Winfield, Kan. When she was a teenager, her family moved to Salem, Ore., where she learned to roller and ice skate. She changed her name professionally to "Linda" when she performed in touring skating shows. After marrying Ray Hadley, Sr., in 1954, she taught alongside her husband at the Seattle Civic Arena as well as at the Ballard, Tacoma, and Yakima rinks. Hart taught singles and pairs, and Hadley taught ice dancing. They both taught Hadley's children--Ila Ray Hadley and Ray Hadley, Jr.--who competed in all three disciplines. Hart was an innovative coach; she was a good choreographer and introduced new moves into her students' routines. Hadley, Sr., and Hart opened their own rink--the Hadley and Hart Ice Studio--in November 1960. The Hadley siblings won the 1957 U.S. junior pairs title, and Hart accompanied them to Paris, where they performed exhibitions at the 1958 World Figure Skating Championships. They competed at the 1960 Olympic Winter Games and placed second at the 1961 U.S. Figure Skating Championships. Hadley, Sr., who stayed behind to run their studio, planned to meet his wife and children in Prague for the 1961 World Championships later in the week.
Maribel Vinson Owen
Stats: 1911 – 1961. Grew up in Winchester, Mass. In 1938, married Canadian champion Guy Owen (1913 – 1952). Daughters, Maribel and Laurence, were U.S. champions. Maribel and daughters died in the 1961 plane crash in Belgium.
Halls of Fame: U.S. 2011 with rest of 1961 World Team, pairs 1994, singles 1976; PSA 2001; ISI 1964.
Coached by: Willie Frick.
Titles: Nine-time U.S. champion; six-time U.S. pair champion with Thomas Coolidge and George E.B. Hill.
Show Biz: Touring ice show in the late 1930s.
Coached: Minnesota, Colorado, California, and Massachusetts. Champions include Gretchen Merrill, Tenley Albright, Ron and Nancy Ludington, Frank Carroll, Dudley Richards, and her daughters. More than 4,000 students.
Cutting Edge: Wrote three books on figure skating; first female sports writer at The New York Times.
Maribel Vinson Owen was an outstanding skater and coach. She was the first female sports writer for the New York Times. She coached both her daughters, Laurence and Maribel Y., to the titles she had won twenty-four years earlier in Ladies and Pairs. All three had competed in World and Olympic Championships. Combined, they garnered more than 20 championship titles. Her father, Thomas M. Vinson, won the Silver Medal in the 1893 American Championship. After graduating from Radcliffe College, Owen moved to England, desiring to enter Europeans and Worlds with dual membership in the U.S. and British Associations. Her longtime coach was Willie Frick. After retiring from amateur competition, she toured for one season with an ice show named the “Gay Blades.” In 1940, the show became the “Ice Capades.” Owen was instrumental in revising competition rules in Dance and the establishment of standard tests. Most of her coaching career was spent in Boston with her husband, Guy Owen, whom she met and skated with in the touring ice show. She wrote three books of instruction in skating and was inducted into the U.S. Skaters Hall of Fame in 1976. Owen was one of the founders of the Professional Skaters Guild of America, later the Professional Skaters Association. She and her two daughters were aboard the 1961 ill-fated plane crash in Brussels on their way to the World Championships.
Danny Ryan
Stats: 1929 – 1961. Married Canadian coach Rose Anne Paquette in 1955; five children. Died in the 1961 plane crash in Belgium.
Halls of Fame: U.S. 2011, ISI 2011, PSA 2001.
Titles: U.S. dance champion with Carol Ann Peters 1953; World bronze medalists 1952, 1953.
Coached by: Lewis Elkin and Red Bainbridge.
Coached: At Minto Skating Club, Canada, then Winter Club of Indianapolis. Students included 1959 junior pair’s champions Karl and Gayle Freed, and 1959 silver dance champions Larry Pierce and Marilyn Meeker. Then Diane Sherbloom became Pierce’s partner and 1961 U.S. dance champion. Students included Darlene Streich Gilbert, Charles Fetter, Judy Schwomeyer, and Sandy Schwomeyer Lamb.
Cutting Edge: Medaled in first world championships to include ice dancing.
Claims to Fame: In U.S. Army and U.S. world team at the same time.
Danny Ryan was born in Devon, Connecticut on April 19th, 1929. His mother died when he was 7 years old. He was raised by his Grandmother (Granny Caroline Naylor), attended a Jesuit Prep School in Bridgeport, CT, roller skated competitively and became the runner-up at the National Senior Men's Championships. He turned to ice skating in the late 1940s and began ice dancing with his partner, Carol Ann Peters. They represented the Washington Figure Skating Club and after just two years of training, they qualified for the U.S. World Team, winning a Bronze Medal. In the midst of their training, he was called into the Army and was stationed in Alaska. With some political help, he was able to transfer out and continue skating with Carol Ann while attending Catholic University in Washington. Danny was teaching at the Minto Skating Club in Ottawa, Canada where he met and married his wife, Rose Ann. They moved to Indianapolis in 1954, where they taught skating to National and World competitors. They would spend the summer months training their skaters in Lake Placid, NY. Danny died in the ill-fated plane crash of the U.S. Figure Skating team in 1961.
2002 Inductees
Carlo Fassi
Stats: 1929 – 1997. Married student Christa von Kuczkowski 1960. Moved to U.S. 1961. Became American citizen.
Halls of Fame: U.S. Olympic 2008, PSA 2002, World 1997, U.S. 1994.
Titles: 10-time Italian champion; European champion 1953, 1954; World bronze medalist 1953. Olympian 1952.
Coached by: Jacques Gerschwiler, Gus Lussi and Howard Nicholson.
Coached: Italy, Colorado and California. Olympic champions included Peggy Fleming, Dorothy Hamill, John Curry, Robin Cousins; national champions from 14 countries.
Served: On USFS and ISU coaches committees.
Cutting Edge: Master of skating politics. Fluent in four languages.
Claims to Fame: Officially participated in every Winter Olympics from 1948 to 1992. Coached two gold medalists in 1976.
Carlo Fassi was born in Milan, Italy and became a well-known figure skater and international coach. As a competitor, Fassi was the Italian Men’s champion from 1943 to 1954, won a bronze medal at the world championship in 1953, and clinched gold medals at the European championship in 1953 and 1954. He also competed in the 1952 Winter Olympics in Oslo. After the end of his competitive career, Fassi took up coaching. One of his first students was a young German skater, Christa von Kuczkowski, who became his wife and mother to his three children, Riccardo, Monika, and Lorenzo. After the 1961 plane crash, Fassi moved with his family to the United States, based first in Denver, Colorado, then the Broadmoor Arena in Colorado Springs and finally, following a brief return to Italy, at the Ice Castle rink in Lake Arrowhead, California. His students included World and Olympic Champions Peggy Fleming, Dorothy Hamill, John Curry, Robin Cousins, and Jill Trenary. He also coached Scott Hamilton and Paul Wylie in the early stages of their careers. Skaters from all over the world came to train with Fassi. Besides being an excellent technical coach, Fassi had the reputation of being a master of political dealings in the figure skating world. Fassi died of a heart attack at the 1997 World Figure Skating Championships, which he was attending as the coach of U.S. skater, Nicole Bobek.
Gustave Lussi
Stats: 1898 – 1993. Born in Switzerland. Moved to U.S. in 1919. Naturalized U.S. citizen 1927.
Halls of Fame: PSA 2002, U.S. and World 1976.
Coached by: Charles DeBergen, in Switzerland and New York.
Coached: More than 70 years, mostly in Lake Placid, N.Y. Worked with 16 world and Olympic champions, including Tenley Albright, Dick Button, Donald Jackson, Dorothy Hamill and John Curry for parts of their careers. Many students became coaches, including Evy and Mary Scotvold, Ron Ludington, Pieter Kollen, Robin Wagner, Evelyn Kramer, Cecily Morrow.
Cutting Edge: Flip jump with Montgomery “Bud” Wilson; flying sit spin, flying camel, blur spin, Hamill camel; cross-leg rotation position in spinning and jumping. Pupil Dick Button was first to perform a double axel (1948 Olympics) and triple jump (loop, 1952 Olympics) in competition. Designed Pattern 99 blade.
Known as one of the greatest coaches of all time, Gus Lussi coached many of the world’s greatest skating champions including Dick Button, Donald Jackson, Ronald Robertson, Ron Ludington and Dorothy Hamill (during her novice years). Many of his students also became successful coaches. Though not a former competitive skater, Lussi was a ski jumper who applied the theories of that sport to figure skating. He knew the value of spins and felt the back spin was the key in developing the correct stance for jumps. His skaters became known for their superb spinning technique. With Dick Button, he developed the flying camel and the back blur spin and he also worked with Ronnie Robertson, who to this day is acknowledged as the world’s fastest spinner. Most of his coaching career was spent in Lake Placid, NY, where the Lussi Rink was named in his memory. His coaching was all about making champions and it was a brilliant time in skating history. He died June 23, 1993 at the age of 95.
Frank Carroll
Stats: 1938 – present. Born in Worcester, Mass. Single. Resides in Colorado Springs, Colo.
Halls of Fame: World 2011, PSA 2001, U.S. 1996.
Coached by: Maribel Vinson Owen and Hans Gerschwiler.
Titles: U.S. junior bronze medalist; 1959 North American Championships.
Coached: New England, California, Colorado. Olympic, world, national and international champions, including Michelle Kwan, Linda Fratianne, Evan Lysacek, Christopher Bowman, Tiffany Chin, Timothy Goebel, Holly Cook, and Mirai Nagasu.
Cutting Edge: Coaching longevity, innovative and motivational coaching methods, ability to develop skaters’ artistry and technical skills.
Claims to Fame: Coached Evan Lysacek to 2010 Olympic gold medal; first U.S. coach to guide a male skater to an Olympic gold medal in 22 years. Coached Michelle Kwan to nine U.S. titles, five world titles, and an Olympic medal.
Frank Carroll is considered one of the greatest figure skating coaches of all time. Born in Worcester, Massachusetts, Carroll has coached numerous skaters to national, world, and Olympic medals over his long and distinguished career. Carroll began his own skating career under the tutelage of Maribel Vinson Owen and Hans Gerschwiler, and later transitioned to coaching. Among his most famous students are Michelle Kwan, Evan Lysacek, Linda Fratianne, and Christopher Bowman. Carroll is known for his ability to develop both the technical and artistic aspects of his skaters, and his innovative and motivational coaching methods have earned him a place in multiple Halls of Fame. Carroll's legacy includes coaching Evan Lysacek to the 2010 Olympic gold medal, the first for a U.S. male skater in 22 years, and guiding Michelle Kwan to nine U.S. titles, five world titles, and an Olympic medal.
Ron "Luddy" Ludington
Stats: 1931 – 1961. Born Alvah Lynn Hart. Married Ray Hadley Sr. in 1954. Died in the 1961 plane crash in Belgium along with Ila Ray Hadley, 18, and Ray Hadley Jr., 17.
Halls of Fame: U.S. 2011, ISI 2011, PSA 2001.
Learned: Roller and ice skating in Oregon.
Show Biz: Performed in the chorus of traveling ice shows.
Coached: With her husband in Seattle, his children Ila Ray and Ray Jr. to 1957 U.S. junior pairs title and 1960 U.S. silver medal. They competed in the 1960 Olympics. Students included Debbie G. Lane and Ron and Cindy Kauffman.
Cutting Edge: Opened the Hadley & Hart Ice Studio in 1960.
Claims to Fame: Served in the U.S. Army. Raised French poodles and promised puppies to students who won competitions.
Alvah Lynn ("Linda") Hart, 31, did not have any competitive experience herself; yet in just five years of teaching, she became an Olympic coach. The youngest of seven siblings, she was born in Winfield, Kan. When she was a teenager, her family moved to Salem, Ore., where she learned to roller and ice skate. She changed her name professionally to "Linda" when she performed in touring skating shows. After marrying Ray Hadley, Sr., in 1954, she taught alongside her husband at the Seattle Civic Arena as well as at the Ballard, Tacoma, and Yakima rinks. Hart taught singles and pairs, and Hadley taught ice dancing. They both taught Hadley's children--Ila Ray Hadley and Ray Hadley, Jr.--who competed in all three disciplines. Hart was an innovative coach; she was a good choreographer and introduced new moves into her students' routines. Hadley, Sr., and Hart opened their own rink--the Hadley and Hart Ice Studio--in November 1960. The Hadley siblings won the 1957 U.S. junior pairs title, and Hart accompanied them to Paris, where they performed exhibitions at the 1958 World Figure Skating Championships. They competed at the 1960 Olympic Winter Games and placed second at the 1961 U.S. Figure Skating Championships. Hadley, Sr., who stayed behind to run their studio, planned to meet his wife and children in Prague for the 1961 World Championships later in the week.
2003 Inductees
Howard Nicholson
Stats: 1896 – 1978.
Halls of Fame: PSA 2003, U.S. and World 1976.
Titles: Open Professional Champion of Great Britain 1931 – 33.
Tests: ISU First Class Test 1926.
Learned to Skate: As a hockey player and speed skater in Minnesota.
Coached: In England and Switzerland in the 1920s and 1930s; Olympic champion Sonja Henie starting in 1931. Taught in many U.S. cities before settling in Lake Placid. Students included Sonya Klopfer Dunfield, Carlo Fassi, Irene Muehlbronner, and Bob O’Connell.
Cutting Edge: Student Priscilla Hill, at age 9, became the youngest USFSA gold medalist in figures and free skating.
Wrote: Nicholson on Figure Skating (London and Norwich Press, 1933).
Founded: British Ice Teachers Association, the first Professional Coaches Association in the world started life in 1936 when a small group of the top coaches in England got together to form the Ice Teachers Guild. The founder members were Jacques Gerschwiler, Howard Nicholson, Gladys Hogg, and Eric Van De Weyden.
Originally from St. Paul, Minnesota, where he first learned to skate as a speed skater and a hockey player, Nicholson began figure skating in 1910 and later began his professional career at the Hippodrome in New York City. In 1920 he traveled to Europe and taught figure skating in England and Switzerland until just before World War II. During this time he competed in professional competitions and participated in exhibitions and shows. In 1931 he acquired a student by the name of Sonja Henie and guided and coached her throughout the remainder of her career in which she won three Olympic, ten World, and six European Championships. Although he also had great skill as a free skating instructor, he is probably best known as the master of compulsory figures and wrote a book in which he set forth his theories and principles and how each figure should be performed. He returned to the United States and had a distinguished coaching career in New York City, Detroit, and finally in Lake Placid. Among his many fine pupils were Mary Rose Thacker, Sonya Klopfer, Carlo Fassi, Toller Cranston, and Yvonne Sherman Tutt. Another student of his became the youngest USFSA Gold Medalist in the United States at the age of nine, Priscilla Hill Wampler, former coach of Johnny Weir.
Montgomery "Bud" Wilson
Stats: 1909 – 1964. Born in Toronto.
Halls of Fame: Canadian Olympic 2007, PSA 2003, Skate Canada 1990, World 1976.
Titles: 1932 Olympic bronze medalist and World silver medalist; Canadian champion nine times between 1929 and 1939; North American champion six times, Canadian pairs champion with sister Constance five times.
PSA Award: Lifetime Achievement and Honorary Member 1975.
Coached by: Gus Lussi.
Coached: St. Paul, Minn., and The Skating Club of Boston. Worked with Dudley Richards, Bradley Lord, Gregory Kelley, Evy Scotvold, Tina Noyes, and Gerry Lane.
Cutting Edge: First in the Eastern U.S. to do flip jump.
Probably the finest skater ever to represent North America in international competition up until World War II, Bud Wilson first entered the Canadian Championships in 1924 at the age of 13 and placed second. He was the Canadian Champion nine times, North American Champion six times, Olympic Bronze medalist and World Silver Medalist in 1932. He was also a very fine pair skater with his sister Constance and together they were Canadian Champions five times and North American Champions three times. He was a member of the 1939 North American Fours Champions and finished second in the British Championships in 1928, which was open to citizens of the British Commonwealth at that time. Turning professional in 1939, he began his teaching career in St. Paul, Minnesota. Following his service in the army artillery during World War II, where he earned the rank of Major and earned the Bronze Star, he came to the Skating Club of Boston as the club’s senior professional and director of its annual carnival, The Ice Chips. He continued to develop many fine skaters including U.S. Pair Champion, World and Olympic competitor Dudley Richards, U.S. Men’s Champion and World competitor Bradley Lord, U.S. Silver medalist and World Team member Gregory Kelley, and the four-time U.S. Silver Medalist and twice bronze medalist, two-time Olympic Team member, and five-time World Team member Tina Noyes.
Pierre Brunet
Stats: 1902 – 1991. Represented France. Married partner Andree Joly (1901 – 1993) in 1929. Immigrated to U.S. in 1940.
Halls of Fame: PSA 2003; World 1976 with Andree Joly.
Titles: Pairs bronze in 1924 Olympics, gold in 1928 and 1932. Four-time World pair champions. Both were French singles champions many times.
Show Biz: Refused to skate in 1936 Olympics in Germany, then toured Europe and Canada as professionals.
Coached: Skating Club of New York. Helped establish summer schools at St. Paul, Minn.; Sault Sainte Marie and East Lansing, Mich., and Rockton, Ill. Coached Olympic champion Carol Heiss and siblings Nancy and Bruce; Donald Jackson of Canada; and Alain Giletti and Alain Calmat of France.
