Has anyone ever completed ALL usfsa tests?

[Arwen17]

This definitely NOT a personal goal of mine haha, I have no interest in ice dance tests. And while I would love to learn and do Pairs stuff, we all know boys rarely exist in figure skating and I'm too tall anyway at 5'9. I would need a 7'ft tall man to have someone strong enough to lift my ultra-long body lol.

USFSA says it takes people like 12 years on average I think to pass Gold MIF and Gold Freeskate. Data for Dance tests and Pairs tests is scarce since people take these tests for different reasons and enter them with different levels of skill.

But if you were a skater who has passed your Gold Freeskate, would it be safe to assume this person could also quickly pass everything up to Gold Dance and maybe International Dance too? Obviously, you'd need a partner and some extra time to work on the tests, but it seems like a Gold MIF/Freeskater would already have the necessary skating skills to blow thru most of the Dance tests. Unless I am greatly underestimating the difficulty of a Gold Dance test or International Dance test, even for someone of Gold MIF/Freeskate level??

Pairs would take longer since Lifts are a totally separate category that would have to be learned (and maybe that's true for some of the advanced free dance tests too!), but everything else in Pairs, the skaters should be able to blow thru if they are already a Gold Freeskater. They already have the level of skating skill needed, they would just need to be taught the specifics.

So is anyone SuperMan™? