Above: Naomi Lang and daughter Elora at the 2025 Pacific Coast Synchronized Skating Sectional Championships.
By Lexi Rohner
Naomi Lang knows a thing or two about skating and family.
A five-time U.S. ice dance champion, 2002 Olympian and mother of five, Lang began coaching in 1999 at the Detroit Skating Club. At Arizona’s Ice Den for the past decade, Lang has produced solo dance medalists and, in concert with other coaches, partnered ice dance medalists.
Her attention drifted in 2023 after spending several lunch hours watching the Ice Denettes masters synchronized team practice. Its roster included a group of fellow coaches.
“Each Tuesday I’d watch, and they were having so much fun,” Lang said.
At one practice a few members were absent. Lang put on her skates and stood in to try it out.
“That was it; it was super fun and kind of like social hour,” Lang said. “Even though I have an accomplished skating background, it’s always fun for me to learn new and more things about skating.”
Of Lang’s children, none have taken to skating except her second youngest, Elora.
“I have a soccer player in college, a tennis player in high school, a gymnast in middle school, a skater in elementary and my youngest son is in kindergarten so we’re not sure what he will love yet,” Lang said.
Elora, 8, has skated since age 3, as many children of former competitors and coaches do. While Elora enjoyed toddling around the ice, Lang knew the benefit of being part of a team from her years with partner Peter Tchernyshev; she had Elora join the Aspire 1 team.
“Elora wanted more mommy and me ice time, and I was coaching the team she’d be on,” Lang said. “This allowed us that while making friends.”
The opportunity to not only teach her daughter to skate, but how to compete and be part of a team, has been a gift.
Reminiscing on her time with Tchernyshev, Lang points out similarities of skating with one partner to team skating.
“Ice dance translates to synchro as we do all the same elements, tracking positions and turns,” Lang said. “It wasn’t challenging to go from one partner to 15,” noting the importance of learning ice dance to skate synchronized correctly.
Of her partnership, “I miss it and will always cherish it, but recently Peter and I have skated together again, so it fills that void,” Lang said. Lang performed in shows twice with Tchernyshev in Russia in recent months.
Synchronized skating with 15 ladies has been comforting and helped her pursue new goals, she said. The biggest difference Lang suggests is 15 personalities versus one, adding it teaches patience and teamwork, which are essential to team success.
Lang’s favorite things about synchronized skating are the number of people participating, camaraderie, teammate support and competition atmosphere, describing it as “like I’m at a football game.” Teams establish their cheering sections in the stands, and arenas get quite loud and exciting.
“It reminds me of my competition days in large stadiums and brings back all those feelings,” Lang said.
Coaching the Aspire 1 team, Lang has developed relationships with skaters’ parents, attributing her ability to relate to skaters and manage the moving parts to the experience she has with her own children and daily individual coaching.
“Each child has a different personality,” Lang said. “I can accommodate and understand their emotions.”
At the 2025 Pacific Coast Synchronized Skating Sectional Championships, mother and daughter teams competed, amongst 48 total teams.
“Elora’s favorite thing is skating with her friends, knowing they support each other,” Lang said. “They have so much fun together.”
Traveling with her mother and cheering each other on contributes to the mother-daughter bond and excitement.
“She’s in the stands with pom poms in hand,” Lang said. “It’s cool to have these experiences with her and make lasting memories.”