Cutting Edge: Applied engineering principles to skating. Revolutionized pair skating with innovative and athletic moves.
Seven-time men’s champion of France and two-time Olympic competitor in 1924 and 1928, Pierre Brunet is best remembered for being the eleven-time Pair Champion of France, seven-time World Pair Champion, Olympic Silver Medalist and two-time Olympic Pair Champion with his beloved partner and later, his wife, Andree Joly. Together they came to North America just before World War II, first to Toronto and subsequently to the Skating Club of New York where they established a long and distinguished career as skating instructors. Brunet’s most outstanding pupil was Carol Heiss and her sister Nancy. He also taught Gordie McKellen, Alain Giletti, and Patrick Pera. An engineer by profession, he applied those principles to his methods of training.
Sheldon Galbraith
Stats: 1922 - 2015. Married fellow show skater Jeanne Schulte in 1943.
Halls of Fame: PSA 2003, World 1996, Skate Canada 1991, Canada Olympic 1990, Canada Sport 1980.
Awards: Order of Canada.
Founder: In 1964, first chair of the Professional Skaters Association of Canada.
Coached: Olympic champions Barbara Ann Scott, Don Jackson, Francis Dafoe and Norris Bowden, Barbara Wagner and Bob Paul. In Canada, taught at Schumacher summer school, Minto Club in Ottawa, and then for 39 years at Toronto Cricket Skating and Curling Club. Retired in 1988.
Cutting Edge: Used film to analyze and teach skating elements. Created extensive film archive.
Sheldon Galbraith was born in Sturgeon Creek, Manitoba, and while still an infant, he moved with his family to Los Angeles for a short time before finally settling in Tacoma, Washington. His father had been a talented hockey player, and all the children in the family were encouraged to learn how to skate. After the depression, the family moved to San Francisco. In 1940, he finished in 3rd place in Junior Men. It was in the Ice Follies that he met Jeanne Schulte, a former Junior Pair Champion whom he eventually married. Galbraith served in the U.S. Naval Air Force during World War II as a flight instructor, gaining useful teaching experience and techniques that significantly impacted his coaching methods. He later applied the idea of flight simulation to figure skating, allowing his skaters to get the feel for complicated jumps on a trampoline or a spinning device before trying them on ice. He is credited for developing the use of a jump harness as well. During his career, he coached three Olympic Champions: Barbara Ann Scott, Francis Dafoe and Norris Bowden, and Barbara Wagner and Bob Paul. He also coached the 1962 World Men's Champion Don Jackson.
2004 Inductees
Jacques Gerschwiler
Stats: 1898-2000 (Age 101). Born in Arbon, Switzerland.
Inducted: PSA Hall of Fame 2004, World Hall of Fame 1976.
Coached by: Ulrich Salchow. Studied physical education in college in Berlin, Germany.
Coached: Brother Arnold Gerschwiler; British, European and World Champion Cecilia Colledge; 1952 Olympic champion Jeannette Altwegg; and many other champions and show skaters, including Belita Jepson-Turner.
Titles: In 1939, first to pass First Class Instructor’s Test of the National Skating Association of Great Britain; medalist in Open Professional Championship of Great Britain.
Cutting edge: Founder of modern scientific school of English Skating known for its technical accuracy in school figures; founding member and chairman of British Ice Teachers Association in 1936.
From the mid-1930s, Swiss-born coaches Jacques and his half-brother Arnold developed some of Britain's most gifted skaters. Among Jacques' students were pre-war British Champion Cecilia Colledge; she won a silver medal in the 1936 Olympics and was World Champion the next year; Jeannette Altwegg, the 1952 Olympic Champion; and Sally Stapleford, who became an ISU referee and was the whistleblower of the 2002 Olympic Winter Games figure skating judges’ scandal. Jacques, originally Jacob, was born in 1898 and first studied to be an athletics coach in Berlin. While there, he became acquainted with ice skating in the international style and evolved his own theory of skating technique. After a visit to London in 1929, he settled in Britain, teaching at Queen's Ice Club, Bayswater. In 1936, Jacques, along with fellow coaches Howard Nicholson, Gladys Hogg, and Eric Van De Weyden, formed the first coaches’ organization in the world, The British Ice Teachers Association. Later, Gerschwiler taught at Empress Hall, Earls Court, and then at Streatham until the 1960s. He was credited for inventing the camel spin first performed by Cecilia Colledge. He was later elected to the World Figure Skating Hall of Fame. Born in Arbon, Switzerland, he was the uncle of Hans Gerschwiler. He died in Geneva in 2000 at the age of 101.
John Nicks
Stats: Born 1929 in Great Britain. Moved to California in 1961.
Halls of Fame: PSA 2004, ISI 2004, U.S. and World 1993.
PSA Coach of the Year: 1991, 2012.
Titles: 1953 British, European and World pair champion with sister, Jennifer.
Coached by: Gladys Hogg.
Show Biz: Ice revues in London, South Africa, Rhodesia.
Coached: In South Africa, Canada, then Southern California. Skating director Ice Capades Chalets for 20 years. Students included JoJo Starbuck and Ken Shelley, Tai Babilonia and Randy Gardner, Jenni Meno and Todd Sand, Dianne DeLeeuw, Robert Wagenhoffer, Peggy Fleming, Tiffany Chin, Christopher Bowman, Natasha Kuchiki, Naomi Nari Nam, Sasha Cohen, Ashley Wagner.
Claim to Fame: His 1,300 students earned 40 U.S. titles and passed about 50 gold tests.
John Allen Wisden Nicks, a member of the World Figure Skating Hall of Fame (class of 1993), is among the renowned coaches and skaters in the sport. Nicks was a successful British skater, winning the Junior Mens Championship in 1947 and Britian’s only World Pairs Championship in 1953 with his sister Jenny. Nicks was multi-talented in sports as a youth, first starring as a track athlete. But it was skating where Nicks would make his mark on the world of sports. Nicks’ athletic career was detoured while he served for his country’s National Service from 1948-50 as a private in the Royal Sussex and later the Royal Middlesex regiments. He served in Hong Kong. Nicks settled in Los Angeles in 1961 and has coached many top U.S. pairs teams including Jo Jo Starbuck and Ken Shelley, Tai Babilonia and Randy Gardner and Jenny Meno and Todd Sand. He also coached Peggy Fleming, Tiffany Chin and Christopher Bowman. It was Nicks who saw a talented young girl and developed Sasha Cohen into one of the world's most prominent skaters. Nicks was inducted into the World Figure Skating Hall of Fame (2000) and appeared as a judge on the 2006 FOX television program Skating with Celebrities.
Fritz Dietl
Stats: 1911 – 2003. Born in Austria. Arrived in U.S. 1939.
Halls of Fame: PSA 2004, ISI 1977.
PSA Awards: Honorary Member and Lifetime Achievement. Namesake of annual Fritz Dietl Ice Arena Award of Excellence.
Served: Charter member of ISIA 1960; founding member of International Professional Skaters Union.
Show Biz: Stilt skater in European shows in 1930s; 1939 started touring with Sonja Henie in Hollywood Ice Revue.
Coached: Skating Club of New York and at his own rink in Westwood, N.J. Student Scott Allen won bronze in 1964 Olympics. Fritz Dietl Ice Skating Studio expanded to a full-size rink in 1966.
Cutting Edge: Used engineering degree to create ankle-like hinge for 18-inch stilt skates, allowing him to jump in ice shows.
Fritz Dietl, an international figure-skating star, shaped the careers of many professional skaters. Born in Vienna, Austria, he held a master's degree in engineering and trained to become a professional tennis player, but his love was ice skating. He began skating at the age of 12 on the frozen Danube River in his hometown. In the 1930s, Dietl had his own European ice skating show where he was featured as a stilt skater. He was also an original member of the Ice Capades. He came to the United States in 1940 and began skating with the Olympic champion, Sonja Henie. Together they toured the nation. In 1958, he opened the Fritz Dietl Ice Skating Rink, which is still in operation today in Westwood, NJ. Dietl coached Scott Allen, who won an Olympic bronze medal in 1964 at the age of 14. He was a charter member of the Ice Skating Institute of America and was named to the association's Hall of Fame. He also was a founding member of the International Professional Skating Union and a board member of the Professional Skaters Association who recognized him with the Honorary Member and Lifetime Achievement Award. The PSA Fritz Dietl Ice Arena Award of Excellence was also named after him. Although retired, Mr. Dietl continued to be active in figure skating until his last month. He was 91 when he died of complications of heart trauma.
Donald Laws
Stats: 1929 – 2014. Born in Washington, DC.
Halls of Fame: PSA 2004, U.S. 2001.
President: PSGA 1977 – 83; International Professional Skaters Union 1985 – 89.
Titles: 1948 U.S. Jr. Dance Champion with Mary Firth, 1950 U.S. Jr Mens Champion.
Coached by: Osborne Colson.
Coached: Scott Hamilton, Michael Weiss, Tiffany Chin, Patrick Chan, Lori Nichol.
Served: Korean War, United States Army Security Agency (ASA).
Biography: Don Laws: The Life of an Olympic Figure Skating Coach, by Beverly Ann Menke (Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2012).
Cutting Edge: Received Michael Weiss Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award 2005.
Claims to Fame: Helped create the ISU Judging System.
Don Laws, a former U.S. Junior Mens Champion, U.S. Junior Dance Champion, and a former World Team member, was the coach of 1984 Olympic gold medalist Scott Hamilton and three-time U.S. champion Michael Weiss. He has over 52 years of coaching experience. He was inducted into the U.S. Figure Skating Hall of Fame both as a skater and a coach in 2001. Don was President of the Professional Skaters Association from 1977 to 1983 and a Lifetime Achievement Honorary Member.
Arnold Gerschwiler
Stats: 1914 - 2003. Born in Arbon, Switzerland.
Halls of Fame: PSA 2004, World 1985.
Titles: Order of the British Empire.
Awards: Competed in the British Open Professional Championships in 1935 and 1936.
Coached by: Half-brother Jacques Gerschwiler.
Coached: He taught many champions including Aja Zanova, Sjoukje Dijkstra, John Curry and the British champions Michael Booker and Patricia Dodd. He also taught many celebrities including Princess Anne, James Mason, Patricia Roc and Air Chief Marshall Sir Hugh Dowding.
Cutting Edge: Recognized as one of the foremost experts on school figures.
Claims to Fame: During World War II, Arnold was taking his turn at fire-watching at the Richmond rink. He was there when a 2,000lb bomb fell in the engine room but did not explode.
A world-renowned figure skating coach, Gerschwiler was born in Arbon, Switzerland and at the encouragement of his half-brother Jacques moved to London. He was head coach at the Richmond Ice Rink from 1938 and was made director in 1964 running the institution with Swiss precision, and taught until his retirement when the rink closed in 1992, interrupted only when the Swiss army called him up for a year in 1939. He was awarded the OBE in 1997. He headed a team of up to 28 full-time teachers training skaters from all over the world, discovering 42 Champions, many from London. He taught many champions including Aja Zanova, Sjoukje Dijkstra, John Curry and the British champions Michael Booker and Patricia Dodd. He also taught many celebrities including Princess Anne, James Mason, Patricia Roc and Air Chief Marshall Sir Hugh Dowding. The Richmond International Trophy, which ran from 1949 to 1980, was largely Gerschwiler’s inspiration as were the children’s skating classes, started in 1949. He was inducted into the World Figure Skating Hall of Fame in 1985 and died in 2003.
2005 Inductees
Cliff Thaell
Stats: 1910 – 1996. Moved from England to United States in 1946 with show skater/wife, Edwina Blades (1913 – 2005).
Halls of Fame: PSA 2005, Lake Placid 1991.
PSGA President: 1954 – 56.
PSA Awards: Honorary Member and Lifetime Achievement.
Show Biz: Stars on Ice, produced by Sonja Henie, Arthur Wirtz and William Burke, at Center Theatre on Broadway starting in 1942. Years later, with wife, produced Lake Placid Saturday night shows.
Coached: In Tulsa, Philadelphia, Lake Placid.
Cutting Edge: Established chain of skating studios on the East Coast in 1950s.
Claims to Fame: More than 100 students passed gold tests. Produced Professional Skating Championships in Lake Placid in 1950.
Cliff, a native of Manchester, England, first came to the United States in 1946. He brought his wife, Edwina Blades, a featured Ice Capades star, with him. Cliff coached at the Olympic Arena in Lake Placid and rose to become one of America’s top skating professionals. He was instrumental in establishing Lake Placid as a figure skating mecca. During his tenure, which spanned from 1946 to 1983, Cliff coached more than one hundred students to gold medal status. His most noted students were Hayes and David Jenkins, whom he coached to World Championship and Olympic Gold status. He ranked as one of the foremost experts of figures. Cliff and his wife, Edwina, produced popular Saturday night skating shows at the 1932 arena, a tradition that continues today. He also produced the first Professional Skating Championships held in Lake Placid in 1950. Cliff was responsible for the establishment of many skating studios across the eastern seaboard and he coached at the world famous Philadelphia Skating Club and Humane Society in Ardmore. Cliff made many civic and cultural contributions to the skating world and served as President of the Professional Skaters Guild of America. In 1991, he was inducted into the prestigious Lake Placid Hall of Fame.
Sonya & Peter Dunfield
Stats: Born 1934. Lives in Sun Valley, Idaho; 2 sons.
Halls of Fame: U.S. 2009, PSA 2005; Skate Canada 2001.
Titles: 1951 U.S. champion at age 15, World silver medalist, fourth at 1952 Olympics, 1964 World Professional champion.
Show Biz: Ice Capades, Holiday on Ice, and New York and European shows.
Coached by: Ingrid Lordahl, William Chase, Freddie Mesot, and Howard Nicholson.
Coached: In Ottawa, Toronto, New York, Denver and Sun Valley and at eight World Championships and four Olympics. Students included Pat and Bob Dineen, Dorothy Hamill, Toller Cranston, Elizabeth Manley, Charlene Wong, Yuka Sato, David Liu.
Cutting Edge: Performed a toeless Lutz.
Claims to Fame: Named after Sonja Henie. Spectacular split jumps. At age 70, performed in Legends on Ice.
Sonya Klopfer Dunfield was born in Brooklyn, New York. In 1951, she became the U.S. National and North American Ladies Champion. She competed at the World Championships three times - her highest placing was second, and she placed fourth at the Olympic Games. As a coach, Sonya has brought skaters to three Olympic Games and eight World Championships. Some of her skaters include Dorothy Hamill, Elizabeth Manley and Tina Noyes. Sonya is Master Rated in Figures, Free Skating and Dance, and holds a Senior Rating in Group. She is also an Honorary Member of the PSA.
Peter Dunfield
Stats: 1931 – 2014 Born in Canada.
Halls of Fame: PSA 2005, Skate Canada 2001.
PSGA President: 1967 – 70.
Awards: PSA Coach of the Year 1994.
Coached by: Otto Gold, Sheldon Galbraith, Arnold Gerschwiler, and Eileen Seigh.
Mentored by: Norval Baptie, Cliff Thaell, Michael Kirby, Wally and Norma Sahlin.
Coached: In Baltimore, Philadelphia, Chicago, Denver, New York, and Ottawa and Toronto. With Sonya, guided Elizabeth Manley to 1988 Olympic and World silver medals and Yuka Sato to 1994 World title. Also coached Charlene Wong, Mark and Melisa Militano, Ronald and Vivian Joseph, Scott Allen, and Vera Wang.
Cutting Edge: With Skating Club of New York, produced 15 annual ice shows at Rockefeller Center benefitting United Hospital Fund.
Claims to Fame: ISIA charter member. First chair of CFSA coaching committee. Taught actor, Ryan O’Neil for the film, Love Story.
Peter Dunfield was a member of the PSA from 1956 until his death in 2014, holding a master figure and free skating rating. As a young man, Peter started competitive figure skating at the Toronto Granite Club where he became the 1951 Canadian junior figure skating champion. He began his coaching career after graduating from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, MD. He went on to coach in Chicago at the Michael Kirby Ice Skating School, and then 20 years at the Skating Club of New York. Peter coached at six Olympic Games and 20 World Championships with competitors from Canada, Finland, France, Great Britain, Japan, New Zealand and the United States. His pupils medaled in Ladies, Men’s and Pairs competition. He was named Skate Canada Coach of the Year in 1993, and the PSA Coach of the Year in 1994. Peter was a charter member of the International Professional Skaters Union (IPSU) and the Ice Skating Institute of America as well as serving on their board. As president of the Professional Skaters Association (PSA) (1967-1970), he was responsible for initiating the national rating system for professionals and inaugurated the annual professional conventions, which have spawned teaching conferences all over the United States. He was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award and Honorary membership in the PSA in 1982.
Norma Sahlin
Stats: 1927 – 2005.
Halls of Fame: PSA 2005, U.S. 2004.
Credentials and Awards: Master ratings in figures, freestyle, pairs; Level IX ranking; Betty Berens Award 2003; Lifetime Achievement and Honorary Member 1990.
Show Biz: Ice Follies.
Coached by: Pierre Brunet, Bill Swallender.
Coached: At seven World championships and two Olympics. Students included World champion and Olympic medalist Charlie Tickner, and Tom Zakrajsek.
