Ice dancing couple training in Stamford for Nationals
By Lois Elfman

DEC 10, 2004 - STAMFORD - U.S. Figure Skating Championship Ice Dance bronze medalists Loren Galler-Rabinowitz and David Mitchell are training hard for the U.S. Nationals in January.
In their seventh season together, Galler-Rabinowitz and Mitchell are now training at the Twin Rinks in Stamford with renowned coach Natalia Dubova. They made the move from Boston last May, shortly after Mitchell graduated from Tufts University.
"It's a big difference from what we've done before," says Mitchell, 22, referring to Dubova's coaching style. "It's a little bit more independent, but also much more intense." Unlike skating's other disciplines, ice dancing does not involve jumps but emphasizes intricate steps, dance spins and lifts where the woman does not rise above her partner's head. Style and presentation are crucial.
When they're on the ice or doing off-ice training, the duo gives it their full concentration. But unlike some skaters, who live the sport 24/7, throughout their partnership Galler-Rabinowitz and Mitchell have each pursued demanding off-ice activities.
In addition to attending regular high school (many skaters are home schooled or tutored), Galler-Rabinowitz, 18, studied music. For now, she has deferred admission to Harvard, but is taking correspondence courses in neurobiology with an eye toward following her parents into medicine.
Asked where her drive comes from, she points to her maternal grandparents, Eva and Henry Galler, who are Holocaust survivors.
"I can't overemphasize how incredible the two of them are," she says. "My grandmother jumped off the train going to the death camp where the rest of her family was killed. My grandfather spent five years imprisoned in Siberia.
"They were high school sweethearts," she continues. "Out of 3,000 Jewish families in their little Polish town, only 50 people survived and they were two of them. They found each other in Poland after the war."
From there, they immigrated to Sweden, where Loren's mother Janina was born, and eventually to the United States. 
Galler-Rabinowitz's father, Burton Rabinowitz, grew up in Brooklyn, N.Y. In fact, Loren is living in Connecticut with the family of one of his former yeshiva classmates. The skater's parents met at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York. Today, her mom is board certified in psychiatry and neurology and father is a cardiologist. They have three daughters—in addition to Loren, they have twin girls, Arielle and Danielle, 12.
On the ice by age four, by age seven, it was clear Loren's interest in skating was serious. At age 10, loving the combination of music and movement, she began taking lessons with ice dance coaches Barett Brown and Tom Lescinski at the Skating Club of Boston. The following year, they found Mitchell, who had been ice dancing for five years, and encouraged him to relocate to Boston from his home in upstate New York.
In 2000 the duo won the U.S. Novice title and in 2002 became U.S. Junior Champions. This year, they earned their second medal in the senior ranks (they took pewter in 2003). They also have extensive international experience. This autumn they competed at two International Skating Union Grand Prix events, finishing ninth at both Skate America and Skate Canada.
"It was a tough two events for us," says Mitchell, who was coming off a shoulder injury this past summer. "Hopefully, we learned a lot and we'll be better prepared come January."
Interestingly, both skaters use the word "tenure" when describing their partnership. It's common among U.S. pairs and ice dancers that teams break up constantly—often after only one or two seasons together.
"The first couple of years are the hardest ones, because you have to get used to each other's quirks and how people work," Mitchell notes. "It takes a lot of patience. It's important to get two people who have compatible personalities and work ethics. I'm not sure why so many teams break up so quickly. I definitely think the chances of success increase with tenure."
"I have kind of this big brother figure, which is nice since I'm the oldest in my family," says Galler-Rabinowitz. "It was nice to have someone go through the school experience first."
Originally from upstate New York, Mitchell moved to Boston to team up with Galler-Rabinowitz and found a college to his liking in the area. While at Tufts he lived in a dorm his freshmen year and a fraternity house for the next three years. In Connecticut he's sharing an apartment with a cousin. He willingly acknowledges he's glad to have the daily pressure of college studies over.
"I'm enjoying skating. I look at it a lot more refreshed and well rested," he says. "Having a college education gives me a little perspective and it gives me more options in the world. That helps me approach skating with an energy and drive that is based in it being what I want to do and not all I do."
Mitchell is not Jewish, but he's been understanding of Galler-Rabinowitz's observances. She tells of one time that Yom Kippur fell the day before they left for an international competition.
"I fasted and I didn't skate the day before we left," she says. "It's definitely something that's important to me."
Still, she admits with a smile, "If the Olympics are on a Saturday, I'll be there."
There are 15 months until the 2006 Olympic Winter Games in Turin, Italy. Between now and then Galler-Rabinowitz and Mitchell will be working intensely toward achieving their goal of being participants.
"We both love to skate," says Galler-Rabinowitz. "We're planning to continue doing it as long as we love it."


Lois Elfman is a freelance writer and editor in New York City.