Above: The Haydenettes showcase their speed and unison at the 2025 Prevagen U.S. Figure Skating Championships. Photo credit: Cynthia Slawter/U.S. Figure Skating
By Marissa Pederson Blaeser
The Haydenettes are no stranger to the world stage. The 32-time U.S. synchronized skating champions have represented the U.S. at every World Championships since the first event in 2000. Since then, they have collected six World medals, most recently a silver at the 2024 event in London, Ontario.
So how does a team establish a long-standing legacy of excellence with rotating athletes year to year? The answer — goals, mindset training and connection.
For the past two seasons, the Haydenettes have added sessions with a sports psychologist to their rigorous on- and off-ice training schedule at The Skating Club of Boston. These sessions have been crucial in building mental stamina, setting goals and connecting as a team.
Cynthia Slawter/U.S. Figure Skating
“I think it is clear that the mentality training is working,” Rosa Hahn, a third-year Haydenette, said. “I think it helps to be open and honest with each other about our goals and worries and not be afraid to voice what we hope to accomplish. I think it brings us closer as a team, which is necessary in our sport.”
Throughout the 2023–24 season, the Haydenettes sports psychology sessions focused on letting go of pressure and focusing on their love of the sport. That work ultimately paid off with a silver medal at Worlds. This season, their sessions have helped the team unite under common goals and abandon their internal and external expectations and worries.
“Last year, we tried hard to avoid those expectations, and we were able to win a World medal,” Autumn Coulthard, a six-year veteran of the team, said. “I think we did walk away with more confidence knowing that we deserve to be here and are good enough to be on the World podium. We didn’t go in with expectations of winning any competition this year, but the mentality we always have going into events is to put out a performance that we are proud of and to put in the work in the lead-up to make sure we can do that effectively.
“We met with Lauren McHenry [former Team USA synchronized skater and sports psychologist] throughout this season to talk about our worries and concerns. She wrote it all down on a piece of paper and by the end of the meeting we tore up the notes to symbolically let it go. You are never going to feel your best on competition day no matter where you are. I think those exercises helped align us to be ready for the challenges going in and have the right mindset to deal with them.”
A core challenge for their 2024–25 season has been fighting off illness and injury. Working with coach Saga Krantz and trainers at the Micheli Center [a branch inside The SC of Boston], the Haydenettes have worked to balance their training schedule with the team’s physical capacity at any given point in the season.
“The biggest low as a team has to be the illnesses,” Coulthard said. “There have multiple points in the season where we have gotten each other sick and needed to step back for a week to make sure we can come back at full strength. I think we have stepped up the athleticism and stamina and have been training hard to stay as healthy as possible and meet the demands of the new lifts. A huge part of that stamina training has actually been the mental training.”
Battling illness has also forced the team to flex their mental stamina and be ready to fill in for different positions in each program on short notice. One first-year skater was put to the test during the short program at U.S. Synchronized Skating Championships, and filled in for a sick skater with just one run-through of practice. Despite the last-minute change, the Haydenettes put out their best two performances of the season in Colorado Springs and left the event with the feedback they needed to continue pushing their technical score and performance quality.
“Our goals going into Worlds are to get all of our technical calls and to continue improving our performance and storytelling to have the full effect and vision that we are going for,” Hahn said. “We want to continue to push our components as well and keep training in the areas where we know we have room to grow. We are pushing those details these next few weeks so we can max out our score at Worlds.”
Creativity has been front and center for the team, with programs focusing on companionship and loneliness. After a few seasons of more classical music choices, Krantz has challenged the team to embrace more modern movements and deeper interpretation of the lyrics.
“The point of our choreography this year is to highlight the music and even more so the lyrics,” Hahn said. “In years past, we have done a good job emphasizing the musical melodies and harmonies in our programs, but this year we have tried to add choreography that highlights the lyrics with a more modern take. Saga has worked to push the choreography and concepts to help us stand out. Our goal is to keep pushing our creative lens and components scores.”
Unintentionally, the Haydenettes’ themes have hit home with the skating community this season in the wake of the plane crash that devastated the entire skating world. Just one week after the crash, synchronized skating teams from around the world competed at the U.S. Synchronized Skating International Classic hosted by The Skating Club of Boston. Many of those teams brought flowers and tributes to honor the fallen skaters, coaches and family members. That community support was deeply felt as the Haydenettes competed on their home ice.
“I think there is so much appreciation for the opportunity to keep skating and performing, because we know those skaters, parents and coaches would give anything to be at the rink again,” Hahn said. “I think it is a good reminder to not take opportunities for granted. It is a gift to be able to perform and train and be surrounded by your community.”
Heading into the ISU World Synchronized Skating Championships 2025 in Helsinki, the Haydenettes hope to bring their lofty goals, creativity and connection to the sport to make history once again for their entire community.
“We want to go out there and push ourselves to skate our best performances of the season,” Coulthard said. “We did it last year and we know we have what it takes to do it again this year in Finland. Teams Elite just made history as the first U.S. team to win a World title, and we want to do that, too. We are going to train as hard as we can in these next few weeks to set ourselves up to hopefully become the World champions.”
Don't miss the Haydenettes compete at the ISU World Synchronized Skating Championships 2025. For results, news, bios and more, visit the U.S. Figure Skating Fan Zone.
