With grace and extreme talent, more than 1,500 skaters will descend on Wichita to compete in the 2024 U.S. Figure Skating Midwestern Synchronized Skating Sectional Championship – blocking, twirling, leaping and sliding their way toward a national title.

Visit Wichita and the Wichita Figure Skating Club are proud to welcome the athletes, families, friends and fans of U.S. Figure Skating to our great city. The competition will take place at INTRUST Bank Arena from Jan. 24-27 (Tickets are required Jan. 25-27). Here’s all you need to know about this rare opportunity to see these athletes in action.

Championships in Wichita

Hosting the U.S. Figure Skating competitions in January 2018 and again in January 2022, the Heart of the Country has been selected for the third time in 2024. The competition will attract more than 127 teams.

Synchronized skating is a team sport in which 8-20 skaters perform a program together. It uses the same judging system as singles, pairs and dance, and is characterized by teamwork, speed, intricate formations and challenging step sequences. As with the other disciplines, all teams perform a free skate with required well-balanced, program elements. In addition, teams at the junior and senior levels perform a short program consisting of required elements.

Synchronized Skaters Pose at the Finish

What is synchronized skating? 

Synchronized skating is a popular discipline both within U.S. Figure Skating and around the world. U.S. Figure Skating held the first U.S. Synchronized Skating Championships in 1984 and hosted the first World Synchronized Skating Championships in 2000. There are approximately 600 synchronized teams registered with U.S. Figure Skating.

Elements in synchronized skating include blocks, circles, wheels, lines, intersections, moves elements, creative elements, ho hold elements, spins and pairs moves. The variety and difficulty of elements require that each team member is a highly skilled individual skater. The typical senior-level athlete has passed a senior or gold test in at least two disciplines.

Difficulty of Synchronized Skating

Levels of Difficulty/Team Categories

Synchronized teams in the U.S. can compete in 16 different levels according to the age and skill level of the team members. These include developmental, competitive, collegiate and adult.

  • Preliminary – 8-16 skaters under the age of 12, with the majority under the age of 10
  • Pre-Juvenile – 8-16 skaters under the age of 12
  • Open Juvenile – 8-16 skaters with the majority under the age of 20
  • Open Collegiate – 8-16 skaters enrolled as full-time students at a college or university
  • Open Adult – 8-16 skaters, with the majority of skaters being 19 years old or older
  • Open Masters – 8-16 skaters who are 25 years old or older, but the majority are over the age of 30
  • Juvenile – 12-20 skaters under the age of 13
  • Intermediate – 12-20 skates under the age of 18
  • Novice – 12-20 skaters under the age of 16 with up to four teammates ages 16 or 17
  • Junior – 12-16 skaters ages 13-19
  • Senior – 16 skaters at least 15 years old
  • Collegiate – 12-20 skaters enrolled as full-time students at a college or university
  • Adult – 12-20 skaters at least 21 years old and up to four teammates ages 18-20
  • Masters – 12-20 skaters at least 25 years old with the majority being over age 30

Synchronized skaters all jump in unison on the ice rink

Ticket Information

Daily tickets can be purchased online or in person starting at $10 for an adult plus fees, and you can find more information about the event online.