Served: As PSGA secretary 1964 – 67.
Cutting Edge: Taught herself to speed skate and jump before taking any lessons.
Norma Sahlin was born in Ionia, Michigan where everyone skated. She began taking lessons in Sault St. Marie with coach, Pierre Brunet. She later moved to Chicago where she trained with Bill Swallender. Norma coached skaters at seven world championships and two Olympic Games. She guided Barbara Brown and Doug Berndt to the 1972 Sapporo Games and was responsible for Charlie Tickner’s third place finish at the 1980 Lake Placid Olympics. Charlie was also the 1978 World Champion. During Norma’s career, she coached champions from Regionals to Olympics in Mens, Ladies and Pairs. She was married to Wally Sahlin, past PSA President. Norma held Master Ratings in Figures, Freestyle, and Pairs and attained the Level IX Ranking. She was also an Honorary Member of the PSA and was the recipient of the Betty Berens Award in 2003. Norma was selected Sportswoman of Colorado Superior Achievement in 1978 and inducted into the U.S. Figure Skating Hall of Fame in 2004.
Michael Kirby
Stats: 1925 – 2002. Married Canadian champion and Ice Follies star Norah McCarthy in 1944; eight children.
Halls of Fame: PSA 2005, ISI 1968. Co-founder: First president of ISIA 1961 – 63, 1971 – 73.
Canadian Titles: 1941 junior, 1942 senior.
Show Biz: Ice Follies starting in 1943. Signed with MGM in 1944; made several movies with Sonja Henie.
Coached: Thousands of students in chain of Michael Kirby Ice Skating Schools in Chicago and Toronto in 1950s. Also worked with champions Ronnie Robertson and Dick Button. Many skaters who started in his schools became coaches. Many coaches started careers in his schools.
Author: Figure Skating to Fancy Skating – Memoirs of the Life of Sonja Henie (Pentland Press, 2000), Ice Skating (Cornerstone Library, 1968)
Cutting Edge: Left Chicago in 1972 to help Ice Capades company build national chain of rinks.
Michael Kirby was born in Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada. He began figure skating as therapy for heart problems caused by rheumatic fever. Michael was the 1941 Junior Champion of Canada and in 1942 won the Senior Men’s Championship. Beginning in 1943 Michael began his career with Ice Follies. In 1944, Michael was married to Ice Follies star and Canadian Champion, Norah McCarthy. Their marriage lasted for fifty-seven years and they had eight children! During his life, Michael played the role of entertainer, business leader, author, developer and movie star. In 1944, he signed with MGM and made several movies including one as the leading man opposite Sonja Henie. In the 1950’s he developed the Michael Kirby Ice Skating Schools, the first successful chain of ice skating rinks in Chicago and Toronto specializing in figure skating for fun and health. In an effort to make skating more popular he co-founded the Ice Skating Institute of America, ISIA, now the ISI. Former students of Michael’s were Ronnie Robertson, Richard Dwyer and Dick Button.
2007 Inductees
Evy & Mary Scotvold
Stats: Born 1935 in Minnesota. Lives in Florida.
Halls of Fame: PSA 2007, U.S. 1998.
Awards: PSA Coach of the Year 1993 with Mary Scotvold.
Show Biz: Performed in Ice Follies. His sisters Joyce and Joanne were the Ice Follies Scotvold Twins.
Coached by: Montgomery Wilson, Maribel Vinson Owen, Howard Nicholson, Eugene Turner, Gus Lussi.
Coached: In Massachusetts, California, and Wisconsin. Students included Olympic medalists Paul Wylie and Nancy Kerrigan; also Gordon McKellen, Terry Kubicka, Sandy Lenz, David Santee, Jimmie Santee, Jennifer Kirk.
Evy is considered one of the preeminent technical coaches of the 20th century, best known for his work with Olympic medalists Paul Wylie and Nancy Kerrigan. In addition to Wylie and Kerrigan, there were many great skaters before; Gordy McKellen, Terry Kubicka, Sandy Lenz, David Santee, Jimmie Santee, to name a few. The Scotvold’s also coached 2001 World Junior champion Jennifer Kirk. Evy and Mary were inducted into the United States Figure Skating Hall of Fame in 1998. Evy and his wife, Mary, hold a Level 8 ranking.
Stats: Born 1946. Lives in Florida.
Titles: 1959 U.S. novice ladies champion.
Halls of Fame: PSA 2007, U.S. 1998.
Coached by: Cliff Thaell, Otto Gold, Howard Nicholson, Gus Lussi.
Coached: At Wagon Wheel in Rockton, Ill., where she teamed with Evy, then Janesville, Wis., and Boston and Cape Cod, Mass. Semi-retired in Jacksonville, Fla.
Cutting Edge: Composer John Williams and the Boston Pops surprised Mary by playing music from the film JFK the way she had edited the piece for a program for Paul Wylie. Her arrangement of the music was part of the opening celebration of the new Boston Garden, the Fleet Center, in 1995. The Scotvold’s attended the event with Wylie and Nancy Kerrigan and other Boston sports figures.
Family ties: Her twin sister is Anne Batdorf Militano.
Mary Scotvold is best known for her work with Olympic medalists Paul Wylie and Nancy Kerrigan, who she co-coached with her husband, Evy Scotvold. Mary won the novice ladies title at the 1959 U.S. Figure Skating Championships. In the mid-1970s, she began coaching at the Wagon Wheel rink in Rockton, Illinois, where her pupils included a young Scott Hamilton. It was there that she teamed up with Evy Scotvold. They coached in Janesville, Wisconsin for a time before relocating to the Boston area in 1986. Evy and Mary were inducted into the United States Figure Skating Hall of Fame in 1998. Mary, with her husband Evy, hold a Level 8 ranking and Mary an Emeritus Masters certificate in Figures and Free.
Lew Elkin
Stats: 1905 – 1989.
PSA Hall of Fame: 2007. Also PSA Lifetime Achievement and Honorary Member 1976.
Served: On PSA board and was charter member and board member of ISIA.
Canadian Titles: 1930 junior champion and senior silver medalist; also pairs silver medalist.
Coached: Starting in 1938 in Chicago; then Baltimore; Buffalo and Rochester, N.Y.; Atlanta. Coached USFSA President F. Ritter Shumway, Robin Lee, Danny Ryan, Jim Sladky. Mentor of many coaches.
Other Gigs: A Canadian, served in the U.S. military in World War II and so became an American citizen. Trained as an attorney in Canada.
Claims to Fame: Genesee and Atlanta figure skating clubs present dance awards in his honor.
Lew Elkin joined the American Skaters Guild, the precursor to the PSGA and PSA, in 1940, and served the Board of Governors. Over a career of 50 years, Lew never coached on the Gran Prix circuit or at the Junior National Championship. His name never appeared in the PSA Honor Role. Lew Elkin was from a different time and place. Of course he produced great skaters. He had his share of top skaters, but Lew Elkin far exceeded the norm in his day as a true professional skating coach. He had a profound effect on the profession of Coaching Figure Skating for decades. If you ask nearly any group of judges or coaches about Lew, at least one of them will proudly say they were one of his students. He also was a charter member and served on the board of the Ice Skating Institute of America and was the long time General Manager of the RIT Arena in Rochester, N.Y. Mr. Elkin was a role model, an innovator and a gentleman. He set a standard for coaching that we follow today. Many young aspiring new coaches of his day turned to Mr. Elkin for his guidance as a mentor. Today they are in leadership roles thanks to his guidance and encouragement. His influence as a leader in the coaching profession can be seen in ice arenas across America.
Lynn Benson
Stats: Born 1949. Lives in New Hampshire. Married with two children.
PSA Hall of Fame: 2007.
Served: As U.S. Figure Skating team leader to international competitions. On USFS and PSA board and committees, including chair of PSA professional standards committee.
Show Biz: Ice Capades.
Coached by: Cecilia Colledge
Coached: Singles 1972 – 85. Founded the senior-level Haydenettes in 1979 and novice Ice Mates in 1981 at Hayden Recreation Centre, Lexington, Mass. Led Hayden teams to 30 national titles and six top-five finishes in the world championships. Retired 2005.
Cutting Edge: Served on ISU Synchronized Skating Coaches Development subcommittee; helped develop ISU international coaching seminars.
Claims to Fame: PSA-USFS Coach of the Year 2003 – first synchronized coach to receive this award. PSA Lifetime Achievement Award 2011.
On May 28, 2003, The U.S. Figure Skating Association and the Professional Skaters Association named Lynn Benson of Lexington, MA, as 2003’s Coach of The Year at their International Conference, held in Stamford, CT. The prestigious Coach of the Year award is given to a single coach each year that has “made a significant impact on his or her athletes’ performance and has distinguished themselves through years of successful teaching, culminating in a special career achievement during the past year.” This was the first time that a synchronized coach had received this prestigious award. Lynn's accomplishments as head coach of the Haydenettes as well as her commitment to the discipline of synchronized team skating speaks to her passion for the sport and illustrates the impact she has made as a coach.” Benson, who is an internationally recognized coach and choreographer, founded the Haydenettes in 1979 and has coached the team to thirteen U.S. National Championships. Between the two Haydenettes teams, Benson has logged an impressive twenty-eight U.S. National titles. Benson has coached her U.S. team to top-five finishes in Synchronized World Championship in 2002 and 2003. In 1995, 2000 and 2001 she received the PSA Edy Award for Synchronized Coach of the Year. Benson holds a Master Rating in Synchronized skating from the PSA. She is a member of the PSA Synchronized Skating Committee. She is a vice president and chairman of the committee professional standards. Benson also serves on the ISU’s Synchronized Skating Coaches Development Committee.
2008 Inductees
Walter & Irene Muehlbronner
Stats: 1922 – 2005.
PSA Hall of Fame: 2008
PSGA President: 1972 – 74.
Titles: National silver medalist in dance and pairs with Irene 1949 and 1950. Bronze medalist in 1949 North American pair’s championship. Represented U.S. in pairs at 1950 Worlds in London. Placed third in dance at the first International Ice Dance Competition in 1950.
Show biz: Performed seven years as “Walter and Irene” in Ice Follies.
Coached by: Cissy Kruger in England.
Coached: And managed Wissahickon Skating Club in Philadelphia 1959-92.
Cutting Edge: Co-creator and first chair of PSGA rating system in 1969. Master rated in figures and freestyle, dance, group instruction, program director.
Claim to Fame: As amateur cyclist, won 100-mile Long Island Championship.
Walter Muehlbronner was born in Stuttgart, Germany and raised in Queens, N.Y. As a youth, he was an amateur cyclist, winning the 100 mile Long Island Championship. Joining the Army on April 7, 1943 as a Private, he was eventually deployed to England to train for the eventual invasion of mainland Europe. While training for D-Day, his Sergeant asked him if he was a citizen. He was not; a common occurrence as a young immigrant was not eligible to become a citizen until they reached the age of 21. The Army’s concern was that if he was captured by the Nazis, he would most likely be executed as a traitor. He was sent to get his papers in order. After having been passed around from office to office and forgotten about over a period of time, he missed D-Day. Eventually his paperwork was sorted out and at that time the Army noticed that he was a draftsman and spoke some German. He was then assigned to the allied headquarters in London to translate German signs into English. Stationed in Hyde Park, Walter was walking distance from the Queens rink. His Mother shortly thereafter sent him his skates where he regularly skated until the end of the war. Walter took advantage of learning the English style of ice dancing, taking lesson from Cissy Krueger, and eventually helped introduce several new dances to the U.S. Once a week, the Queens rink was closed and on those occasions, Walter and his skating compatriots would travel by train to Brighton to skate. On one occasion while dancing, the sound of the air-raid sirens and buzz bombs filled the air. Calmly, the very British announcer asked the skaters to please clear the ice. As an orderly exit was easily executed, the sound of the buzz bomb engine quit, signaling that the bomb would drop. Fortunately the exploding bomb did not hit the rink but landed close enough to the building that the glass roof shattered over the ice. As the air-raid ended the skaters cleared the ice of broken glass and resumed dancing. Upon discharge from the service, Mr. Muehlbronner returned to New York and ice skating. He partnered with Brooklyn born Irene Maguire and they went on to become Silver Medalists in Ice Dancing and Pairs at the 1949 and 1950 U.S. National Championships. In 1950, the pair represented the United States at the World Championships in London. The same year they joined the PSGA, the precursor of the Professional Skaters Association. In 1951, Walter and Irene were married. For seven years the Muehlbronner’s starred with the Ice Follies as the smooth dance team “Walter and Irene.” In 1958, they settled in the Philadelphia area, with Mr. Muehlbronner teaching at, and later managing, the Wissahickon Skating Club in Chestnut Hill. Walter was Master Rated in Figures and Freestyle, Dance, Group, Program Director, and Senior rated in Pairs. From 1972-1974, Mr. Muehlbronner was president of the Professional Skaters Association and in 1981 Walter and his wife were awarded Honorary Lifetime memberships. Walter was the PSA’s first Ratings Chair. Upon retirement in 1990, he pursued his other interests and hobbies, which included bowling, golf, water-skiing, and sculpting. Walter passed away in November of 2005. Shortly thereafter, the Professional Skaters Foundation, which was founded to expand the educational opportunities of PSA members through a 501(c)(3) non-profit, charitable foundation, renamed their scholarship program after Walter and Irene.
Stats: 1929 - 2016. Married Walter in 1951; four sons.
PSA Hall of Fame: 2008
Titles: 1945 U.S. roller skating champion. On ice, Mid-Atlantic novice champion 1945 and junior champion 1947.
Coached by: Betty Chase and Maud LeMaire in group lessons; Howard Nicholson. Occasional lessons with Bill Swallender, Nancy Alvord, Fritz Dietl, Pierre Brunet.
Coached: Philadelphia Skating Club and Humane Society, then Wissahickon Skating Club.
Master Ratings: Dance, free dance, and group instruction.
Cutting Edge: Initiated original PSGA health insurance plan.
Claim to Fame: Professional Skaters Foundation scholarship program was named after the Muehlbronner’s.
Irene Maguire Muehlbronner, was born in Brooklyn, New York and began skating at the age of eight. Irene met her future husband at the Brooklyn Skating Club when Walter returned from serving in Europe during World War II. Partnering with Walter, they went on to become Silver medalists in Ice Dancing and Pairs at the 1949 and 1950 U.S. National Championships. In 1950, the pair represented the United States at the World Championships in London. The same year they joined the PSGA, the precursor of the Professional Skaters Association. In 1951, Walter and Irene were married. For seven years the Muehlbronner’s starred with the Ice Follies as the smooth dance team “Walter and Irene.” In 1958, they settled in the Philadelphia area, with Mr. Muehlbronner teaching at, and later managing, the Wissahickon Skating Club in Chestnut Hill and Irene at the Philadelphia Skating Club and Humane Society. Irene, who later joined Walter at the Wissahickon Skating Club, was a Master rated coach in the disciplines of Dance, Free Dance, and Group instruction. She was granted Emeritus status in 2001. In 1981, the husband and wife team were awarded Honorary Lifetime memberships. Walter was the PSA’s first Ratings Chair and Irene, also an innovator, initiated the original PSGA Group Hospital Plan. Walter passed away in November of 2005. Shortly thereafter, the Professional Skaters Foundation, which was founded to expand the educational opportunities of PSA members through a 501(c)(3) non-profit, charitable foundation, renamed their scholarship program after Walter and Irene.
Kathy Casey
Stats: 1939 - 2019
PSA Hall of Fame: 2008.
Awards: PSA Sports Science 2005, USOC Doc Counsilman 2005, PSA Lifetime Achievement 1999.
PSA President: 1989 – 94.
Coached by: A different coach almost every year. “They didn’t like the winters in Great Falls, Mont., and left.”
Coached: More than 40 years in Montana, Washington, Colorado. At numerous international events and Olympics. Students who became coaches include Scott Davis, Damon Allen, Scott Williams, Shelby Lyons,Jill Sawyer, Sydney Vogel, Peter Johansson. Conducts seminars worldwide. Was U.S. Figure Skating director of athlete performance enhancement and tracking.
Cutting Edge: With Sarah Smith, U.S. Olympic Training Center biomechanist, did the first biomechanical studies of figure skating jumps.
Kathy grew up and skated in Great Falls, Montana. In 1962, she began coaching and directing the figure skating program at the Lakewood Winter Club in Tacoma, Washington, which became a major summer training center due to Kathy’s efforts. Many of her skaters during this period competed nationally and internationally. In 1990, Kathy Casey became the Director of Skating for the world-renowned Broadmoor Skating Club in Colorado Springs, Colorado. She directed that skating program until 2000. Kathy Casey coached United States National Figure Skating Champion, Scott Davis and World Junior Champion, Jill Sawyer. World Figure Skating Champion and Olympic Silver Medalist, Rosalynn Sumners, also took lessons from Kathy Casey. Other skaters who have worked with Kathy include Scott Williams, Nicole Bobek, Scott Hamilton, Lily Lee, Shelby Lyons, Steven Rice, Sydne Vogel, and Damon Allen. While coaching full time, Kathy served as the President of the Professional Skaters Association (PSA) for two three year terms. In addition to serving as the President of the Professional Skaters Association, she has served on the Board of Directors of U.S. Figure Skating and on the U.S. Olympic Coaches Committee. In 2005, she was awarded the United States Olympic Committee Sports Science Coach of the Year award for the work she has done on the biomechanical studies of figure skating jumps. In 2006, took on another role as the Director of Athlete Performance Enhancement and Tracking for US Figure Skating. The main focus of this position is to monitors and track athletes and mentor coaches, assuring that the US skaters are always prepared for competition.
