Thousands of synchronized figure skaters to compete in Wichita. Here’s how to watch.

A U.S. Figure Skating Association qualifying event is coming to Wichita later this month, when two of three regional championships for synchronized skating happen at Intrust Bank Arena from Jan. 24-28.

Watching as many as 20 skaters “all skating at the same time and skating in unison to produce the elements of the program, in character and in theme to music without hitting one another is amazing,” said Cassy Papajohn, a former competitive singles and synchronized U.S. figure skater based in Colorado. She’s been consulting with the Greater Wichita Sports Commission and other local organizers who are bringing the event to Wichita. She’s familiar with the Wichita skating scene because she judges local ice skating competitions each fall.

Synchronized skating is not yet an Olympic sport but it has become a fast-growing sport, Papajohn said. According to the U.S. Figure Skating Association, the first U.S. championships in the sport were held in 1984. Now there are about 600 teams registered with the association and nearly 5,000 athletes participate annually in the three sectional championships.

About 2,500 skaters competing in 163 teams – along with about 300 coaches and 40-plus officials and judges – are expected to participate in the sectional championships for the Midwestern and Pacific Coast regions at Intrust Bank Arena, according to Papajohn and Josh Howell, director of development, events and marketing for the Greater Wichita Sports Commission.

“And the teams will bring who knows how many parents, friends and family,” Howell said.

Teams are coming from as close as Kansas City to as far away as Washington and California on the Pacific Coast and Ohio and Michigan within the Midwest region. The sport is particularly popular in Ohio and Michigan, Papajohn noted.

Teams have between eight and 20 members, with competitors ranging in ages from 7 to 71. There are 15 different competitive levels within the sport. Depending on the level, skate programs range from about 1 1/2 minutes to 4 1/2 minutes, Papajohn said.

Program elements that the teams are expected to execute include creating shapes, such as circles, lines and blocks, and weaving between lines. Costumes reflect the theme of the music, from Broadway and Disney musicals to ’80s and Madonna hits.

“It’s all very choreographed and very practiced,” Papajohn said.

While the competition events require an admission ticket – available as day passes or a five-day pass, the practices are free and open to the public, organizers said.

Wichita’s ability to provide three sheets of ice for both competition and practices within such close proximity – the ice that the Wichita Thunder hockey team uses at Intrust Bank Arena and two sheets of ice at the Wichita Ice Center – was a likely factor in being named a host site for the sectional championships, Howell said.

Practice sessions start as early as 6 in the morning and as late as midnight, said Rob Boyle, general manager at the Wichita Ice Center. The ice center will close its public ice skating sessions for three of the five days during the championships, from Jan. 24-26, and will resume Jan. 27.

Winners from the sectional championships will go on to compete at the national championships Feb. 22-24 in Portland, Ore.

While area sports fans and the community are looking forward to Wichita hosting the first and second rounds of the NCAA Division I men’s basketball tournament in March, the upcoming synchronized skating championships also are a big deal, Howell said. The estimated economic impact of the sectional championships is $3.4 million, he said.

“This helps put us on the map for sporting events and will make people see that Wichita is a sports town,” Howell said. Organizers hope the event will also introduce a new sport to locals.

“This is something different than you see in the Olympics,” he said. “It’s pretty cool.”

This story was originally published January 18, 2018 at 11:36 AM with the headline "Thousands of synchronized figure skaters to compete in Wichita. Here’s how to watch.."