BANGOR – Synchronized skating is a sport you may not know much about. It is a highly competitive field of very passionate skaters that are trying to bring awareness to the ice, a mission being aided by a new documentary.
Maine’s lone synchronized skating team is called the Downeasters. The team has been around the past five years, and currently have nine skaters on the roster ranging from ages 25 to 67 years old hailing from Wells to Augusta.
The Downeasters are featured as part of a documentary called “Life in Synchro.” The film is being screened virtually as part of Film Festival Day. For ten dollars, you can stream the film online and choose one of over thirty film festivals the proceeds go to, such as the Maine International Film Festival.
A special screening took place on Saturday with a Q&A with filmmaker Angela Pinaglia and skaters such Heidi Coffin from the Downeasters. They are hoping to spread awareness about the sport.
“The Film Festival Day is a huge opportunity especially during COVID-19 where a lot of festivals were cancelled across the country, so for us it’s an opportunity to reach a national audience and increase exposure about the sport,” said Pinaglia
“You have to be able to skate but the biggest part is you have to know that you rely on every other member of the team and that it’s not about any one skater it’s about the whole team because everyone has to do their part perfectly or at least try too,” said Coffin.