Pieter Kollen
Stats: 1939-2007
Halls of Fame: PSA 2008.
Titles: 1962 U.S. pair champion and silver medalist in dance with Dorothyann Nelson. 1963 U.S. bronze medalist in pairs with Patti Gustafson (Feeney).
Coached by: Gus Lussi, Ron Ludington, and Peter Dunfield.
Coached: Starting in 1964 in New York, Ohio, Colorado, and Indiana. Students included Scott Cramer, Lisa-Marie Allen, Tim Wood, David Santee, Larry Holiday, and Matthew Kessinger.
Cutting Edge: With Patti Gustafson, first pair to perform throw axel, invented by Ron Ludington. Invented parabolic (2003) and K-Pick (1999) blades. Developed power skating program used by U.S. Olympic hockey teams in 1976 and 1980. Developed power skating and off-ice exercise programs for figure skaters.
Claims to Fame: Pioneer in skating sport science. PSA-USFS sport science award given in his name.
2009 Inductees
Mabel Fairbanks
Stats: 1915 – 2001.
Halls of Fame: PSA 2009; International Women’s Sports 2001; U.S. 1997 (first African-American inducted).
Coached by: Howard Nicholson and Maribel Vinson Owen. She passed some figure tests.
Show Biz: Barred from some ice shows, she developed an act and toured internationally in 1940s and 1950s.
Coached: Mostly in California. Students included Atoy Wilson, first African-American national champion, novice men, 1966. Paired Tai Babilonia and Randy Gardner. Worked with Scott Hamilton, Kristi Yamaguchi, Rudy Galindo, Tiffany Chin, Debi Thomas, and Leslie Robinson.
Cutting Edge: Petitioned Culver City, CA, club to admit Richard Ewell III, thought to be first African-American admitted to a U.S. skating club, 1965. He won U.S. junior men, 1970, and junior pairs with Michelle McCladdie, 1972.
Mabel Fairbanks was born in New York City. As a young girl in the 1930s, Fairbanks discovered her lifetime passion watching a Sonia Henie movie. She then saw a pair of black skates in a pawnshop window and talked the guy down to $1.50. They were two sizes too big, but that didn't stop Fairbanks. She stuffed them with cotton, found her balance on blades by going up and down the stairs in her building, and took to the nearby frozen lake. It wasn't long before Fairbanks was sailing across the ice. In the 1940s, Fairbanks came to Los Angeles only to find it blind to her talent but not to her color. They had a sign at the Pasadena Winter Gardens that read Colored Trade Not Solicited, she remembers. But it was a public place, so my uncle had newspaper articles written about it and passed them out everywhere until they finally let me in. Fairbanks opened the door for other young Blacks to compete in skating, but her pro years had passed, so she became a teacher and coach in Culver City and the Hollywood Polar Palace. Famed Olympic medalist Scott Hamilton learned from Fairbanks when he was just a young beginner, and she gave free lessons to those too poor to pay. While at the Polar Palace, her students included many celebrities and their children, like Natalie Cole, Ricky Nelson, Danny Kaye, and Jimmy Durante. Also her students were some of the sport's luminaries such as Kristi Yamaguchi, Tiffany Chin, Rudy Galindo, and a young Scott Hamilton. It was Fairbanks who paired the Tai Babilonia and Randy Gardner while watching them skate. She coached the first African American to win a national title, Atoy Wilson, 1966, and the first African Americans to win the national pairs title, Richard Ewell and Michelle McCladdie, 1972. Fairbanks' ability to teach has helped cultivate some of the finest skaters of the century. She taught and coached on the ice until she was 79 years old and was diagnosed with Myasthenia Gravis, a disease that weakens the muscles. Mabel Fairbanks died at 85 in September 2001 in Los Angeles.
Tom McGinnis
Stats: Born in New York. Lives in Massachusetts.
Halls of Fame: PSA 2009.
Show Biz: Dancer, actor and skater in stage and ice shows in New York and Holiday on Ice in U.S., South and Central America. Coach of principals and choreographer for Ice Capades 25 years. Director of Ice Chips at Skating Club of Boston many years.
Coached by: William Chase, John Rotch and show skaters in New York City.
Coached: The Skating Club of Boston since 1961. Five-time U.S. World Team coach. Students included Laurence Owen, Maribel Owen Jr. and Dudley Richards, Lorraine Hanlon, Gilbert Lewis, Sheryl Franks and Michael Botticelli.
Cutting Edge: Student Kelly O’Grady passed senior MIF test at age 7.
Claims to Fame: Only PSA coach master rated in all 10 disciplines. Co-founder of International Figure Skating magazine.
Lloyd “Skippy” Baxter
Stats: 1919 - 2012
Titles: Bronze in singles and silver in pairs in 1940 U.S. Championships.
Halls of Fame: PSA 2009, U.S. 2003.
Show Biz: In 1940s, performed in 5,532 ice shows in New York and on tour.
Choreographed: Snoopy’s program in the animated film A Boy Named Charlie Brown.
Coach: Trained with brother, Meryl Baxter, and friends Sheldon Galbraith and Eugene Turner.
Coached: Thousands of skaters, including several who went on to become champions, including Peggy Fleming, Juli McKinstry, and Charlie Tickner.
Home Rink: Peanuts creator Charles Schulz, whose children skated at the Baxters’ rink, offered to build them a new rink. Redwood Empire Ice Arena opened in 1969 in Santa Rosa, Calif., with Skippy as director of instruction and Meryl as manager.
Cutting Edge: Landed first triple Salchow in 1939; introduced split Lutz.
Lloyd “Skippy” Baxter and his brother Meryl were both born in Saskatchewan, Canada, moving to Oakland California in the late 1920’s. Skippy was a speed skater, and as single and pair competitor, qualified for the cancelled 1940 Olympics. Meryl began his professional career with Sonja Henie's ice show in New York City in 1939. He later toured the world with "The Three Rookies,” his slapstick comedy act. World War II interrupted the Baxters’ careers, with both enlisting in the Army in the newly formed 10th Mountain Ski Troops. The 10th trained in high altitudes at Camp Hale, Colorado before being deployed to Northern Italy. Considered the "special forces" of its time, the 10th Mountain Division taught mountaineering, survival and tactical skills for winter conditions. Following the war, Skippy and Meryl skated with Sonja Henie’s ice show. Together, Skippy and Meryl owned and operated the Santa Rosa Ice Arena from 1960-1968. Skippy coached at Redwood Empire Ice Arena, Snoopy's Home Ice for over 40 years and choreographed a segment for the 1969 animated film A Boy Named Charlie Brown, in which Snoopy skates. At age 84, he was still teaching private and group lessons and the occasional hockey lesson, and was listed as the oldest active skating instructor in the United States. Skippy was inducted into the World Figure Skating Hall of Fame, the U.S. Figure Skating Hall of Fame, and the PSA Coaches Hall of Fame.
Slavka Kohout
Stats: Born 1932. Lives in Connecticut.
Halls of Fame: PSA 2009, U.S. 2002.
Coached by: Her father, who started her at age 2 “on the other end of a broomstick” in Chicago. Howard Nicholson in Detroit and Lake Placid, Otto Gold in Ottawa.
Coached: Buffalo, N.Y.; Wagon Wheel Ice Palace, Rockton, Ill.; New York City. Students included Janet Lynn, Cindy Geltz, Roger Glenn, Mary Batdorf Scotvold, Gordon McKellen, and Kath Malmburg.
Cutting Edge: Created a training center and program that included off-ice gymnastics and yoga and power skating workouts. Students competed to do the most axels in a row; the record was 100.
Slavka Kohout coached 5-time U.S. Champion Janet Lynn throughout her entire competitive career. As a competitor, Slavka was the 1950 U.S. junior ladies bronze medalist and twice the Midwestern sectional senior champion. Following her competitive career, she began coaching and managed the Wagon Wheel Ice Palace in Rockton, Illinois for 17 years. During that period, the Wagon Wheel rink was one of the top figure skating training centers in the United States. Kohout coached not only Lynn but also 3-time U.S. champion Gordon McKellen, several other international competitors, and other skaters who have gone on to become prominent coaches or skating judges. She was inducted into the United States Figure Skating Hall of Fame in 2002. Miss Kohout left Wagon Wheel when she married Dick Button in 1975.
Walter “Red” Bainbridge
Stats: Born 1930. Lives in Rockford, Ill.
PSA Hall of Fame: 2009.
Titles with Lois Waring: North American gold dance 1947 and 1949; U.S. dance 1947 – 49; U.S. junior pair champion 1949.
Master Ratings: In four disciplines, also an examiner.
Coached by: Osborne Colson in winter, Gus Lussi in summer, Nancy Alvord on dance.
Coached: 1949-2008 in 21 cities. Pupils who became coaches include Maude Hammer White, Gene Heffron, Julie Graham Eavzan, Evelyn Mueller Kramer, Stan Urban, Sundae Bafo- Label, Claire O’Neill, David Shulman, Ron Ludington, Danny Ryan, Christie Allan-Piper, Otto and Maria Jelinek, Pieter Kollen and Dorothy Ann Nelson.
Cutting Edge: Dance demonstrator at 1948 Olympics. Member of International Skating Union committee for the International Dance Conference in London, England, in 1948 to set standards for international dancing competitions.
Walter “Red” Bainbridge was inducted into the PSA Coaches Hall of Fame in 2009. Along with partner, Lois Waring, they won the North American gold dance championship in 1947 and 1949, the U.S. Dance Championship from 1947 – 49, and the U.S. Junior Pair Championship 1949. As an amateur he was coached by Osborne Colson in the winter months and in the summer traveled to Lake Placid, NY to work with Hall of Fame Coach, Gus Lussi. Red turned pro in June 1949, teaching the summer in Lake Placid, sharing the ice with future Hall of Fame pros; Howard Nicholson, Gus Lussi, Cliff Thaell, and Bill Swallender. Red turned pro because his father had spent his college money on his skating career. In 2002, Red was diagnosed with cancer. During 6 weeks of radiation and 24-hour-per-day chemo (he wore a chemo pack), he continued to teach (on the ice). After 7 major surgeries during the next 18 months, he also continued to teach. It was only after a hip replacement that wife finally talked him into retirement although he continued to help (gratis) a group of motivated adults from the boards. Over Red’s 59 year professional career, he taught in 21 different cities. Master rated by the PSA in four disciplines, among his many students were future Hall of Fame coaches, Ron Ludington, David Shulman, Danny Ryan, and Pieter Kollen.
2010 Inductees
Barbara Roles-Williams
Stats: Born 1941 in California.
Halls of Fame: PSA 2010, U.S. 1997
Titles: 1960 Olympic bronze medalist, 1962 U.S. champion, 1958 U.S. junior champion, 1956 U.S. novice champion.
Coached by: Mabelle Humphries, Nancy Rush.
Coached: Starting in 1969 in California, Nevada, Colorado, and Delaware. Students included Wendy Burge, Lisa-Marie Allen, Billy Schneider, Vikki DeVries, Brian Pockar, stepson Scott Williams, Tammy Gambill, Nicole Bobek.
Other Gigs: USFS technical specialist.
Claim to Fame: Came out of retirement to help U.S. team in 1962. Competed at Nationals and Worlds while pregnant with her second child.
Bad Luck/Good Luck: Her Olympic medal was packed in her car, which was stolen during a household move. The medal was found 20 years later and returned to her on The Today Show.
Barbara Roles was a champion skater at the U.S. Novice, Junior and Senior Ladies levels. She won an Olympic and World Bronze medal in 1960. She retired following the 1960 Olympics and had a child. But in 1961, following the devastating plane crash that killed the entire U.S. Figure Skating team, Roles came out of retirement at the request of the U.S. Figure Skating Association and won the gold medal at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in 1962. She became the first skater to win gold at novice, junior and senior nationals. They contacted my mother,'' Roles said. They had only junior skaters available and needed someone to go to the World Championships to help qualify the team for the following year. With just juniors, they probably wouldn't have been able to qualify. Roles had given up skating at that point, but she said she had just enough time to get back into shape for the competition. It wasn't easy, I will confess that,'' Roles said. But I was motivated by the fact I was helping our country. I'm very proud that I did that. Roles won the gold medal at the USFSA Championships in 1962, then finished third at the Worlds that year. Roles said she gave no consideration to saying 'no'' to the USFSA request, but she did retire again immediately after the competition. As a coach, Roles worked with Lisa-Marie Allen, Wendy Burge, Nicole Bobek, Brian Pockar, Vikki DeVries and Geoffry Varner. She also has served as a TV sports consultant for ABC, ESPN and CBS. She is the consummate coach,'' Carole Shulman said of Roles. She seems to add value to every skater she touches. She is an inspiration and a role model. Roles, 69, said the selection to the Hall of Fame came as a surprise.
Wally Sahlin
Stats: 1922 – 2001. Married pair partner, Norma Caine Sahlin.
PSGA President: 1959 – 67.
Halls of Fame: PSA 2010, U.S. 2004.
PSA Awards: Lifetime Achievement and Honorary Member 1973.
Titles: U.S. novice champion 1941, U.S. junior champion 1942.
Show Biz: Three years in Ice Follies.
Coached: Directed figure skating at University of Denver. With Norma, coached many national competitors, including Doug Berndt and Barbara Brown.
Cutting Edge: First PSGA president to address USFSA Governing Council, in 1965.
Claim to Fame: Produced first PSGA film to help judges recognize all jumps performed in competition.
Sahlin was the 1941 U.S. Novice champion and the 1942 U.S. junior champion. His skating career was interrupted by World War II, in which Sahlin served in the army in the south pacific. Sahlin's wife, Norma, was inducted in the PSA Hall of Fame in 2005. Wally and Norma skated with the Ice Follies for three years. They made Colorado Springs their home and Wally took over the figure skating program at the University of Denver. He coached at the Alpine and South Suburban Ice Arenas. Together they coached many national competitors including 1978 World Champion Charlie Tickner, Jill Trenary, Doug Berndt and Barbara Brown. His contributions were monumental, said Shulman, who joined Sahlin in the HOF this year. The PSGA was always looked down upon, and always had to come through the side door (at USFSA meetings). He tried to secure information from the USFSA to get it out to the coaches. Wally was finally able to crack that relationship. He was a very determined person. He was able to progress the relationship between the USFSA and the PSGA.
David & Carole Shulman
Stats: Born 1936. Married Carole Banbury Shulman in 1962; four children. Lives in Rochester, Minn.
PSA President: 1974 – 77. PSA general counsel since 1970s.
PSA Hall of Fame: 2010.
Coached by: Walter Arian, Red Bainbridge, Marlyn Thompson, Beryl Williamson, Michael Kirby, Howard Nicholson, Gustave Lussi, and George Simpson.
Coached: Ohio, South Dakota, Texas, and Minnesota. 17 figure skating students who became coaches, including Carole. Also coached NHL hockey players.
Cutting Edge: Consultant in figure skating to President’s Commission on Olympic Sports 1976, 1977.
Claims to Fame: Attorney since 1968. Licensed airline transport pilot and flight instructor.
Past President of the PSA and current General Legal Counsel, David is a Board Certified Trial Advocate in both civil trial and family law. He is admitted to practice in Minnesota and Colorado as well as the Supreme Court of the United States. Mr. Shulman, formerly Senior Professional with the Rochester Figure Skating Club for more than twenty-five years and currently teaching as a guest coach at the Broadmoor World Arena, is Master rated in Figures, Free Skating and Pairs, is a PSA rating examiner and holds an Airline Transport Pilot rating. He is also a certificated multi-engine flight instructor and instrument flight instructor and married to Carole Shulman, former Executive Director of the PSA.
Stats: Born 1940. Lives in Minnesota. Married to PSA legal counsel David Shulman; four children.
PSA Executive Director: 1984 – 2006.
Halls of Fame: PSA 2010, Rochester (Minn.) Sports 2001.
Master Rated: In seven disciplines. Wrote rating exams; served as rating examiner.
Coached by: Frances Oddson Johnson, Patsy Ann Buck, Robert and Joan Ogilvie, Jack Jost, Edi Scholdan, David Shulman, George Simpson.
Coached: In Texas and Minnesota. At least 17 students, including daughter Tracy Shulman Jackson, became coaches.
Cutting Edge: Dartfish operator.
Claims to Fame: Producer and director of 14 U.S. Open Professional Figure Skating Championships.
Authored: Founder and editor of The Professional Skater – PS Magazine 1985 – 2006; The Complete Book of Figure Skating (Human Kinetics, 2002).
Carole Shulman served as executive director for the PSA beginning in the mid-1980s until her retirement in 2006. Shulman continued much of Sahlin's work in maintaining and building a relationship with the USFSA. Included in the accomplishments during his terms (1974-77) was the appointment of PSGA coached to every USFSA committee. In April of 1976, Shulman attended the World Professional Championships in Jaca, Spain. It was the first time the PSGA was officially represented at the World Professional competition. Also that year, Shulman attended the Presidents Commission on Olympic Sports. It was comprised of Senators who acted as commissioners to come up with a comprehensive report of the international involvement of the U.S. through its athletic programs in Olympic competition.
