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This is the first part of our correspondence with Coach and Skating Director Lyndon Johnston as he chronicles the experiences of the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver:

2/10/2010 (via text message)

Monday was our travel day. We arrived to Vancouver at 1pm. All athletes had a special area to go through at customs at Vancouver International Airport which made it very quick and easy! Processing and accreditation was the next step in the process. After that we spent the next couple of hours getting our USA apparel! Wow! The skaters and coaches look great! Practices went well yesterday and we just got off the ice for the first practice of the day. Talk to you soon!

Due to the overwhelming support shown by everyone, the 2010 AT&T US Figure Skating Champion and Olympian skaters (Caydee Denney, Jeremy Barrett, Amanda Evora, and Mark Ladwig) and coaches (Mr. Jim Peterson, Mr. Lyndon Johnston, and Ms. Alison Smith) have decided to open their final practice before they leave for the Winter Games in Vancouver to the public. The session starts at 1:10pm.

Our Olympians are steadily returning home and that means it’s time to party! This Saturday, January 30th, we will be having a open house celebration at the Ellenton Ice and Sports Complex. It goes from 1:30-4:30 and you can meet the Olympians and congratulate them! Also, we have skates you can put well wishes and sign available at our front desk. Let the skaters, Caydee, Amanda, Jeremy, and Mark, and the coaches, Mr. Peterson, Mr. Johnston, and Ms. Smith, all know how excited you are they’re going to the Olympics!

The 2010 US Figure Skating National Championships in Spokane, WA have officially ended for all of the skaters training at the Ellenton Ice and Sports Complex. As I’m sure you’ve heard, we swept the pairs spots for the upcoming Olympics in Vancouver, something as rare as sending a Floridian to the Olympic games. Now we get to send four. Caydee Denney and Jeremy Barrett skated a flawless short and long program to have a final score of 190.30. That score was good enough to win them the national championship, gold medal, and a spot on the US Olympic team. Not far behind were training mates Amanda Evora and Mark Ladwig, who earned the silver medal with a score of 173.78. Placing 11th in their first ever senior competition, the 2009 Junior National Champions Tracy Tanovich and Michael Chau showed tons of promise for the future. The Ellenton Ice and Sports Complex was the only complex to send three teams in the senior pairs division to the National Championships! This truly proves that we have the best coaches in the country with 2009 PSA Developmental Coach of the Year and head coach Mr. Jim Peterson, two-time Olympian and skating director Mr. Lyndon Johnston, and world and Olympic champion coach Ms. Alison Smith.

Also, skating in the junior division for the first time were Haven Denney and Daniel Raad. They skated well, placing a very respectable 7th. Daniel also skated in the senior men’s division where he placed 23rd.

Tracy, Michael, Haven, and Daniel will all return to Florida tonight along with Ms. Smith. Mr. Johnston will return Thursday. Caydee, Jeremy, Amanda, Mark, and Mr. Peterson will all return Monday night.

Congratulations to everyone for the superb showing in the National Championships. Thank you for helping make the Ellenton Ice and Sports Complex one of the premier international training facilities!

Just a reminder, Skate with Santa is Saturday December 19th from 1:15-3:15pm! From 9am-4pm we will be selling raffle tickets for the perfect stocking stuffers! Your raffle ticket will give you a chance to win one of 10 Public Skating Passes, 8 Skate N Eat Gift Certificates, or a Basic Skills Gift Certificate! It’s all happening this Saturday!