At the 2026 U.S. Synchronized Skating International Classic happening in Boston, the Lucey twins will do something they've never done before: watch each other skate as competitors on international ice.

For nearly two decades, Priyanka and Sonia Lucey have shared everything in skating: the same rinks, the same coaches and even the same teams. But this season, for the first time in their lives, Priyanka takes the ice in a Haydenettes jacket while Sonia skates for the Skyliners, turning a lifelong on-ice partnership into a friendly head-to-head rivalry.

If feels fitting that the moment will happen in Boston. The first international event of the season where they and their parents will be in the same building, it's a kind of family reunion combined with one of synchronized skating's biggest stages. 

"It's Hayden's home, and it feels like home for us, too," Sonia, a second-year member of the Skyliners, said. "It's nice to be able to experience our first home international together."

The skaters' paths to this stage began long before either of them could imagine skating for two of the most decorated synchronized skating teams in the sport. They grew up in Madison, Wisconsin, and like many skating stories, theirs started with Learn to Skate USA.

"We both probably started skating when we were 4," Sonia said. "At age 8 or 9, we saw an exhibition for synchro at our home rink. We tried out the next season, and it's been history ever since."

From the beginning, the twins moved up the levels in tandem. Being the same age and skating together meant having a built-in training partner at every stage.
"We always had someone [each other] that skated at the same session," Sonia said. "The feedback from each other helped us improve. It was nice to have someone grow at the same pace and have someone who also understands the sport."

Priyanka, a first-year skater on the Haydenettes, added, "One of the best parts was being able to play around at the rink and make stuff up and then being able to motivate each other to train together."

Upon graduating high school, Sonia and Priyanka turned their sights to the East Coast. Both had successful tryouts with the Skyliners and accepted a spot on the team as they began their respective collegiate studies: Sonia at the University of Connecticut and Priyanka at Wellesley College in Massachusetts. Despite the long commutes, Priyanka found joy in spending her weekends in Connecticut. And both skaters' efforts paid off, as they competed with the team at the 2025 World Synchronized Skating Championships, checking off a goal they had chased for years. They experienced their first World Championships side-by-side in Finland, soaking up the atmosphere and magnitude of representing Team USA on the sport's biggest stage.

"The atmosphere at Worlds was amazing," Priyanka said. "It was probably one of the best events that I've ever skated at. … The crowd was wild and everyone was so excited about synchro. I'll never forget it."

Then came the decision that changed everything.

Priyanka, living outside Boston, had long admired the Haydenettes. Realizing that skating closer to school would make an already demanding balance of academics and elite training more sustainable, she decided to try out. And made the team.

At first, the idea of being on different teams felt like an illusion. Having a year under their belts at separate schools across state lines, the pair had grown used to not seeing each other every day. But as the the season began to take shape, reality set in. Sonia, whose schedule and path remained the same, needed to get used to missing her sister at Skyliners practices. But Priyanka had a whole new world to settle into.

"I was transitioning into a new organization and a new team," Priyanka said. "I realized I was kind of living on my own, which is a first for me, especially being a twin. It's been an interesting experience this year, being on different teams. There are benefits and drawbacks, but it's great to be able to be in a sport that feels like such a small community where we still do get to see each other quite a bit and compete against each other.

"At the senior level everybody's supportive of each other and it's a competitive but friendly rivalry. It's a healthy competition environment and it's great to support the other teams, especially when your sister's on that other team."

Off the ice, their lives have diverged as much as their skating careers. Sonia is set to graduate this year upon completing her sophomore year with a degree in statistical data science. Meanwhile, Priyanka is navigating an intense lab schedule as a biochemistry major. These differences help them continue to grow as individuals, with their lifelong partner just a phone call away.

"Choosing UConn and continuing with the Skyliners helped me grow into my own person," Sonia said. "Now that Priyanka is at the Haydenettes, I've developed more of my own identity and made new connections."

"People always assume that twins are the same skater, same person," Priyanka said. "But that's not really the case. We're related, we have the same coaches, but we skate pretty differently, and I think that's what makes us special."

When Priyanka and Sonia step onto the ice in Boston, it will mark not just a competition, but the continuation of two paths that are unmistakably their own.