2011 Inductees
Lori Nichol
Stats: Born 1963. Raised in U.S.; resides in Canada with husband and children
Halls of Fame: Skate Canada 2012, PSA 2011, U.S. 2013
PSA Awards: Paul McGrath Choreography Award four times, Sonja Henie 2010
Titles: Silver medalist World Professional Championships 1983
Show Biz: John Curry Company 1983 – 86
Coached By: Don Laws, Carlo and Christa Fassi, Pieter Kollen, and Jack Courtney
Choreographed: Michelle Kwan, Mao Asada, Carolina Kostner, Patrick Chan, Sasha Cohen, Evan Lysacek, Jamie Sale and David Pelletier, Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo, Joannie Rochette, Brian Boitano, Kurt Browning, Pang Qing and Tong Jian
Cutting Edge: Created curriculum and moderated ISU seminars on presentation mark. Co-creator of international judging system program components and moderator for ISU program component seminars.
Lori Nichol is the first choreographer inducted into the PSA Coaches Hall of Fame. Her big break came when Frank Carroll asked her to work with a talented 12-year-old skater, Michelle Kwan. Nichol’s choreography credits nine Olympic medals, which include American legends, Michelle, Evan Lysacek, and Brian Boitano. Lori’s early years were spent under the tutelage of Don Laws at the Philadelphia Skating Club and Humane Society. Not only was Don a fantastic technical coach, he taught her about music, interpretation, performance, and edge quality. Laws also believed in sending her away each summer to experience other coaches, skaters, and environments, which included Canadian coaches Ellen Burka and Osborne Colson. Don further nurtured her development by introducing her to Ricky Harris, where she fell in love with Ricky’s philosophies, dance training, and creative movement. Following a silver medal at the World Professional Championships in 1983, she performed with the John Curry Company from 1983–1986. Curry was famous for combining ballet and modern dance influences into his skating. According to Nichol, she fell into coaching when a friend from the John Curry Company asked her to cover a few of his lessons in Toronto. Starting with the very youngest skaters, Nichol learned that she enjoyed the work and a career was born.
Igor Shpilband
Stats: Born 1964 in Moscow; defected to U.S. 1990; naturalized 2000
PSA Hall of Fame: 2011
PSA Awards: Coach of the Year 2000 with Liz Coates, Coach of the Year 2011, and Paul McGrath Choreography Award with Zoueva 2010, 2011
Show Biz: U.S. tour headlined by Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean
Coached by: Lyudmila Pakhomova
Titles: 1983 World junior dance champion with Tatiana Gladkova, representing USSR.
Coached: With Elizabeth Coates, then Zoueva at several clubs in Detroit area. Coached Elizabeth Punsalan and Jerod Swallow, Naomi Lang and Peter Tchernyshev, and Tanith Belbin and Benjamin Agosto. Coached Canadians Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir to gold and Americans Meryl Davis and Charlie White to silver at 2010 Olympics. Davis and White won 2011 World title.
Twenty years of coaching in the United States came together for Shpilband in 2010 in the thrilling success of the ice dance teams of Olympic gold medalists Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir of Canada and silver medalists Meryl Davis and Charlie White of the United States. Both teams finished in the same spot and order in the 2010 Worlds, for which Shpilband and his then coaching partner Marina Zoueva received the PSA Coach of the Year award for 2011. Davis and White then pulled off the previously unthinkable, winning the world title in ice dancing at the 2011 World Championships in Moscow last April. Shpilband defers praise for his Hall of Fame career to others who provided assistance and friendship along the way. “Not under any circumstances can I say this is just because of my achievements,” Shpilband said. “I learn from so many people. I don’t honestly feel I am the only one who deserves this. It does not just belong to me.” In 1990, Shpilband was skating on tour through the United States with several fellow Russians, when one of his teammates decided to defect, and then another. That decision forced Shpilband to make a decision of his own. “They asked me for help, to help them carry their luggage to the train station so they could go to a safe place,” Shpilband said. “I was spotted by another crew member from the show helping them. I was in a very difficult situation. To go back to Russia, it was the Soviet Union then, because I was accused of helping the people who defected, that was a bad spot to be.” So the Russian skaters, five of them, moved into a one-bedroom apartment in New York and tried to determine their next move. Luckily, someone from the Detroit Skating Club was aware of the situation and offered Shpilband a job coaching in the Midwest. He did not have a lot of time to think about his life decision because he was trying to get through his new life. Shpilband’s first team of note was Elizabeth Punsalan and Jerod Swallow, who moved to Detroit to work with him. Their decision was rewarded when they won the 1994 U.S. Ice Dance title and reached the 1994 Olympic Games, finishing seventh. With Shpilband’s hard work, ice dance in the United States continued to grow. In 2005, his team of Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto earned silver at the World Championships, an event which occurred in Shpilband’s native Moscow. At the 2011 World Championships, Shpilband and Zoueva coached all three medalist teams: Davis and White, Virtue and Moir, and bronze medalists Mai and Alex Shibutani. Zoueva and Shpilband parted ways in June of 2012. Up to that point, Shpilband had coached every U.S. dance champion since 1994, bar one in 1995. At the 2014 winter games in Sochi, Shpilband coached a record 7 teams.
2012 Inductees
Janet Champion
Stats: Born 1945. Lives in Colorado. Two daughters.
PSA Hall of Fame: 2012
Show Biz: Accidentally turned pro at 8 by accepting talent show prize money for doing acrobatics. Starred in Ice Follies from age 9 to 18, then Holiday on Ice and Las Vegas shows.
Coached by: Edi Scholdan, Eugene Turner and other ice show instructors. Mentored by Eugene Mikeler.
Coached: 20 years in San Diego, Calif. In 1987, moved to Colorado Springs to work with Carlo and Christa Fassi. Students included Eric Larson, Cindy Stuart (Moyers), John Curry, Linda Fratianne, Rosalynn Sumners, Tiffany Chin, Scott Davis, Nicole Bobek, Jill Trenary, Caryn Kadavy, Shephard Clark, Gig Siruno, Ann Patrice McDonough.
Cutting Edge: Helped design U.S. Figure Skating moves in the field tests.
Claims to Fame: Specialist in spins.
Born a “champion’’ because of her name, Janet Champion became a winner of sorts at an early age and it affected her life tremendously from thereafter. At the age of eight, she won the Grand Prize at the California Exchange Club Talent contest for an acrobatics performance, beating out 3,000 other acts. She won a savings bond for her victory, and in the eyes of the skating world, that made her a professional, even though she did not win the cash for skating. Thus, Champion’s competitive skating career was over. She had actually competed only once as an ice skater, finishing 24th out of 25 contestants prior to becoming a “professional.” Champion was from San Diego, but her local rink closed down and she had to skate in Pasadena when her parents could get her up there. She was capable of great physical ability on the ice, doing back handsprings and somersaults. Her talents were seen by a scout from the Ice Follies, a traveling ice skating show, and at the age of nine she was offered a professional skating contract. So from the age of nine and for most of the next 10 years, Champion was a key figure in the Shipstad and Johnson Ice Follies, showing off her incredible athletic ability on the ice and capturing the hearts of thousands of viewers as an adorable child skater. She trained with former Olympic ice skating coach Edi Scholden at the Broadmoor during those years. But at the age of 18, she was ready to begin the next chapter of her life, saying that the Ice Follies “would not let me grow up.” Her new life sent her back to San Diego, where she was attending beauty school and skating in her spare time at a small ice rink at a nearby shopping mall. She received many requests from parents of other skaters to coach, and it seemed like a good way to make some money doing what she was already doing anyway. Starting as a coach in 1968, Champion worked with young skaters on the very basics of figure skating rules and moves, concentrating much of her teachings on figures, which was a required compulsory move for all skating competitions. Eventually, those figures became known as “moves in the field,’’ and Champion designed the Moves in the Field test structure for U.S. Figure Skating. In 1987, after almost 20 years as a coach in San Diego, Champion received an invitation from former Italian men’s coach Carlo Fassi to be his assistant at the Broadmoor World Arena in Colorado Springs. There she worked with Fassi and his coaching wife Christa, and they worked with national figure skating stars like Scott Davis, Nicole Bobek, and Jill Trenary. Champion also served as the Broadmoor Skating Club Show Director. Today, Champion remains a coach at the Colorado Springs World Arena.
Christa Fassi
Stats: Born 1942 in Germany. Moved to Colorado Springs in 1961. Three children: Riccardo, Monika, Lorenzo.
PSA Hall of Fame: 2012.
Titles: Represented Italy in 1961 European championships.
Coached by: Carlo Fassi starting at age 16.
Coached: In Colorado and California. Working with her husband, students included Scott Hamilton, Paul Wylie, Jill Trenary, Nicole Bobek, Caryn Kadavy, Kitty and Heidi DeLio Thibert. Also coached Italian and World Champion Carolina Kostner. Coaches in Southern California.
Cutting Edge: Known for choreography, while husband specialized in figures.
Claims to Fame: Roller skated until age 11.
As a child, Christa von Kuczkowski was a roller skater until the age of 11, when she took up ice skating. There was no ice rink in her hometown of Frankfurt, Germany, so she ended up traveling to Vienna, Austria, where she lived with friends for three years while skating. At the age of 16, she met famed Italian coach Carlo Fassi and began working with him, and with him she won the Italian Ladies Championship in 1961 in Milan. At the age of 18, Christa married her coach, and together they had three children – Riccardo, Monika and Lorenzo. But when Lorenzo was just one year old, Christa decided to get out of the house and began working with Carlo as a coach. “He was always good at figures, so he did those, and I did a lot of the choreography,’’ Fassi said. “It was nice because we were always together, and we got along great. It was a rewarding relationship. We had hardly any fighting or arguing over skating. I kind of knew my place and he knew his.” In 1961, following the plane crash that killed many of the American coaches who were traveling with the U.S. Figure Skating team, the Fassis moved with their children from Italy to Colorado Springs. The Fassis coached there through most of the 1980s, returned to Italy for a short while in 1990, then came back to the states and set up show in California. Together, the Fassis worked with World and Olympic champions John Curry, Robin Cousins, Peggy Fleming, Dorothy Hamill, and Jill Trenary. They also worked with Scott Hamilton and Paul Wylie when they were young. At the time of Carlo Fassi’s death in 1997 at the World Figure Skating Championships in Lausanne, they were working with Nicole Bobek, who stayed with Christa Fassi for a year after the passing of Carlo.
Cecilia Colledge
Stats: 1920 – 2008. Born in London. Moved to U.S. in 1951; naturalized 1957.
Halls of Fame: PSA 2012, World 1980.
Inspiration: Seeing Sonja Henie perform in the 1928 World Championships.
Titles: Olympic silver medalist 1936; World champion 1937; European champion 1937 – 39; six-time British champion; Open Professional champion 1947 and 1948.
Coaches: Eva Keats and Jacques Gerschwiler.
Coached: 25 years at The Skating Club of Boston; students included Tina Noyes, Ron Ludington, Paul McGrath, Lynn Benson.
Credentials: National Skating Association of Great Britain first class instructor and ice dance tests.
Cutting Edge: First woman to land double jump in competition, a Salchow in 1936 European championships; developed one-foot Axel and camel/parallel and layback spins.
Cecilia was only 11 years old in 1932 when she skated for Great Britain in the 1932 Winter Olympic Games and finished in 8th place. She later won the silver medal in the 1936 Olympic Games. She won the silver medal in the 1935 and 1938 World Championships and she was the 1937 World Champion in ladies figure skating. She was a three-time winner of the European Championships and also won silver at Europeans in 1933 and 1936 and the bronze in 1935. After serving as an ambulance driver during the Blitz in World War II she returned to win the British Championship for a sixth and final time and then turned professional and won the World Professional title in 1947 and 1948. She moved to the United States in 1951 and became a coach in Boston. She coached at the Skating Club of Boston from 1952 until 1977. She coached Ron Ludington, Judy Lamar, Tina Noyes, Paul McGrath, Lorraine Hanlon and many other world recognized skaters. She is credited with inventing the camel spin, the catch-foot variation and the layback spin. She was the first skater to transition from the layback to a one hand Biellman spin in her free programs. She also invented the one foot axel which at the time was called the Colledge.
2014 Inductees
Sandy Lamb
Stats: 1947 – 2019. Married Randy Lamb in 1968; two children.
PSGA President: 1983 – 89.
Coached by: Danny and Rose Anne Ryan, Ron Ludington.
Coached: In Indianapolis and Lake Placid. With Ron Ludington, helped sister Judy Schwomeyer pass gold dances. Also, 1976 Olympians Judy Genovese and Kent Wiegle, 1977 U.S. junior dance champions Kelley Morris and Michael Seibert, and Robbie Kaine and Liz Blatherwick. Dozens of skaters to gold test medals.
Mentored: Many coaches and Robbie Kaine and Kelley Morris-Adair, who became PSA presidents.
Cutting Edge: Pioneered Special Olympics ice skating. Coached daughter, Shannon, and other skaters to World Special Olympics gold medals. Served as figure skating director for Special Olympics International; member of USFS Special Olympics committee.
The Winter Club of Indianapolis did not start with former PSA President Sandy Lamb, but it stayed alive and active and vibrant because of Sandy Lamb. The same could be said of the Professional Skaters Association. A former skating student at Winter Club, Lamb eventually took over the club’s Learn to Skate program and inspired thousands of children to begin or continue their skating lessons. She served as Coaching Director at Winter Club for 40 years. Her coaching career took her to every level of skating competition from regional competitions to Worlds and the Olympics. Her most famous skating student was Kelley Morris-Adair, the former U.S. junior dance champion and herself a former president of the PSA. Lamb became the President of the PSA in 1983, and in 1996 she received the PSA’s Lifetime Achievement Award. “She saw the future and brought it to the Professional Skaters Guild of America (the former name of the PSA),’’ said Carole Schulman, who was the PSGA’s first executive director, worked for Lamb in the PSGA office and eventually became president. “No one ever believed more in our organization nor fought harder to bring recognition and respectability to our profession. Back then our goal was 1,000 members. We were determined, and under her leadership, our goal was reached.” Lamb was instrumental in getting figure skating included in the Special Olympics, and starting in 1985 she was the figure skating director for Special Olympics International. Lamb’s daughter, Shannon, was the first winner of a Special Olympics gold test medal in ice dance with her friend Katie Crawford. “Sandy's efforts in Indianapolis are extraordinary and will live on and on,’’ said Kelley Morris-Adair, who is now the head of coaching at the Winter Club. “She has inspired so many locally. Even though she is no longer at the rink teaching, she will remain in our hearts forever.”
Christy Krall
Stats: Born 1948 in Colorado Springs, Colorado
Halls of Fame: PSA 2014, Colorado Springs Sports Hall of Fame 2012, Colorado College Athletic Hall of Fame 2006
Awards: Master Rated Coach with the Professional Skaters Association in Free Skating, Figures and Moves in the Field. PSA Lifetime Achievement Award in 2001, and was the recipient of the PSA and US Olympic Committees Sports Science Award in 2008, 2011 and 2013. She was named the Professional Skaters' Association 2013 Coach of the Year.
Coached by: Carlo Fassi
Coached: Patrick Chan, Agnes Zawadzki, Angela Wang, Joshua Farris
Cutting Edge: US Figure Skating from 1996-2002 as Senior Director of Athlete Programs.
Claims to Fame: Christy chaired the Moves in the Field development for the Professional Skaters Association from 1991-1995
Christy Krall, a former PSA Coach of the Year, adds the PSA Hall of Fame to her long list of awards and selections she has never been fully comfortable accepting. As a skater, Krall was the 1963 and 1965 U.S. silver medalist and the 1964 bronze medalist, and she finished seventh at the 1964 Winter Olympics, as part of the rebuild of the U.S. Figure Skating program following the 1961 U.S. team tragedy in Belgium. She trained with PSA Hall of Fame coach Carlo Fassi. As a coach, Krall’s most significant student was three-time world champion Patrick Chan. But her greatest contribution to skating may have been in her acceptance and use of a technology that was so foreign to her upon introduction she wasn’t sure what she was looking at. In 1996, Krall was asked to serve as senior director of athlete programs for U.S. Figure Skating, and that led her to begin to understand the role science could have on skating performance, and began to promote the use of scientific techniques to U.S. figure skating coaches. In 2002, Krall was introduced to Dartfish, the video imagining technology from Switzerland, which allows a coach to compare the form of her skaters with the form of champion skaters. Among Krall’s many distinctions, she was awarded the PSA Lifetime Achievement Award in 2001, and was the recipient of the Professional Skater’s Association Sports Science Award in 2008, 2011 and 2013. Also, in 2008 and 2011, Krall was awarded the US Olympic Committee Sports Science Award for Figure Skating.
2015 Inductees
Peter Burrows
Stats: 1938 – 2014. Born in Manchester, England
Halls of Fame: PSA 2015
Awards: British Novice, Junior and Senior Men’s titles, British Junior and Senior Pairs titles, and World Team member, and a recipient of the International Professional Skating Union (IPSU) Gold Medal Award for training a world champion. Professional Skaters Guild of America master rated coach.
