Twin Lakes coach guides Tennell to Olympics
It’s a long way from Twin Lakes, Wisconsin, to Pyeongchang, South Korea, figuratively and literally.
Denise Myers is making the improbable journey thanks to Bradie Tennell, the surprise champion at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships last month.
Myers, an Oak Creek High School graduate who got her start as a young competitor in the Greater Milwaukee Figure Skating Club, has been Tennell’s coach since 2007.
“It’s the cherry on top for me,” said Myers, who has coached her share of elite skaters in a 37-year career but has never been to the Olympic Games. “I’m looking forward to taking in every minute.”
Myers coaches Tennell at the Twin Rinks Ice Pavilion in Buffalo Grove, Ill. Myers and her husband moved from Winthrop Harbor, Ill., to Twin Lakes in Kenosha County to cut down on driving time to and from the rink, where Tennell and Myers’ other skaters put in long hours.
“Denise is a very, very hard worker,” said Milwaukee-based figure skating coach Sue Susic Ervin, who has known Myers for years.
“She’s a workaholic.”
The same can be said for Tennell, who stole the spotlight at nationals by beating 2010 Olympian Mirai Nagasu and 2017 national champion Karen Chen. All three will compete in Pyeongchang.
“I started working with Bradie when she was 9, turning 10,” Myers said. “You could tell that she had a love for what she was doing and I think from the very first lesson she liked a challenge and she didn’t mind constructive criticism and she wanted to make corrections in her skating.
“She was very, very coachable at a young age.”
Tennell, who turned 20 on Jan. 31, won the U.S. junior ladies title in 2015 but missed most of the next two seasons with stress fractures in her back. She returned this year with a bronzemedal performance in November at Skate America, her first international competition.
“This has been her first season in three years being healthy,” Myers said. “She’s been able to train full out. Her season started in June and it has gotten progressively better. Skate America was a huge breakthrough for her. People began to sit up and take notice.”
Tennell’s strengths are her athleticism and the consistency with which she lands difficult jumps. At nationals, she topped the short program by seven-tenths of a point and the free skate by nearly five points, with Nagasu runner-up both nights.
“She is very athletic and she’s flexible and the artistry is coming – the scores keep getting higher and higher as the seasons are going on,” Myers said. “That’s probably the part she’s had to work hardest on and she’s made great strides.
“I think her passion shows through in her skating. She doesn’t give up. Even when she was injured it wasn’t a matter of if she was coming back, it was a matter of when she was coming back.”
Though Tennell has been unflappable in competition so far, the Olympic stage is another animal altogether. Scores of skaters with more experience have buckled under the pressure. Myers has been preparing her for the brighter lights and the increased distractions and scrutiny.
“We’ve never really worried about placement or scores because you can’t control that,” she said. “All you can control is what you’re doing. We have practiced many different scenarios. I’ve told Bradie the logo will different, the ice size is a little different, the clicking of the cameras is different. But we’ve practiced visualizing that, and the program is the same.”
Tennell is considered a long shot to win a medal, but Susic Ervin pointed out that Tara Lipinski and Sarah Hughes weren’t considered favorites when they won Olympic gold in 1998 and 2002, respectively.
“Bradie Tennell has the dedication and the desire to do what it takes to be a champion, as she showed by being the U.S. champion,” Susic Ervin said. “I believe she’s probably going to put out a pretty good program.”
And Myers will be at her side every toe-step of the way.