Ferocious and Precise

JAY ADEFF/U.S. FIGURE SKATING
U.S. JUNIOR CHAMPIONS – LADIES
by KAMA KORVELA
There are few skaters — at any age or level
— that possess both polish and power. There are
even fewer skaters who can master a technically
difficult program and make it look like an effortless dance across the ice.
In the junior ladies short program at the
2013 Prudential U.S. Championships in Omaha,
Neb., Polina Edmunds showed the skating world
that she could do both. Dressed in a traditional
Russian gypsy costume, she pranced, spun and
leaped, resembling a prima ballerina at the Bolshoi Ballet. At the conclusion of the event, Edmunds proved she was without question the top
junior lady in the country.
The junior level is full of promising athletes,
but the 15‒year-old sophomore at Archbishop
Mitty High School stands out because of her ability to blend strong technical expertise with a light,
almost airy presentation style.
“Polina is a ferocious and precise skater,” said
Marina Klimova, the 1992 Olympic ice dancing champion who is Edmunds’ choreographer.
“There is a natural ease in her body that draws
your eye. In addition to her long and powerful
lines, she stands out for the superb clarity of her
movement.”
David Glynn, who also coaches Edmunds,
echoed Klimova’s thoughts.
“What separates Polina from other skaters is
that she has a rare ability to be soft and delicate
while skating with strength and power,” he said.
“She powers into the most difficult elements and
makes them look light and effortless. It’s the ultimate goal in skating — to take something difficult and make it look easy.”
Edmunds began skating at a young age in
San Jose, Calif. — home to some of the greatest
figure skaters of all time, including Brian Boitano,
Rudy Galindo, Charlie Tickner, Peggy Fleming,
Debi Thomas and Kristi Yamaguchi.
“My mother (Nina Edmunds) put me in
skates on the ice when I was 21 months old and
to her surprise — I walked, and walked with confidence,” she said.
A few months later, Nina started to teach her
daughter in skating lessons.
“Her theory is that young children enjoy
learning to skate in small groups where they can
have fun and sort of compete with each other to
see who can learn the movement,” Polina said.
During her lessons, she not only worked on
Polina lives in a competitive household that includes her hockey-playing brothers James, 17; and Daniel, 11; and their dog, Domino.
PHOTO COURTESY OF NINA EDMUNDS
Polina Edmunds
jumped from sixth in
2012 to win the junior
gold medal in Omaha.
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AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2013
U.S. JUNIOR CHAMPIONS – LADIES
JAY ADEFF/U.S. FIGURE SKATING
Edmunds will carry her repertoire of big tricks into her senior debut
season.
Pacific Regional),” Edmunds said. “Winning was
great, but it was also a relief to feel like I had finally broken through and won my first medal at
nationals — and it was gold.”
Glynn was especially proud of his pupil’s
efforts at the recent U.S. Championships, as her
free skate was awarded the Best Performance by
a Female Skater at the event by the Professional
Skaters Association.
“At nationals, Polina did a fantastic job of
putting it all together as a complete product,” he
said. “It was impressive to watch!”
Edmunds’ skating is technically impressive,
and now she is working to further develop her
presentation skills as a senior skater, Glynn said.
“She has mastered the technical elements
required to compete with the world’s best skaters,” he said. “Now she has to further develop
her interpretation of the music, work on skating
through the transitions in time to the music, as
well as continuing to draw the audience into her
performances.”
Edmunds has enjoyed experimenting with
different styles of music and this upcoming season
is no different.
“I like to surprise people with different
styles,” she explained. “This year my short program is a cha cha piece and the long program will
be a romantic piece from Peer Gynt (a Norwegian
fairy tale) by Edvard Grieg.” Klimova has been working with Edmunds to
polish the programs and is excited to see how they
unfold throughout the season.
“With her impeccable technique and unfailing musicality, she is the ideal skater for programs
that call for dramatic depth and musicality,” Klimova said.
Edmunds is graduating from the junior
ranks and will compete as a senior this season.
“I know people think I am young, but I
have been competing in juniors for the last three
years,” she said. “I feel like I am ready to take on
competing at the senior level this year.”
“She is pulling out all the stops when it
comes to her new programs,” Glynn said. “Polina
will have the most difficult programs possible in
terms of triple jumps — two triple-triple combinations, two triple Lutzes and two triple flips in
her free skate. Beyond that, she is excited to show
her transformation into a senior lady.”
Birthday: 5-18-1998
Hometown: San Jose, Calif.
Career highlights:
• 2013 Gardena Spring Trophy junior champion
• 2013 U.S. junior champion
• 2013 Pacific Coast Sectional junior champion
• 2013 Central Pacific Regional junior champion
2012 Pacific Coast Sectional
junior bronze medalist
• 2012 Central Pacific Regional junior silver
medalist
• 2011 Pacific Coast Sectional junior bronze
medalist
• 2011 Central Pacific Regional junior silver
medalist
• 2010 Central Pacific Regional novice
champion
Fun facts
• Favorite athletes: Johnny Weir, Aly Raismann
and Victoria Komova
• Favorite TV shows: “Pretty Little Liars” and
“Make It or Break It”
• Favorite music styles: pop, hip-hop and rap
technical skills, but also her creative side.
“To help keep the lessons fun for me, we
did a lot of artistic programs to things like Pippi
Longstocking, Pinocchio, Tinker Bell and TomHall of famer Rudy Galindo works on Edmunds’ lines at a practice
boy,” Edmunds said.
The rich tradition of Russian figure skating
runs deep in the Edmunds family. In addition to
Klimova, Nina Edmunds is part of the youngster’s
coaching team. Nina started skating in her hometown of Tver, Russia. After she graduated from
high school, she attended a four-year physical
education program at Lesgraft Academy in St. Petersburg, Russia, to become an ice skating coach
where her professors included legendary Olympic
coaches Tamara Moskvina and Alexei Mishin.
“My mom is a huge influence for me,” the
teenager said. “She has been able to surround me
with great professional coaches. It’s been great for
me in helping to build my confidence and prepare
me for the bigger competitions to come.”
It takes a village to help build Edmunds into one of the sport’s rising stars. She’s received expert guidance and coaching along the way from
Glynn has worked with Edmunds since she the likes of (l-r) David Glynn, (Polina Edmunds), Marina Klimova and Nina Edmunds.
was 4 years old. He believes her success is due in
part to the collaborative approach she has taken.
“Polina’s skating is a result of great teamwork,” he said. “Marina (Klimova) and Sergei
Ponomarenko have been involved with her development from the beginning. Alexander Fadeyev
in Chicago has helped with Polina’s development
when she was younger and Christy Ness has contributed for many years as well. More recently, as
Polina has developed at the national level, Frank
Carroll (who also coached David Glynn) has taken on a coaching role and become a great source
of guidance.”
The 2013 U.S. Championships were a reflection of Team Edmunds’ hard work and dedication.
“We really worked at preparing and I felt like
I was doing well by winning the regional and sectional events (Pacific Coast Sectional and Central
S K AT I N G
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