by Ellen Zurfluh, special to U.S. Figure Skating Online

Oleg Vassiliev breaks down pairs skating to its basic elements to Eric Nussbaum and Sara Cornwell. (Photo by Ellen Zurfluh)

When Olympian Maria Mukhortova of Russia and her pairs partner, Jerome Blanchard of France, demonstrated a back outside death spiral at the 12th annual Chicago Pair Clinic, the participants were thrilled.

"What a great visual," said Leslie Gaudreau of Indianapolis, who skates at the masters level with her husband, Peter, at the Indiana/World Skating Academy FSC. "It is one thing to see a perfect death spiral on television, but it's quite another to see it 10 feet away."

Held July 17-18 at the Oakton Ice Arena in Park Ridge, Ill., this year's clinic drew four adult pair teams, ranging from bronze through masters, and an intermediate team. Oleg Vassiliev, the 1984 Olympic pairs champion from Russia, taught the many facets of pairs skating during an hour of off-ice exercises and two hours on the ice each day. He was assisted by five of his students: Mukhortova and Blanchard, Elena Yarkhunova and Matteo Guarise, and Sasha Panfilova, all of whom traveled from their home base in St. Petersburg, Russia, to train in Chicago this summer.

"This clinic was easier for me since I had so many helpers," Vassiliev said. "[The participants] got personal attention and achievement. Adults come to the ice wanting to learn."

Bronze pairs skaters Sara Cornwell (Knoxville FSC) and Eric Nussbaum (Ice Chalet FSC), from Knoxville, Tenn., were pleased with the progress they made at the clinic while attempting several new moves.

"The clinic was very well planned, and extremely helpful and fun," Cornwell said. "The coaching was amazing, and it was great meeting other pairs and making new friends."

A group photo of the Chicago Pair Clinic instructors and participants (Photo by Ellen Zurfluh)

Lester Ascher, who organized the Chicago clinic with gold pairs partner Ellen Zurfluh, both of the DuPage FSC, praised Vassiliev's ability to keep the content fresh.

"Even after 12 clinics, we always learn something new from Oleg, whether it's different warm-up exercises or the latest changes in the international judging system," Ascher said.

Several of Oleg's students - mostly 20-somethings - had never seen adult pairs skaters before. Yarkhunova admitted she was "shocked" when she saw overhead lifts going up both on and off the ice. She was delighted that people older than she would listen to her instructions and then follow them.

The clinic participants found a kindred spirit in Guarise, a former World champion roller pairs skater from Milan, Italy, who switched to ice skating just seven months ago. (He often commented that he, too, was trying to perfect a pairs maneuver.) Guarise remarked how impressed he was that adults would try such difficult moves, and with how receptive the attendees were to his instructions and advice.

"I appreciated getting the perspectives of [Oleg's] students, who have worked through some of the same mistakes we struggle with," Gaudreau said. "Where else can you get one-on-one help from some of the best skaters in the world except at this clinic?"

While all teams participating in the clinic were encouraged to try new maneuvers or approaches, they received plenty of personal attention from the six instructors. On the second day, when the clinic was down to four teams, Rob Lichtefeld of Atlanta (Georgia FSC), who skates with partner Sara Panzer (Georgia FSC) in silver pairs, said, "The good news is that we have only four teams; the bad news is that we have four teams [so we're really working hard]."