Coached by: Gladys Hogg, Arnold Gerschwiler
Coached: Dorothy Hamill, Elaine Zayak, Michael Chack, Rocky Marval, Calla Urbanski, Kyoko Ina, and Jason Dungjen
Cutting Edge: In 1966, Burrows immigrated to the United States at the invitation of Hans Gerschwiler
Claims to Fame: Stared in the BBC TV show “Hot Ice and Cool Music.”
When asked to describe the most powerful memory of her husband Peter Burrows’ coaching career, Katherine Healy Burrows pauses, and you can hear a catch in her throat as she begins to speak. “His skaters would try so hard for him,’’ Katherine said. “They would try way beyond whatever you thought they had in them, more so than they tried for other coaches. There was something about the way he worked. He really inspired them to go beyond what their natural abilities were.” Peter Burrows, who died in the spring of 2014 at the age of 75, is the newest inductee into the Professional Skaters Association Hall of Fame. Born in Manchester, England, Burrows’ personal competitive skating record including titles in the British Novice, Junior and Senior Men competitions, as well as British Junior and Senior Pairs titles. He was qualified to skate in the 1960 Olympics held in Squaw Valley, but had to withdraw due to injury. In 1966, Burrows moved to the United Sates to teach at the South Mountain Arena in New Jersey at the behest of Hans Gerschwiler. He taught for the Skating Club of New York at the original Skyrink in Manhattan, as well as at clubs on Long Island. His initial claim to fame in the U.S. is as a coach for Dorothy Hamill prior to her gold medal effort in the 1976 Olympics (Hamill credited Burrows for her victory in her autobiography). That catapulted him to the top of the coaching circles, and he began his long career of coaching champion skaters, including Elaine Zayak, who won Junior World, Senior National and World championships under his watch. He eventually coached 14 Olympians, 26 World team members and dozens of U.S. national medalists. In the late 1970s, Burrows began coaching out of Sport-O-Rama in Monsey, N.Y., eventually directed a school at the Iceland arena in New Hyde Park, and managed and consulted several other schools in the tri-state area. Coaching for almost half a century, Burrows saw many changes in the sport, not only from a scoring standpoint but also from a technological standpoint. While he managed to traverse those changes (“he certainly embraced video training, but he was not operating the video camera himself,’’ Katherine said with a laugh) he stayed true to some of the principles of coaching that mattered to him. Peter Burrows had a strong belief in his coaching abilities, but to Katherine he seemed almost unwilling to toot his own horn. When asked to talk about his accomplishments, Burrows would say “All I do is go to work.”
2018 Inductees
Marina Zoueva
Stats: Born 1956, former Soviet Union
Halls of Fame: PSA 2018
Coached by: Elena Tchaikovskaia
Coached: Nathan Chen, Maia Shibutani / Alex Shibutani, Patrick Chan, Tessa Virtue / Scott Moir, Meryl Davis / Charlie White, Tanith Belbin / Benjamin Agosto, Madison Chock / Greg Zuerlein, Madison Chock / Evan Bates, Gracie Gold, and Karen Chen
Marina Zoueva has had a Hall of Fame career that is not over yet, and her induction rewards her long coaching career that included work with both sides of one of the most contested Olympic skating rivalries of recent history: Meryl Davis and Charlie White versus Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir. But the Olympic competition between those two teams, which started in Vancouver in 2010 and spilled over to Sochi in 2014, is ancient history for Zoueva, who coached the team of Maia and Alex Shibutani to bronze in 2018. In 2014, after completing the unique double-double of coaching gold and silver dance teams in consecutive Olympics (even as the gold and silver medal teams switched positions), Zoueva earned the PSA Coach of the Year. Four years later, Zoueva was selected to the PSA Hall of Fame, along with Coach Nancy Rush, who was inducted posthumously. “I thought it was a mistake,” Zoueva said when she was ¬ told of her Hall of Fame selection. “I am very honored. But I am also not done coaching.” Zoueva is a former Soviet competitive ice dancer and was a successful choreographer before coming to the United States in 1991. She choreographed the program for two-time Olympic pairs champions Katia Gordeeva and Sergei Grinkov at the 1989 World Championships, where the Russian pair won the gold medal. A move to the United States ended up with her setting up camp in Canton, Mich., where she now works at the Arctic Edge rink as part of the International Skating Academy. She began working with Virtue and Moir in 2006, helping them win the 2010 Olympic gold in Vancouver and the World Championships in 2010 and 2012. Soon after teaming up with Virtue and Moir, Zoueva added White and Davis to her stable of students. The American skaters are both natives of Michigan, making Zoueva’s move to the Wolverine State fortuitous for everybody. “I treat every skater differently,” Zoueva said. “Every team’s success is different. But they all mean the same to me.”
Nancy Rush
Halls of Fame: PSA 2018
Coached: Barbara Roles Williams, Julie Lynn Holmes, Peggy Fleming, Jim Short
Cutting Edge: First coach to utilize proper port de bras from ballet
Claims to Fame: Uncredited skater in two Sonja Henie films; Iceland (1942) and, It’s a Pleasure (1945)
Nancy Rush, who coached in the 1950s, ‘60s, and ‘70s, was born in Saskatchewan, and originally trained in ballet before transferring her knowledge to skating. She was a member of Sonja Henie’s Ice Review, which was an introduction to figure skating for many Americans, and eventually settled in California, where she began coaching numerous skaters, including Barbara Roles Williams, who was a junior and senior ladies champion. “She believed in repetitive training,” said Roles, who started working with Rush at the Pasadena Ice Rink at the age of nine. “If you do something over and over correctly, when you need it, it is there. By doing that, your confidence is high because you have done it so many times. That was the basis of her training, teaching you how to have confidence in your trade.” Rush also coached U.S. junior men’s champion Jim Short and U.S. novice and junior lady champion Julie Lynn Holmes. In two different years, her students were the champion of every ladies’ event in the Pacific Coast Championships. Rush also worked with Peggy Fleming for a short while in Canada near the end of Rush’s coaching career.
2019 Inductees
Sarah Kawahara
Stats: Born 1954 in Montreal, Quebec
Halls of Fame: PSA 2019, U.S. Figure Skating 2018, World 2017, Skate Canada 2016
Awards: Has won the Best Choreography Emmy Award twice. The first in 1997 for Scott Hamilton Upside Down. She won her second Emmy in 2002 for choreographing the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2002 Winter Olympics.
Coached by: Osborne Colson
Coached: Choreography for Peggy Fleming, Kurt Browning, Ilia Kulik, Michelle Kwan, Kristi Yamaguchi, Dorothy Hamill, Robin Cousins, Charlie Tickner, Toller Cranston, John Curry, Torvill and Dean, Surya Bonaly, Chen Lu, Nancy Kerrigan, Tai Babilonia and Randy Gardner, Ekaterina Gordeeva and Sergei Grinkov, Oksana Baiul, Marina Klimova and Sergei Ponomarenko, Victor Petrenko, Pang Qing and Tong Jian, and 2007 ISU World Synchronized Skating silver medalist team, Miami University.
Cutting Edge: Known as much for her touring show choreography as her work for competitive skaters
Claims to Fame: Choreographer for “Blades of Glory,” (2007), and, “I, Tonya,” (2017)
One of the most renowned and celebrated figure skating choreographers in history, Kawahara is the 2019 inductee into the PSA Hall of Fame. Kawahara’s career as a choreographer has been saluted by organizations outside of the realm of figure skating. She won an Emmy Award for the choreography in the television show Scott Hamilton Upside Down in 1996, and was again awarded by the Emmys for her work on the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. Filmgoers are very familiar with Kawahara’s work probably without knowing her name. She was the choreographer for the Will Ferrell film Blades of Glory and served the same role for the widely praised biopic I, Tonya. She has just completed work on a Netflix film entitled Spinning Out. But Kawahara’s career started as a choreographer for individual competitors, and had a long-standing professional relationship with Hamilton, which led to the first Emmy award. Over the years, she choreographed professional shows that included for Hamilton, Peggy Fleming, Dorothy Hamill, Robin Cousins, Nancy Kerrigan, Tai Babilonia and Randy Gardner, and Oksana Baiul. When prodded to do so, Kawahara found it difficult to select one choreography job as her “crowning glory”, but cited the Winter Olympics. For the widely praised Winter Games in Salt Lake City, she choreographed the opening and closing ceremonies as well as Michelle Kwan’s long and exhibition programs for the games. She currently works with the Royal Caribbean cruise line to present shows they provide for the massive ships, and those presentations take advantage of the latest in video presentation technology. Kawahara makes her home in Los Angeles, where she is on the staff of the Ice in Paradise rink when she is not every place else that exists where skating needs to be presented in grand fashion.
2020 Inductees
Vicki Korn
Stats: 1956 - 2020
Halls of Fame: PSA 2020
Ranking and Ratings: Level VIII ranking; Master Synchronized Skating, Master Program Director, Master Group, and Senior Figures and Free Skate.
Awards: 2007 PSA Coach of the Year; 1997, 1999, and 2007 PSA Synchronized Skating Coach of the Year; 1995 ISI Woman of the Year
Cutting Edge: Grew the Miami of Ohio Club Synchro team to a varsity sport at Miami, becoming the nation's first collegiate senior-level synchronized skating program.
Claims to Fame: She won a combined 15 national championships. 2000-2008 - she coached teams to seven different international medals including the silver medal at the World Synchronized Championships in 2006 and 2007.
Few people can be described as an institution, but former Miami University head synchronized skating coach Vicki Korn has earned that moniker. Her landmark accomplishments at the National and World level in the synchronized skating discipline are many. Vicki spent 25 years (1984-2009) coaching Miami skating, beginning at the club level and growing the program to the nation's first collegiate senior-level synchronized skating program. At the varsity level, she led Miami to three national titles at the senior level and 11 national titles at the collegiate level. Between 2000-2008, she coached teams to seven different international medals including the silver medal at the World Synchronized Championships in 2006 and 2007. Vicki’s mark on the skating community is not reserved for team honors alone — she was the 2007 PSA Coach of the Year and holds three PSA master ratings. Korn also served on the board of directors of both the United States Figure Skating Association and the Ice Skating Institute. During a stint as the USFSA Collegiate Chairperson, Korn was instrumental in forming the Midwest Collegiate Figure Skating Conference. Along with these accolades, Vicki has always been a supporter of PSA while presenting at many conferences and serving as a rating examiner.
Rafael Arutyunyan
Stats: Born on July 5, 1957 in Tbilisi, USSR, now Georgia
Hall of Fame: PSA 2020
Awards: PSA & U.S. Figure Skating Coach of the Year – 2016, 2015
Coached: Adam Rippon, Ashley Wagner, Nathan Chen, Mariah Bell, Alexander Abt, Mao Asada, Jeffrey Buttle, Sasha Cohen, Kiira Korpi, Michelle Kwan, Sergei Voronov
Rafael Arutyunyan is becoming legendary having coached some of the world’s best skaters over the last two decades. Born in Tbilisi, USSR, now Georgia, figure skating became his passion as a young boy, and he became a hometown champion multiple times. He became a full-time coach at age 18 while studying Physical Culture and Sport. In 1984, he was invited to work at one of the leading sports clubs in Moscow coaching skaters to the World and Olympic level. Since 2001, Rafael has lived and worked in California where his coaching magic continues to thrive producing National, World and Olympic competitors and champions such as Ashley Wagner, Jeffrey Buttle, Adam Rippon, Alexander Abt, Mao Asada, Michelle Kwan, Mariah Bell, and Nathan Chen.
2021 Inductees
Audrey Weisiger
Hall of Fame: PSA 2021
Ranking and Ratings: MFF
Awards: 2014 F. Ritter Shumway Award
Claims to Fame: Founder of Grassroots to Champions
Two-time U.S. Olympic Team Coach Audrey Weisiger was the 1999 PSA and U.S. Figure Skating Coach of the Year. She has her PSA World Coach ranking and is master-rated in Figures and Freestyle. She has been asked to be the presenter at several PSA Conferences, including the Keynote Speaker for the PSA Conferences in 2000 and 2003; and Canadian Coaches Conferences in 2005 and 2006. Weisiger has held positions on the Board of Governors of the PSA and various U.S. Figure Skating and USOC committees. A member of the USOC Developing Young Champions committee, she has organized and directed numerous Grassroots to Champions seminars. In 1999, U.S. Figure Skating and the PSA recognized Weisiger as Coach of the Year. Some of her former students include Michael Weiss (three-time U.S. Men's Champion, two-time U.S. Olympic Team, two-time World Bronze Medalist), Timothy Goebel (2002 Olympic Bronze Medalist), Lisa Kwon (National Novice and Intermediate Ladies Champion), Christine Lee (World competitor), Tommy Steenberg (Estonia Junior Grand Prix Gold Medalist), and Anthony Dang (North American Challenge competitor). Audrey has coached at the Fairfax Ice Arena in Virginia since 1973. Before that, she herself was a U.S. Figure Skating Gold Medalist in Figures and Freestyle, and a U.S. National Bronze Medalist at the Novice and Junior Levels. In 2010, Weisiger created the Young Artists Showcase, featuring and educating young choreographers worldwide. She is the founder of Grassroots to Champions seminars, a company whose mission is to mentor coaches and their skaters. The company has worked with skaters of all levels from around the world. Weisiger was the recipient of the F. Ritter Shumway award in 2014.
2022 Inductees
Marie-France Dubreuil and Patrice Lauzon
PSA Hall of Fame: 2022
Coached: Gabriella Papadakis / Guillaume Cizeron; Laurence Fournier Beaudry / Nikolaj Sørensen; Madison Hubbell / Zachary Donohue; Madison Chock / Evan Bates; Kaitlin Hawayek / Jean-Luc Baker
Dubreuil and Lauzon were one of Canada's most beloved and successful ice dance pairs in the 2000s, known for romantic routines that showcased their obvious connection with each other. They won five Canadian titles and two silver medals at World championships, but their Olympics didn't go according to plan. In the original dance at the 2006 Torino Games, Dubreuil fell during a final move in which Lauzon hoisted her in the air horizontally and spun them both. She slammed onto the ice on her hip, finished the routine, but was in too much pain to even curtsy. They withdrew from the competition.
Dubreuil and Lauzon retired in 2008, married that fall, and opened a skating school two years later after some time on the touring circuit. They modeled Centre Gadbois after their own experiences in Europe, where they had moved to after their 12th-place finish at the 2002 Salt Lake Games. They trained with skaters from around the world, an atmosphere that simulated international competition and drove the skaters to work harder.
Lauzon and Dubreuil accompanied their first couple to the 2014 Sochi Olympics, Spanish dancers Sara Hurtado and Adrian Diaz, who finished in 12th. Patrice and Marie-France were awarded the PSA Coach of the Year Award in 2018 and 2021. They were guest speakers at the PSA Conference in 2018.
Their current athletes include: Gabriella Papadakis / Guillaume Cizeron (Olympic gold medalist, Olympic silver medalist, four-time World Champions, Grand Prix Final Champions, five-time European Champions, three-time French National Champions); Laurence Fournier Beaudry / Nikolaj Sørensen (two-time Danish National Champions and 2019 Canadian bronze-medalists.); Madison Hubbell / Zachary Donohue (Olympic bronze medalists, Four Continents Champions, Grand Prix Final Champions, U.S. National Champions); Madison Chock / Evan Bates (two-time Four Continents Champions, three-time U.S. National Champions); Kaitlin Hawayek / Jean-Luc Baker (Olympic competitors, Four Continents Champions); Marie-Jade Lauriault / Romain Le Gac; Olivia Smart / Adrià Diaz (Spanish National Champions); and Marjorie Lajoie / Zachary Lagha (World Junior Champions).
2023 Inductees
Todd Sand and Jenni Meno Sand
PSA Hall of Fame: 2023
Competitive History: Todd and Jenni are three-time U.S. National Champions (1994–96), World Silver Medalists (1998), and World Bronze Medalists* (1995 & 1996).
Coaching History: As a coaching team, Todd and Jenni have continued to produce many champions including 2022 World Champions, 2023 World Silver Medalists, 2022 Olympic Team Event Medalists, and two-time U.S. National Champions Alexa Knierem and Brandon Frazier. Todd and Jenni also developed and coached 2023 Junior World Champions, 2023 U.S. National Senior Pewter Medalists, and 2022 U.S. National Junior Champions Sonia Baram and Daniel Tioumentsiev.
Other teams coached by Todd and Jenni include Alexa Knierem and Chris Knierem (2018 Olympic Team Event Bronze Medalists and three-time U.S. National Champions); Jessica Calalang and Brian Johnson (three-time U.S. National Silver Medalists); Rena Inoue and John Baldwin; and Mary Beth Marley and Rockne Brubaker.
Other: Todd and Jenni were inducted into the U.S. Figure Skating Hall of Fame in 2010. Todd has served as Coaching Member to the U.S. Figure Skating Board as well as been a PSA Board Member. Both Todd and Jenni have served on various committees for U.S. Figure Skating as well. Todd is an ISU Technical Specialist with a Level V ranking, and is master-rated in Pairs and Free Skate.
*With his previous partner Natasha Kuchiki, Todd was the 1991 World bronze medalist.
