Danielle and Alexander Gamelin

Danielle recovering nicely from an ankle injury

Unfortunately, Danielle injured her right ankle badly right after the Philadelphia Challenge Cup. She tore the paroneal tendon in her right ankle and ruptured a small ligament in her foot. She was off the ice for more than three weeks, but is recovering well. She's back training full-time now and is looking forward with great anticipation to competing at the 2010 U.S. Eastern Figure Skating Championships in Newark, DE on the 18th and 19th of this month. Wish her and Alex well.

Great pre-season for Danielle and AlexTwo Golds, a Silver and two Bronzes

One of the problems of neglecting to make frequent blog entries is when you get around to it, you don't know where to begin. So, instead of writing a short story here, I'll outline what's happened and fill in the details later.

• Both Danielle and Alex were inducted into the National Honor Society at their high school, Laurel Springs.
• We're spending three days a week in New Jersey training in Mount Laurel with Evgeny Platov in addition to three days a week with Alexander Esman in Syosset, NY. Mount Laurel is a few miles east of Philadelphia .
• Danielle and Alex are performing regularly with the Ice Theatre of New York and concluded a 6 show engagement in August at the new World Ice Arena in Flushing Meadows.
• At their first major competition of the season, the Lake Placid Ice Dance Championships held in early August, Danielle and Alex won a Gold and a Silver medal.
• At their first international competition, representing Team U.S.A. in Toronto on August 13-16, they won a Bronze medal, and
• they won the Gold for the free dance and the Bronze for two compulsory dances at the Philadelphia Challenge Cup in September.

Moving up a level and remaining on top is a great achievement and a testament to their training, coaching, their dedication to excellence and the generous support of family and friends; not to mention parents who remain steadfast in their support (and who are often overwhelmed by the experience).

So much for today. Hopefully, it won't be another 4 months before I make another entry.

Danielle and Alex selected as members of the U.S. Figure Skating Developmental Team

We were just notified by Ben Miller, Chair of U.S. Figure Skating's Athlete Developmental Committee, that Danielle and Alex have been selected to attend the 2009 Thornhill Summer Skate as a member of the U.S. Figure Skating Development International Team.  The event will take place in Thornhill, Ontario, Canada on August 12-16, 2009.

This will be Danielle and Alex's first international competition.  What a thrill!

Danielle and Alex complete 4 performances with Ice Theatre of New York

Photo caption:  Danielle and Alex Gamelin, far right, at a recent outreach program at Riverbank State Park in Harlem

Danielle and Alex just completed four performances as part of Ice Theatre of New York's premiere educational outreach program, The New Works and Young Artists Series at Riverbank State Park in Harlem.  This outreach series is dedicated to giving emerging choreographers and performers an opportunity to present new works.  They show these works to an audience of school children from Harlem and Washington Heights and engage the students in a free skating clinic after the performance.

Ice Theatre of New York is an extraordinary organization, that has changed the face of figure skating by integrating the sensibilities of the contimporary dance, music and artworlds into performance skating.  Founded in 1984 by Moira North, Ice Theatre of New York is the nation's first non-profit ice dancing ensemble to be awarded grants as a dance company by the National Endowment for the Arts, the New York State Council on the Arts and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs.

Danielle and Alex's performances were received very well; they had a lot of fun; and they have been asked by Moira North to continue their participation as apprentices to Ice Theatre of New York.

Danielle and Alex honored by legislative resolution

Photo caption:  Senator Fuschillo (right) and Assemblyman McDonough (left) congratulate Merrick residents Alex and Danielle Gamelin on capturing the Gold Medal at the 2009 United States Junior Figure Skating Championships.

New York State Senator Charles J. Fuschillo, Jr. (8th Senate District) and Assemblyman David McDonough (19th Assembly District) today honored Junior National Championship figure skaters Alex and Danielle Gamelin of Merrick.

Senator Fuschillo and Assemblyman McDonough congratulated Alex and Danielle on winning the gold medal in intermediate ice dance at the 2009 U.S. Junior Figure Skating Championships, and presented them with copies of a legislative resolution honoring their achievement. The resolution, which Senator Fuschillo and Assemblyman McDonough sponsored, was passed by the State Senate and Assembly and will forever be part of the record in the State Legislature.

