Above: Evelyn Duffy shows her patriotic pride after a recent competition.
By Kama Stigall
It has often been said that the path to success is not a straight line. It’s a journey often paved with curves and twists and, at times, the need to pivot. However, if you stay the course, it can be all worth it — just ask synchronized skater Evelyn Duffy.
Duffy, a senior biomedical engineering student at the University of Massachusetts Lowell, is a member of the Skyliners senior synchronized skating team, which is considered one of the top synchronized teams in the world. Her path to the top is a story of grit, determination and perseverance.
“I started skating because my parents’ house has a pond that freezes over during winter, and my mom wanted me to learn so that I could have fun with family and friends,” Duffy said. “I never really liked skating until I was 8 years old. My mom gave up trying to teach me herself and signed me up for lessons. From the first day of lessons, something clicked, and I never looked back.”
Duffy, who is originally from Nashua, New Hampshire, became involved in synchronized skating when she auditioned for her local team, the Synchro Stars. However, a devastating injury kept her off the ice for several years.
“I had osteochondritis dissecans lesion,” she said. “The cartilage in my ankle died because I had no blood flow, and it caused chunks of bone and cartilage to dislodge and float around freely. It had been building up throughout the years of activity sports.”
Duffy continued, “I only took about two months to rest and even though I was told not to go back without proper rest or surgery, I continued to skate, and I finished out the rest of the season. When it got to the point where I couldn’t even walk without pain, I came to terms and got surgery.”
It would be six long years before Duffy made her way back to figure skating.
“After COVID-19 had started to mellow down, I entered college and still had that urge to skate again, so I joined the UMass Lowell Ice Hawks Skating Club,” she said. “It was performance-based club that entertained at the intermission of hockey games. The skating and practices were light, and I never fully went all out as I was afraid of re-injury.”
However, Duffy’s competitive spirit still burned bright.
“I was approaching my senior year of college and wanted to live out that last year as best I could before I graduated,” she said. “I contacted my old coach, Chrissy Silver, and told her I wanted to start competing again.”
Silver, who coaches in Nashua, was thrilled Duffy wanted to give the sport another try.
“I was excited and happy that she wanted to come back to skating,” Silver said.
“That first lesson back, trying to relearn all my jumps, spins and overall skating skills was the scariest thing I have done,” Duffy said. “At the same time, it brought back so many memories. I loved the feeling of flying across the ice again.”
Duffy had a successful return to the ice, competing at two collegiate-level competitions with the UMass Lowell team during the spring of 2024. However, she still had bigger goals she wanted to accomplish.
“From the time that I was forced to quit synchro because of my injury, I always vowed to myself that I would return to it again at some point in my life,” Duffy said. “I had goals to skate for a senior-level team and go to the World Championships. I wanted to give myself at least that closure and prove that an ankle injury couldn’t hold me back.”
She tried out for the Skyliners and was offered a spring training position. The team finished second at the 2024 U.S. Synchronized Championship and ended its season with a sixth-place finish at the ISU World Synchronized Skating Championships 2024.
In addition to excelling on the ice, Duffy stays busy as a lab manager.
“I’ve been a lab manager since my junior year [of college],” she said. “This past summer, I was a coordinator for a summer internship for high school students. In the future, I hope to be working at a research lab specifically geared toward regenerative tissue engineering and medicine.”
Duffy is living proof that hard work and passion can carry you through difficult times.
“While I was in recovery those six years, I never lost my love of figure skating and synchro,” she said. “A life lesson that I realized was the saying ‘If you love something, let it go. If it comes back, then it was meant to be.’”
Don't miss Evelyn Duffy and the Skyliners compete at the ISU World Synchronized Skating Championships 2025. For results, news, bios and more, visit the U.S. Figure Skating Fan Zone.