Saga Krantz
PSA Hall of Fame: 2023
Position: Director of Synchronized Skating for the Hayden Synchronized Skating Teams
Coaching and Choreography: Head Coach and Choreographer of the Haydenettes senior team, 28-time national champions and 5-time World bronze medalists; Assistant Coach for the Lexettes and Ice Mates
Ranking: Level IX Ranking with the PSA
Competitive Achievements: Five-time ISU World Synchronized Skating bronze medalists (Haydenettes); 13-time U.S. Synchronized Skating Champions (Haydenettes)
Disciplines: Synchronized Skating, Choreography, and Performance
Competitive Background: Member of Rockettes synchronized skating team (Finland); Two-time ISU World Synchronized Skating Championships competitor; ISU World Synchronized Skating silver medalist
Coaching Awards and Seminars: Presenter at many U.S. Figure Skating and PSA annual seminars including 2012 PSA International Conference and Tradeshow, Boston; 2008 PSA Synchronized Skating Coach of the Year; Synchronized Skating Training Festivals and Coaches College Synchronized Skating DREAM Camps; Program Components Camp
Skating Awards and Accomplishments: Two-time ISU World Synchronized Skating Championships competitor, Helsinki Rockettes; Finland ISU World Synchronized Skating silver medalist
2024 Inductees
Tammy Gambill
Phillip Mills
Carla DiGirolamo & Lee Ann Shoker
Contributors
Mitch Moyer
PSA Hall of Fame: 2022
Mitch Moyer, World and Olympic coach, was the first coach hired by U.S. Figure Skating as the Senior Director, Athlete High Performance in 2006 to collaborate and work with coaches, athletes, and officials to create a pathway for success on the world stage. The scope encompasses all Team USA, International Selection Pool, and the developmental pipeline feeding into elite level figure skating. His tireless efforts have taken the programming to new heights. His dedication to coaches has continued throughout his prestigious career.
Mitch has always been a strong alliance and supporter of PSA and has attended almost every board meeting and conference in the last 15 years. He has truly changed the coaching culture. Mitch works closely with the USOPC and develops a high-performance plan for U.S. Figure Skating to ensure the top athletes in Team USA have the proper support and U.S. Figure Skating has the funding to enhance the podium potential for Team USA at ISU Championship events and the Olympic Games. Mitch has served as the team leader for figure skating in the past four Olympic Winter Games.
During the majority of his 25-year coaching career, Mitch embraced a team coaching philosophy and worked with several coaches at the Detroit Skating Club and trained many national and international champions/medalists from 1988 through 2006. The pair teams who trained at the Detroit Skating Club were coached primarily by Johnny Johns, Jason Dungjen and Mitch Moyer included U.S. Pair Champions from juvenile through senior levels including 1999 U.S. Pair Champions, Danielle Hartsell / Steve Hartsell and Olympic Team members Marcy Hinzmann & Aaron Parchem. In addition, Mitch coached national and international athletes to podium results in men’s and women’s singles as well.
While coaching, Mitch was very active in PSA and U.S. Figure Skating serving on numerous committees in both organizations and as a member of U.S. Figure Skating’s Board of Directors and PSA’s Board of Governors. In addition, he served as a staff member at several Team USA camps and was the initial recipient of the Pieter Kollen Sports Science Award in 2004.
Mitch is a published author with Johnny Johns, Shaun Riney, and Stephen Goldman in the Journal of Athletic Training of National Athletic Trainers Association with an article on Prevention of Lateral Hip Injuries in Competitive Figure Skaters. Mitch is a published contributor in the American Academy Osteopathy Journal (AAO) with Stephen I. Goldman for information on Neuromusculoskeletal Causes of Back Pain in Competitive Figure Skaters. This scientific paper/thesis was submitted in partial fulfillment of requirements for Fellowship in the American Academy of Osteopathy. The first author, Stephen I. Goldman, was conferred status as Fellow in 2005. This paper is a collaborative effort involving the osteopathic perspective of Goldman and the coaching perspective of Mitch Moyer as the second author. Goldman and Moyer document dramatic increase in back pain complaints among higher competitive levels of both freestyle and pairs figure skating. Of significance in this paper is the recognition of repetitive overuse due to consistently rotating, jumping and falling in one direction. Patterns are described and the implementation of osteopathic manipulative management is discussed.
Homer Hagedorn
Stats: 1926-2019
PSA Hall of Fame: 2022
Homer Hagedorn was involved in figure skating for many years. He and his wife, Pat (USFSA Secretary 1995-1998) watched their sons grow up skating, and after their sons finished competing, they wanted to give back to the sport (circa 1983). This led both to become very involved in the leadership of the United States Figure Skating Association where Homer served as the Chair of the Strategic and Long-Range Planning Committee. Through these experiences, he was well aware of the needs and plans for the USFSA. In addition, he represented the USFSA, at the request of the USFSA Board, on the ISI board of directors for over 18 years. These experiences gave Homer the depth and the breadth of the scope of the players involved within PSA and USFSA.
Knowing his background, one can understand why he was a master of coordination and leadership as he was Valedictorian at Iowa State, and had his Master’s and Ph.D. degrees from Harvard followed by a Fulbright Scholarship at the London School of Economics. He started his professional career at MIT’s Lincoln Labs in the Human Resources Department working to coordinate MIT students within their first working experience. Homer next served as a staff Director at the Institute of Naval Strategic Studies. He then led the management consulting practice focused on Organization Design and Development at Arthur D. Little, Inc. for over 35 years.
In 1995 the United States Olympic Committee mandated that every NGB (Sport) have a coaching educational arm to create coaching education material and deliver that information to all coaches. During that time the PSA was under microscopic review by the USFSA. To comply with the USOC’s mandate, USFSA President Morey Stillwell created a committee to this end. The committee was Coaches Certification and Education headed by Homer Hagedorn. The purpose was to determine if the PSA was, in fact, the most credible organization to deliver coaches’ education to the sport of Figure Skating in the USA. After several years of exhausting review, Homer was able to satisfy the top leadership of U.S. Figure Skating and the USOC that indeed the PSA was the best vehicle to deliver figure skating coaching curriculum because these two organizations could depend on each other and on their strengths. At the 1997 PSA Conference in Nashville, the agreement between USFSA and the PSA was signed making PSA the coaching delivery arm for U.S. Figure Skating.
While not a skating coach who produced champions, himself, Homer made it possible for today’s coaches to be well educated and informed. Without Homer’s significant work on behalf of figure skating and the PSA, the PSA would not be what it is today.
Bob Mock
PSA Hall of Fame: 2023
Bob Mock was born in 1950 and currently lives in Pennsylvania.
Bob was coached by Tim Doyle, Claire O’Neill Dillie, Susan Gillespie, and Ron Ludington. His skating career was Influenced by the Ice Capades Skating Academy in Pittsburgh. Bob's family also managed outdoor rink in 1960s.
Throughout his career, Bob received numerous awards, which include: Jimmy Disbrow Award (U.S. Figure Skating); Erika Amundsen Award (ISI); F. Ritter Shumway Award (PSA); and Lifetime Achievement Award (PSA).
Bob served on the Board of Directors for U.S. Figure Skating, the PSA, and the ISI Ice Arena Institute of Management. He was the U.S. Figure Skating Coaches Committee Chair from 1992-1996, and served as PSA President from 1994-1999.
Throughout his career, Bob was mentored by Fred Mock, George Lipchick, and Sandy Lamb.
Working together with Barb Gahagen, Bob coached numerous national and international ice dancers. He was also the former director of Center Ice Arena in Delmont, Pennsylvania.
Bob was the founder and editor of American Skating World newsmagazine, which circulated from 1981–2002. He also negotiated the 1997 agreement that established PSA as the official coaching division of U.S. Figure Skating, as mandated by U.S. Olympic Committee.
In 1995 the United States Olympic Committee mandated that every NGB (Sport) have a coaching educational arm to create coaching education material and deliver that information to all coaches. During that time the PSA was under microscopic review by the USFSA. To comply with the USOC’s mandate, USFSA President Morey Stillwell created a committee to this end. The committee was Coaches Certification and Education headed by Homer Hagedorn. The purpose was to determine if the PSA was, in fact, the most credible organization to deliver coaches’ education to the sport of Figure Skating in the USA. After several years of exhausting review, Homer was able to satisfy the top leadership of U.S. Figure Skating and the USOC that indeed the PSA was the best vehicle to deliver figure skating coaching curriculum because these two organizations could depend on each other and on their strengths. At the 1997 PSA Conference in Nashville, the agreement between USFSA and the PSA was signed making PSA the coaching delivery arm for U.S. Figure Skating.
While not a skating coach who produced champions, himself, Homer made it possible for today’s coaches to be well educated and informed. Without Homer’s significant work on behalf of figure skating and the PSA, the PSA would not be what it is today.
Gale Tanger
PSA Hall of Fame: 2023
Gale is a former competitor and a graduate of the University of Wisconsin. She is a Championship Referee, Technical Controller, and Judge for Singles, Pairs, and Synchronized Skating for both the International Skating Union, as well as U.S. Figure Skating. Gale is a Past First Vice-President of U.S. Figure Skating and has served on the U.S. Olympic Committee Board of Directors where she also chaired Winter Sports Council. Gale is a former ISU Representative for U.S. Figure Skating. In this capacity she serves on the ISU Grand Prix Commission, and presents the U.S. proposals to the ISU Congress. She also serves on numerous committees within U.S. Figure Skating.
Gale was appointed by the U.S. Olympic Committee as the Assistant “Chef de Mission” for the Salt Lake City Winter Games. She also served as Team Leader of the U.S. Figure Skating Team to the 1994 Lillehammer Winter Olympics, and has team led numerous U.S. teams at Championships and International events.
Her home club is the Wisconsin Figure Skating Club, where she continues to serve on the Board of Directors. She also represents the club as U.S. Figure Skating representative and delegate. She and her husband, Tom, founded “Skate Milwaukee” and have established a special Scholarship Fund for Athlete-Scholars at the Wisconsin Figure Skating Club.
Gale is one of the authors of the Component Scoring for the International Judging System (IJS). Using her professional dance and choreography background, she continues to work and develop new materials to support the understanding of Components in the IJS. She is a recognized International Skating Union Component Moderator for seminars, and continues to present seminars throughout the world to foster the understanding of Components.
Charlie Cyr
Gerry Lane
Caroline Silby
Judy Lund Thomas
Early Influences
Teresa Weld Blanchard
PSA Hall of Fame: 2011
Stats: 1893 – 1978
Titles: First U.S. ladies champion in 1914 and 1920–24; nine-time U.S. pair champion with Nathaniel Niles; first North American champion 1923; North American pair champion 1925; three-time Olympian; bronze medalist in 1920 (first U.S. skating medal)
Halls of Fame: PSA 2012, U.S. Figure Skating 1976
Honorary ASG President: 1940, 1941
Coached by: Fritz Schmidt before World War I, and Willie Frick starting in 1920
Many Roles: World judge; organizer of the first judges school, in Lake Placid in 1936; member of USFSA executive committee for 13 years and chair of many committees, including professionals committee 1937 – 47
Edited: Founded Skating magazine in 1923 with Niles to establish an “official bulletin” of U.S. Figure Skating; volunteer editor until 1963
Cutting Edge: Chair of U.S. Figure Skating Association professionals committee 1937 – 47
“Tee” was the first United States Ladies Champion in 1914. She won five more times from 1920 to 1924. She was the first North American Ladies Champion in 1923. She competed on the first formal U.S. Olympic Team in 1920 and won the first Olympic medal by a woman at those games, a Bronze Medal. In addition she was nine-time U.S. Pair Champion with Nathaniel Niles, North American Pair Champion, 3-time Waltz Champion of the United States, and Original Dance Champion in 1931. In 1934 she was a member of the U.S. Fours champions. While her skating prowess and versatility are quite amazing, her early influence on North American coaching is the reason we wish to nominate her for induction this year. Mrs. Blanchard and her husband founded Skating Magazine in 1923 to establish “some sort of bulletin” to spread the news of the sport and to promote the Association’s aims and rules. During the USFSA’s early years, she acted as a “clearing house” for skaters making the transition from amateur to professional status. She served as a placement bureau for skaters before the existence of the American Skaters Guild. In 1938 she organized the first meeting of North American coaches in Lake Placid, where 13 coaches from across the United States and Canada attended. At that meeting, with her assistance, the American Skaters Guild was founded with Willy Boeckl selected as the Guild’s first president. Because of her influence on the coaching community at that time and the work she did to launch this new association, she was made an honorary member of the American Skaters Guild.
Robert Ogilvie
PSA Hall of Fame: 2012
Stats: Born 1916 in England. In 1948, married pair partner, Joan Astley Ogilvie (1920-2003). Moved to U.S. 1955.
PSA Hall of Fame: 2012
Coached by: Jacques Gerschwiler
Competed: Represented England in pairs, with Joan Ogilvie, in European and world championships and 1948 Olympics
Show Biz: Featured pair in European and U.S. ice shows
Coached: With Joan in California, Minnesota, Maryland, Virginia, and Denmark
Cutting Edge: Developed Ogilvie-Gutzman blade gauges; developed USFSA Basic Test Program 1968; PSA-sponsored New Era Figures 1990s
Authored: Basic Ice Skating Skills, An Official Handbook Prepared for the United States Figure Skating Association (J.B. Lippincott & Co., 1968); Competitive Figure Skating: A Parent’s Guide (Harper & Rowe, 1985); Basic Principles of Sharpening (1986); New Era Figures Handbook (PSA, 1993)
Robert S. Ogilvie had been a member of the PSA from 1959 until he passed away on November 18, 2013, in Baltimore, Maryland, at the age of 97. Robert began skating in London, England in 1923 at the age of seven. He reported being able, in his teens, to observe leading European skaters practice and perform because London was an international skating center in the 1920s and 1930s. Robert later trained with the eminent Swiss coach Jacque Gerschwiler and became a judge for the National Skating Association of Great Britain. On September 6, 1940, Bob reported for training as an X-Ray technician at the Royal Army Medical College in London. The college was about half a mile down the Thames River from Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament and about 100 yards from the “Ice Club”. On the second night of his stay, the Germans started the “blitz” by dropping a bomb on the Ice Club, destroying the building which was never rebuilt. After a period of intense attacks, bombing continued spasmodically during his stay. Fortunately, the Queens Ice Club near Hyde Park was below ground and continued to function throughout the War both as a rink and air raid shelter. Regrettably said Mr. Ogilvie, one of the Queens Ice Club professionals, Walter Gregory, the inventor of the Rhumba, joined the Royal Air Force and was killed while fighting a German attack. After the war, he formed a pair with Joan Thompson (1920-2003), a Gold Test figure and free skate skater. In 1947 and 1948, they represented the British team as pair skaters at the Europeans, Worlds, and Olympics. They turned professional and performed in skating shows across Europe before immigrating to the United States to join a skating show at the Conrad Hilton Hotel in Chicago. In 1958, they began teaching at Frank Zamboni’s rink in Paramount, California, and taught subsequently at other figure skating clubs before being invited in 1960 to become the lead professionals at the Ice Club of Baltimore. For many years Robert made analytical studies of figures and free skating, resulting in the first USFSA Test Program Manual accompanied by the USFSA-sponsored book Basic Ice Skating Skills (1968). Robert also authored Competitive Figure Skating, a Parent’s Guide (1985), New Era Figures (1993), two four-page entries on skating for the Encyclopedia American, and numerous articles in PS Magazine, including six published during the past two years when he was 96 and 97 years of age. He also collaborated with Alan Gutzman to design and manufacture the Ogilvie-Gutzman Blade Gauges. Robert’s PSA qualifications included Master of Figures, Free Skating, Pair, Group, and Program Director, and he served for many years as a PSA master-rated examiner on exam panels.
Eugene Turner
PSA Hall of Fame: 2012
Stats: 1920 – 2010
Halls of Fame: PSA 2012 - Early Influences, U.S. and World 1983
Coached by: Himself and his mother, a skating judge, in Los Angeles
Titles: U.S. champion 1940, 1941; U.S. pairs champion with Donna Atwood 1941; dance silver medalist with Elizabeth Kennedy in 1941. Only skater to medal in three disciplines in one U.S. Championships
Show Biz: Partnered Sonja Henie in Hollywood Ice Revue. Appeared in movies with Henie and Belita Jepson-Turner. Doubled in movies for Cary Grant and Patrick Knowles
Coached or Choreographed: Tenley Albright, Richard Dwyer, Cathy Machado, Karol and Peter Kennedy, Tim Brown, and Allen Schramm. Worked mainly in California until age 80
Family: Seven children, three daughters skated seriously. Mary Jo competed. Terry and Lisa skated in ice shows. Lisa coached 15 years
Eugene Turner was the 1940 and 1941 U.S. Men’s Champion. In 1941, he was also the first skater to medal in all three disciplines. In addition to his Men’s title, he won the pair event with Donna Atwood and the bronze in Dance with Elizabeth Kennedy. At the time of the attack on Pearl Harbor, Gene was still skating and teaching, had done three movies, and a short tour with Sonja Henie. He enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Force and eventually piloted a P-47 Thunderbolt for 69 missions over Germany and occupied France. When Lieutenant Turner was asked if he had any close calls over Germany, he replied the only exciting time was when a farmer took pot shots at his airplane. According to a recollection that Gene wrote to his daughter Chris, Gene had just come out of a strafing run when there was an explosion in the cockpit. “I’ve been hit” he yelled, only to realize that his rear view mirror had been blasted. He got a sliver of glass in his eye. Returning to the base, the glass was removed and he was shown a hole in his canopy where the bullet had penetrated. In typical fashion, his fellow pilots teased him to put in for a purple heart. After the war, he skated professionally with Sonya Henie during her tour and in the movie *Iceland*. He also was a skating double for Cary Grant in *The Bishop's Wife* in 1948. As a coach, he taught or choreographed for Allen Schramm, Dudley Richards, Karol Kennedy, Peter Kennedy, Catherine Machado, Richard Dwyer, Tim Brown, and Tenley Albright. He was inducted into the United States Figure Skating Hall of Fame in 1983.
