Messenger - Vol. 3, No. 4, Page 7 Summer 1994 Top Russian coaches, ice skaters join UD center Worldwide skating circles have found a new center at the University of Delaware with the recent arrival of two top-ranked ice dancing coaches from Moscow, who have joined the University's Ice Skating Science Development Center. Nataliza Linitchuk and Grennadiy Karpanosov, a husband and wife team, won a gold medal in the 1980 Olympics, as well as the European and World Championships, and were national champion ice dancers in the Soviet Union for four years. The coaches bring with them numerous of their Olympic, world and national champion skaters from all over the globe, including the Ukraine, Switzerland, Japan, Italy and the United States. Among the skaters they have coached are the gold medalists in ice dancing at the 1994 Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway, and four teams they trained finished in the top 10, including the gold medalists, in this year's World Championships. "Nataliza Linitchuk and Grennadiy Karpanosov bring an additional luster to the University's already distinguished program in ice skating," President David Roselle said. "Our center has served as a training site for 12 Olympic skaters, as well as for many, many participants in other skating competitions at the regional, national and international levels. This new step promises to increase our impact on the world of figure skating at the international level." "The addition of these acknowledged top ice dancing coaches to our staff and the inclusion of the some of the world's best skaters strengthen the University of Delaware program and brings the center international renown," Ron Ludington, director of the Ice Skating Science Development Center, said. The Russian coaches are bringing to Newark several distinguished proteges from Russia, the Ukraine, Switzerland, Japan, Italy and the United States: * A young Ukrainian husband and wife team of ice dancers, Igor Yaroshenka and Irina Romanova, is ranked fourth in the world. The couple competed in August's Goodwill Games in St. Petersburg where they won the gold medal. * From Russia, Angelika Krylova, a silver medalist, and her new partner, Oleg Ovsyannikov, will begin training as a team at the UD ice center. * Americans Ron Kravette and Amy Webster have come from Boston to train with the Russian coaches. Linitchuk and Karpanosov have coached at the University of Delaware center before for short periods of time, but this year, Ludington invited them to become permanent members of the coaching staff. They had been training students at the Moscow Institute of Physical Culture, but political and economic changes decimated their program. Linitchuk has been on the ice since she was 7. Karpanosov has skated since the age of 8 and was a member of the Soviet Union's national team for 14 years. The two began skating together in the 1970s, culminating in their 1980 Olympic triumph. Although they have been on the campus a short while, Linitchuk and Karpanosov are very much a presence at the rink. As ice dancers whirl, glide, lift and perform dance movements on ice to classical music or jazz, they are both busy coaching talented young athletes. Linitchuk gives advice to one young pair and puts her hands over her face when the girl trips, then reassures her with a big smile. Karpanosov is in the middle of the rink, demonstrating by skating himself how to improve a routine. Their days begin at 6 a.m. and end at 11 p.m. The University of Delaware Ice Skating Science Development Center is a complete training center integrating all of the science and training components in a single site. The program concentrates on three areas: development and training of competitive figure skaters; training and education of coaches; and research directed toward the advancement of knowledge of figure skating mechanics, physiology and equipment development.