“These two young athletes trained extremely hard and their many hours of practice have been rewarded with national recognition. They are exceptionally talented, and we are pleased to congratulate them on this incredible achievement,” said Senator Fuschillo.

Danielle cleared to train

After a false start and several weeks of rest, Danielle has been cleared to begin training again on a limited basis.  As many of you may recall, Danielle broke a pelvic bone in a fall a few weeks before the Eastern Sectionals in Boston, but continued to train in preparation for both Easterns and the Junior Nationals despite the pain.

She's been under the care of a wonderful orthopaedic doctor, Charles Ruotolo, MD of Total Orthopaedics & Sports Medicine in Massapequa, New York.  Dr. Ruotolo has a great sense of the challenges faced by young injured elite athletes, and suggested a sensible plan that allowed Danielle to continue training during the qualifying season without the danger of permanent injury.  Of course, part of this plan was for complete rest following her win at the 2009 U.S. Junior Figure Skating Championships in Lake Placid, New York.

An X-ray examination, and other tests performed yesterday, clearly indicated bones on the mend, and Dr. Ruotolo suggested she may begin training again this morning.  You can't image a happier face of someone getting up at 5:30 this morning eager to get back to training.

Thanks to all who have expressed their well wishes for a speedy recovery.

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Danielle and Alex featured in Newsday

I can't think of a better way to start off the month then by seeing our family's story in one of the largest newspapers in the U.S.

Here is the link to the online version.  The text is the same as is published in today's Newsday article, LI Life section, ON THE FRONT PAGE.

What a thrill!

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U.S. Figure Skating Congratulatory Note

Danielle and Alex just received a wonderful congratulatory note from Benjamin Miller, Chair of the Athlete Development Committee, U.S. Figure Skating.  Here's what the note said.

"On behalf of the Athlete Development Committee I would like to congratulate you on your recent success at the 2009 U.S. Junior National Championships.  You should be very proud of your accomplishment.  Many of our countries wonderful skaters took significant steps towards their ultimate successes at the U.S. Junior Championships.  Based on the wonderful skating I saw while in Lake Placid I am confident that you will be able to continue in the footsteps of our many great U.S. Figure Skating champions.

Congratulations and best of luck!"

Benjamin Miller
Chair of the Athlete Development Committee

Danielle and Alex begin Sophomore year at Laurel Springs School

After a very successful competition season ending with the Gold Medal in Intermediate Dance at the 2009 U.S. Junior Figure Skating Championships, Danielle and Alex are ready to buckle down and begin their studies at Laurel Springs School again.

This year, we decided to begin the school year in January instead of September as we did last year.  We discovered that beginning a new school year at the beginning of the competition season was just a little too much.  And the people at Laurel Springs are so accommodating.  In fact, they are some of the most pleasant and helpful people we've ever met.

It is so validating to have a school representative attend major competitions and cheer for their students.  For the second year in a row, Amber Walker has sat in the audience clapping and yelling cheers of encouragement, and throwing really nice plush.  I don't believe this would ever happen with public school officials.  And since we've returned from Lake Placid, school officials have been very willing to work with us to design a program that suits Danielle and Alex's needs academically as well as competitive athletes.  What a rewarding experience!

For those parents of competitive figure skaters who wish to explore distance learning alternatives, we highly recommend you consider the Laurel Springs School.  Being Laurel Springs students has allowed Danielle and Alex to take full course loads around their training and competition schedules, which means they can give their best to both.  With Laurel Springs they have the schedule flexibility to get the ice time they need when it's available, put in the hours of daily training required to be competitive and complete their course assignments without the pressure they felt while in public school, where flexibility was just not possible.

Top stories of 2008 in our community newspaper

	Herald Community Newspapers

They’re the champs!

December 18, 2008

Danielle and Alex Gamelin, 15-year-old twins who live on the North Bellmore-North Merrick border, were crowned national ice dance champions at the U.S. Junior Figure Skating Championships in Lake Placid this past weekend.

Having won the gold, the twins will automatically be selected for the U.S. Figure Skating Association’s Developmental Team and will be eligible to represent the U.S. in international competitions. The twins’ big win was particularly remarkable considering that only weeks before Danielle had broken her pelvis at the Eastern Sectional Championships. The twins, who hope to make the U.S. Olympic team in 2014, were featured in a front-page story in the Oct. 9-15 issue of the Merrick and Bellmore Heralds.