Willy Frick
PSA Hall of Fame: 2013
Stats: 1896 – 1964. Born in Berlin, Germany. Married partner and fellow coach Cathleen Pope
American Skaters Guild (PSA) President: 1939
Halls of Fame: PSA 2013, World Figure Skating 1981
Tests: In one day in 1933, passed all of the figure tests of the National Skating Association of Great Britain
Coached: At The Skating Club of Boston 1920-60; champions included Theresa Weld Blanchard, Gretchen Merrill, Joan Tozzer and Bernard Fox, George Hill, Maribel Vinson, Roger Turner, Tenley Albright
Cutting Edge: Encouraged summer training and took Boston skaters to England in the 1930s
Claims to Fame: Known as “Boy Wonder of Berlin” for exhibitions in Europe; performed “candle dance,” skating patterns around lit candles on the ice
Willie Frick was born in Berlin but came to the United States at a very young age in 1920 following the First World War. He almost immediately joined the Skating Club of Boston and soon became its top teaching professional. He taught at the famed Boston facility until 1960 and worked with every major star coming out of the club, including the first National Ladies Champion, Theresa Weld Blanchard, and the first American Olympic figure skating champion Tenley Albright. He also coached one of the most decorated American figure skaters of all time, Maribel Vinson, a nine-time U.S. national champion. Known as ‘The Boy Wonder of Berlin,’ Frick skated in the SCB’s special productions called Carnival. His signature performance was known as the candle dance, when he would perform special figures around lighted candles on the ice. He was also credited as the inventor of the Frick Spin, a variation of the sit spin in which a skater holds onto their extended free foot with one or both hands. After establishing himself in the United States, he returned to Europe and gave exhibitions throughout the eastern countries, often traveling with his students from Boston.
Nathan Walley
PSA Hall of Fame: 2013
Stats: 1907 – 1975
American Skaters Guild (PSA) President: 1941
Hall of Fame: PSA 2013
Titles: Open Professional Champion of Great Britain 1934, 1935
Show Biz: Performed with wife, Edythe, in Ice Capades starting in the mid-1940s. Later, director of figure skating for Ice Capades and Holiday on Ice in U.S. and worldwide
Cutting Edge: Known as a “spin doctor” for show skaters. The Walley, a one-revolution jump taking off from a back inside edge, is named after him
Claim to Fame: Daughter, the late Deborah Walley, played Gidget in movies with Elvis Presley
Nathan Evans Walley was born on January 4, 1907, in St. Paul. Raised in Minneapolis, Walley started his professional career at Lake Forest, Illinois around 1930. A high school graduate, Nathan was the oldest of eight siblings and prior to his first teaching position was a machinist at the Johnston Mfg. Co., where his father was foreman. Walley moved west when a group of winter sports enthusiasts formed the Skate and Ski Club of San Francisco and hired Walley as one of their club professionals in the fall of 1932. After that season, he traveled to Melbourne, Australia, beginning a period of continent-hopping that would last throughout the 30s. Finishing that first season in Australia, Walley sailed the SS Oronsay from Sydney to London, arriving September 28, 1933, to teach at the world-famous Streatham Ice Arena in London. The Walley jump was invented around that time in England. The Walley jump has been credited in North America to being invented by Nate. The Walley jump requires the skater to take off from the right back inside edge into a single counterclockwise revolution before landing on a right back outside edge on the same foot. Controversially, Europeans believe that Scottish skater Pat Low invented the jump in England and Karl Schafer, two-time Olympic Champion and seven-time World Champion, was thought to be working on a similar move around the same time in Vienna. Walley was teaching at the Streatham rink in London in 1933 and 1934 and won his first Open Championship in the latter year. It is possible that Walley and Low were together in England in 1934 and one influenced the other. Regardless, Nate eventually introduced the jump to North America, which is still called the Walley. Walley was hired by the Skating Club of Cleveland in 1938, the same year he married fellow coach and performer Edith Dustman. While still teaching in Cleveland, Walley and his wife toured the country skating in Maribel Vinson and Guy Owen’s International Ice Revue. When the club closed for the summer, Walley was featured at the International Casino in New York and the St. Regis Hotel, New York, during the autumn. That winter, Walley took all eight figure tests, becoming the first professional to become a Gold Medalist. Walley was also a Gold Medalist in Great Britain and Australia. Walley commented in Skating Magazine that he considered the United States test much harder and more thorough than either the British or Australian Gold Tests. Walley and his wife continued to perform in venues like the New Yorker Hotel’s Terrace room where they performed with the world-famous Belita. The summer of 1940 was spent in Lake Placid where Nathan was voted Vice President of the two-year-old American Skaters Guild. The following summer, days after being elected President of the American Skaters Guild, Walley and his wife moved to Westport, Connecticut, where their first and only child, Deborah Edith Walley, was born on August 12. As World War II raged on, the touring shows were having difficulty finding men for their shows. In 1944, Ice Capades hired Nathan, Edith, and 3-year-old Deborah, who spent the next 5 years performing as a family. Following their career with Ice Capades, Nate was once again elected to the Executive Committee of the rebirth of the American Skaters Guild, now called the Professional Skaters Guild of America. Edith and Nate were divorced in 1953 but continued to teach in Connecticut. Over the following years, Nathan continued to be involved with touring shows. He was a company manager for Ice Capades in 1957 and continued to work for Capades as a unit coach until late in his life. Also, in the 1960s, he was Director of Skating for "Holiday On Ice" in Europe and Asia. He moved back to St. Paul in 1961 to teach at the St. Paul Figure Skating Club, and on July 2, 1962, married Carol Lynam, a former Ice Capades performer. Nate Walley died on October 15, 1975, in Minneapolis.
Willy Boeckl
PSA Hall of Fame: 2013
Stats: 1893 – 1975
Titles: World champion 1925 – 28; Olympic silver medalist 1924, 1928; six-time European champion; four-time Austrian champion
American Skaters Guild (PSA) President: 1938 and 1940
Hall of Fame: PSA 2013, World Figure Skating 1977
First Coach: His mother
Coached: Skating Club of New York and Lake Placid. After retiring, became a judge.
Cutting Edge: Invented Boeckl jump, similar to inside Axel
Willy Boeckl (he changed his name from the original ‘Bockl’), an engineer, made his name as a skater in his native Austria. He won four consecutive World Figure Skating championships from 1925 through 1928, and also captured the European championships six times and the Austrian title four times. He competed twice in the Winter Olympics but finished second both times, failing to defeat Gillis Grafstrom of Sweden in each competition, first at Chamonix in France and then in St. Moritz, Switzerland. Boeckl retired from competition after the 1928 Games. In 1937, Boeckl published a book titled “Willy Boeckl on Figure Skating”, a treatise on his philosophies toward both skating and coaching. The book was reprinted in 2012 by Literary Licensing. In 1938, Boeckl left Europe to coach in the burgeoning American skating market. He joined the Skating Club of New York and worked there for more than 20 years. That August, Boeckl attended a meeting of thirteen prominent Canadian and United States figure skating instructors in Lake Placid, NY, for the purpose of forming an association of professional figure skaters. At that meeting Willy became the first president of the American Skaters Guild, the precursor of the Professional Skaters Association. During his coaching life, he invented what was originally known as “The Boeckl jump” which later became known as the Inside Axel. It required the takeoff to come from the inside edge. “He was a strong coach of figures,” said Ben Wright, the PSA historian and former president of the United States Figure Skating Association (USFSA). “Many top competitors in that day sought him out.”
George H. Browne
PSA Hall of Fame: 2014
Stats: 1857 - 1931
Halls of Fame: PSA 2014, USFSA 1983
Cutting Edge: The G.H. Browne Skate was patented on May 2, 1916. The blade featured only 2, low stanchions, and an all steel skate.
Authored: A Handbook of Figure Skating Arranged for Use on the Ice, Barney and Berry, 1907
Claims to Fame: Organized the first exhibition of the International Style of Skating in North America in 1908 and is considered to have been the “father” of modern figure skating in the United States. (Skating in America, Benjamin T. Wright, 1996) The U.S. Men’s Championship Trophy is named for him in memoriam.
Browne, who was headmaster of the Browne and Nichols School of Cambridge, Mass., became enthralled with the international style of skating, which is what skaters in Europe were doing while Americans were still doing figures. The “international style” is basically what all figure skaters do today, but at the turn of the 20th century it was revolutionary. In 1890, Browne wrote the first book detailing the delights of the international style, and in 1908 he took a sabbatical from his headmaster position to go to Switzerland to study the skating style. Upon his return, he coordinated with local Boston area skaters to put on exhibitions, and with the assistance of local businessmen, he organized and staged the first International Figure Skating Championship of America in 1914, which was held at the New Haven Skating Club. The championship led the Back Bay community of Boston to combine efforts to create the area’s first artificial skating rink. Those people who had been members of the Cambridge Skating Club eventually became members of the Skating Club of Boston. Browne’s efforts in promoting skating in the United States are thought to be one of the stepping stones that led to the creation of the United States Figure Skating Association in 1921. Browne was also responsible for creating a new skate that could be beneficial in skating in the international style. Among the family members representing Browne at the Hall of Fame ceremony in Palm Springs in May were his granddaughter Bettina Sawhill and his great-grandson Bruce A. Crane.
Hans Gershwiler
PSA Hall of Fame: 2016
Stats: 1920 - 2017. Born in Arbon, Switzerland.
Halls of Fame: PSA 2016
Coached by: Uncles Jacques Gerschwiler and Arnold Gerschwiler
Coached: Margaret Crossland, Joan Shipham, Doreen Lister, Doug Leigh, Carol Noir, Suna Murray, Scott Cramer, and David Lipowitz.
Cutting Edge: Brought the Gerschwiler Method of Skating to North America
Claims to Fame: Silver medal, 1948 Winter Olympics; 1947 World Champion; 5-time Swiss Champion
Born in Switzerland in 1920, Gerschwiler trained to be a champion ice skater under the tutelage of his uncle, Arnold Gerschwiler, who learned a highly scientific approach to skating introducing the idea of physiology to the pursuit from his own brother Jacques. Such teaching flew in the face of the previous styles of ice skating—the technically proficient skaters doing figures, and the aesthetically pleasing skaters who combined physical skill with the beauty of ballet. But Hans Gerschwiler won using his uncle’s style, and when he came to North America, he brought with him the Gerschwiler method of skating, creating a new pursuit of skaters to use the science of physiology along with the technical and dance aspects previously employed. Gerschwiler’s accomplishments as a skater were impressive but could have been more so if not for the interruption from World War II. After debuting as a skater in 1939, he worked during the war but trained sufficiently for the day when international competitions could again occur. He won the 1947 World Figure Skating Championships in Stockholm and the European Figure Skating Championships, then went on to claim the silver medal at the 1948 Winter Olympics, finishing behind American Dick Button. He was the first Swiss man to win a silver medal at the Olympics until Stéphane Lambiel did so in this century. Gerschwiler turned professional after the 1948 Games and eventually wound up in Canada, where he began his coaching career. He came to North America at a time similar to the immigration coaching legends and Hall of Famers John Nicks and Carlo Fassi. While coaching in Toronto, Gerschwiler trained Canadian Ladies Champion Margaret Crossland, Junior Ladies Champions Joan Shipham and Doreen Lister, and Canadian skater and coach Doug Leigh. Gerschwiler then moved south into the United States and ended up in New Jersey, working at the South Mountain Arena in West Orange. There he coached and influenced skaters such as Carol Noir, Suna Murray, Scott Cramer, and David Lipowitz. While there, he influenced Hall of Fame coach Peter Burrows to come to the United States as well, and the two worked together, with Burrows doing much of the international traveling with students when Gerschwiler was unable to do so.
Dr. Richard Porter
PSA Hall of Fame: 2020
Stats: 1931 - 2018
Halls of Fame: World, 2018; PSA 2020
Claims to Fame: Considered to be the “father” of Synchronized Skating
Dr. Richard Porter, a longtime University of Michigan health department professor, loved skating. A lower-level judge, he skated himself during adult sessions and enjoyed sharing the sport with his daughters, their friends, University of Michigan colleagues, and those associated with the Ann Arbor FSC. Dr. Porter is considered to be the “father” of Synchronized Skating. It can be said that Dr. Porter created his field “by accident.” The concept of precision team skating came to Porter in the fall of 1956 when he observed a group of teen girls—members of the previous year's skating chorus at the Ann Arbor FSC—choreographing steps and moves on the ice. Within a few months, the team of two dozen girls helped to create programs to perform between periods at two University of Michigan hockey games, and thus, the Hockettes were born. Dr. Porter was also instrumental in setting up the rules for the first precision team competition and by 1976, there were 17 teams at the Ann Arbor competition—which currently is known as the Dr. Richard Porter Synchronized Classic. Due to the vision, dedication, and early leadership of Dr. Richard Porter, thousands of skaters around the world are enjoying the discipline of synchronized skating.
Osborne Colson
PSA Hall of Fame: 2021
Coached: Red Brainbridge, Don Laws, Lori Nichol, Sarah Kawahara, Patrick Chan
Cutting Edge: Embraced team teaching
Osborne Colson, often known as Mr. C, was the 1935 and 1936 Canadian Champion and went on to coach Hall of Famers Red Bainbridge, Don Laws, Lori Nichol, and Sarah Kawahara, amongst thousands of skaters who are now coaches from all over the world. His career spanned 70 years as a competitor, Ice Follies star, and coach. He directed and choreographed Barbara Ann Scott’s Canadian Professional Tour in the 1950s and took Don Jackson under his wing when he became a professional in the 1960s. He nurtured Sarah Kawahara, a shy 6-year-old, guiding her throughout her career. When Patrick Chan was 15, Mr. C. knew he had a champion on his hands and taught him right up to the end of his life. Mr. C.’s ultimate creation was a skating school to encompass his vision – The Banff School of Fine Arts, which lasted 11 years. His philosophy was that the arts are all related, and figure skating is indeed an art form as well as a sport. He believed in team teaching in the 1960s and was ahead of his time. Whether his students became career skaters or not, Mr. C. was interested in cultivating multi-layered people. Beyond being a life teacher, a skating teacher, and coach, he was simply a wonderfully creative, unique individual.
Otto Gold
PSA Hall of Fame: 2022
Stats: 1909-1977
Titles: European Silver Medalist
Hall of Fame: 2022
Coached: Sonja Henie, Barbara Ann Scott, Don Jackson
Gold, who competed in men's singles, won the silver medal at the 1930 European Figure Skating Championships in Berlin. He began coaching in 1932, working with Sonja Henie at the 1935 World Figure Skating Championships. In 1937, he moved to Ontario, Canada, where he began a four-decade coaching career at the Minto Skating Club. He was one of the first coaches of 1948 Olympic champion Barbara Ann Scott and also worked in Vancouver, Norwalk, Conn., and Lake Placid, NY. He coached Don Jackson to his first Canadian title and was a fixture in Lake Placid during the summers of the 1950s and 1960s, helping stars like Dorothy Hamill and Mary Batdorf Scotvold, as well as Slavka Kahout Button. Known for his tough demeanor and piercing black eyes, Gold was recognized for raising the level of figure skating in North America. He died in April 1977 from injuries caused by a fire at his apartment in Toronto and is interred in Spring Grove Cemetery in Fairfield County, Connecticut. His daughter, Frances Gold Lind, was a figure skater who placed fourth at the 1962 U.S. Figure Skating Championships and later became a coach. Gold was inducted into the Canadian Figure Skating Hall of Fame in its inaugural class of 1990.
Jean Westwood
PSA Hall of Fame: 2023
Stats: 1932-2022
Skating Career: Four-time World Ice Dance Champion (1952-1955) with Lawrence Demmy; 1952 was the first World Championship for Ice Dancing. Competed in National Singles, Pairs, and Dance in Great Britain.
Coaching Career: Turned pro in 1955 and began teaching in Lake Placid, NY for four summers and at Arctic Blades Club in California during winters. Early students included Maribel Owens, Ron Ludington, and Otto and Maria Jelinek. Started teaching in Toronto in 1956. Her early students won national Senior and Junior titles in Ice Dance, including Roland Junso and Joan Zamboni, who finished fourth at Worlds. Paired Chuck Phillips and Margie Ackles, who won the US Senior Ice Dance title. Team-taught with the late Billy Kipp, who perished in the 1961 World Team air crash. Also served as skating director and assistant choreographer for Ice Follies. Taught 1966 American World Ice Dance Champions John Carroll and Lorna Dyer, and American World Silver Medalists Dennis Sveum and Kristin Fortune while at the Broadmoor. Later taught Joan Bitterman and Brad Hislop at the 1969 World Championships, and Brad Hislop and Debbie Ganson, who finished 9th at the 1970 World Championships.
Jean passed away in 2022 and is enshrined in the Canadian, U.S., and World Figure Skating Halls of Fame.
Photo courtesy of Skate Canada