Our History
The University of Michigan Figure Skating Club (UMFSC) was founded in 1992, and was overseen by Jack Vivian, the Yost Arena director, until it became a club sport in 1994. Since then, the club has grown boundlessly, and developed into the exceptional, accomplished club that it is today.
In 1995, UMFSC debuted its first synchronized skating team, a subset of the club. The original team was coached by Yost Arena’s skating director Irene Gryniewski and has progressed since then to become a nationally ranked team. Upon the acquisition of head coach Anne Marie Copp, the team qualified to compete in the Collegiate National Championships. The team placed fourth at the 1998 U. S. Precision Championships.
After the 1998 National Championships, the team restructured by increasing ice time and actively recruiting experienced skaters. With these changes, the team jumped from the bottom of the standings to become National Collegiate Champions in 1999 in just one year. The following year, UMFSC decided to host two teams: one in the Collegiate division and the other in the Senior Division. When the team entered the Senior division, they placed 10th at the 2000 U. S. Synchronized Team Skating Championships. The Senior team continued to move up in the rankings each year, and their sixth place finish in 2002 earned them a selection to the USFSA’s international envelope.
In 2002, both U of M Synchronized Skating Teams (UMSST) were designated as a Club Varsity sport at U of M, the first women’s team to earn this status at Michigan. The Senior team competed internationally for the first time at the 2003 North American Synchronized Skating Competition, where they placed sixth. U of M also continued to field a strong Collegiate team, which earned fourth place at the 2002, 2003, and 2005 U.S. Synchronized Championships.
Coach Copp retired from coaching at the end of the 2004-05 season when she was replaced by Brooke Sloan, former coach of the Team Elan Junior team. Coach Sloan continued the development of the teams by bringing her own style and grace into their programs. The Senior team attended international competitions in Nottingham, England; Rouen, France; and Zagreb, Croatia during her three-year tenure as coach. The Collegiate team earned the pewter medal at the 2008 U.S. National Championships, earning a place on the national podium.
After the 2008 National Championships, Coach Sloan stepped down as the coach of the U of M Synchronized Skating Team. That same year, UMFSC decided to have only a Collegiate team. Sloan was replaced by Ashley Diederich, A former member of the Miami University Senior Synchronized Skating Team. Diederich coached the Collegiate team for the 2008-9 season.
In 2009, Erin Donovan became the fifth head coach in team history. She has led the Wolverines to US Synchronized Skating Championships where they have medaled every year since 2010, winning gold in 2017, 2018, and 2020. Ashley Korn has most recently stepped in as the head coach of UMSST in 2023 after serving as an assistant coach since 2013. Together, the two coaches helped launch the Open Collegiate team in 2018, helping grow UMSST into one of the leading Collegiate Synchronized Skating programs in the country.