The Haydenettes are primed to add another World medal to their collection as the ISU World Synchronized Skating Championships 2026 gets underway Friday in Salzburg, Austria.

The storied synchronized skating team from Norwood, Massachusetts, enter the World Championships as the reigning U.S. champions and World bronze medalists. This season has been defined by grit and pushing themselves to new limits, and the team is eager to close it out with a set of strong performances that they hope will place them back on the podium in Salzburg.
 
In the days leading up to the competition, the Haydenettes worked hard to fine tune their programs.

 
"We have spent a lot of time doing video review, which helps us review things like lineup, unison and facials," six-year team member Paige Felton said. "We are making our last choreographic changes in preparation for the event — our programs truly do not reach their full form until the World Championships."
 
Coach Saga Krantz has charted a path forward for success, explained Autumn Coulthard, who is in her seventh season with the team.
 
"The saying 'practice how you compete and compete how you practice' really rings true for us," Coulthard said. "Saga always has a clear vision of what she wants from the programs and how she wants us to get there, and as skaters we trust her completely. Having that direction makes it easy to stay focused and confident throughout the ups and downs of the process."
 
Their short program, set to Joseph William Morgan's "Crazy Train," signals a return to a style that defined a previous era of Haydenettes, skater Caroline Stohrer said.
 
"We've performed beautiful, softer programs the past two seasons but this season, wanted to showcase a darker and more powerful side in our short," she said. "Some of the most iconic Haydenettes programs are the fast, intense skates like 'Run Boy, Run' or 'Sweet Dreams.' We're glad to call back to that and create a new experience for our fans."
 
The team will skate to "Somewhere Only We Know" by Sons of Serendip for their free program. It holds a deep emotional meaning for the skaters, as it speaks to the trials the team has faced over the past year, including the American Airlines Flight 5342 crash in January 2025. The Skating Club of Boston, where the Haydenettes train, lost six members of its skating community in the crash.
 
For the Haydenettes, the program has become a tribute to resilience and connection.
 
"It's a piece that is near and dear to our hearts," Coulthard said. "It allows each of us to draw from our life experiences and perform with our hearts on our sleeves while truly showcasing our emotions."  
 
Though the competition in Austria will be fierce, their advantage is their depth of experience.
 
"One thing that sets the Haydenettes apart this year is that every single skater on our team has competed internationally," Felton said. "That experience has been valuable because every person on our team has been crucial to the development of our tricks, elements and programs and our successes so far this season."
 
Their ability to keep innovating isn't accidental — it is rooted in the Haydenettes' constant pursuit of improvement.
 
"We continue to raise the bar by focusing on individualized skill development," Coulthard said. "At The Skating Club of Boston, we're fortunate to work with an incredible coaching team that helps us refine our skating skills as well as our jumps, spins and pairs elements outside of our team practices. Everyone on the team is always looking for ways to improve their personal skating, and that collective mindset pushes the entire team forward each season."
 
While the team hopes to bring home another medal, it is not their only focus.     
 
"As a team, we never fixate on results or a specific score — our goal in each practice and each competition is to be, as coach Saga likes to say, '1% better,'" Stohrer said.
 
That determination has shaped not only their skating, but their perspective on the season as a whole, she added
 
"This sport is not easy nor necessarily safe," Stohrer said. "But seeing us come out the stronger for it has been incredibly meaningful. We have big goals for this Worlds, but more importantly, we want to promote a message of love and support to the skating community."
 
Though the team's path has been anything but easy, they are determined to create a meaningful moment for the audience — and for one another, Felton said.
 
"We've been through so much together this season," she said. "We had significant injuries this season — greater in number and severity than in previous years. We also did not have our full team on the ice until several months into the season. This team, this season and these programs are truly 'Somewhere Only We Know.'"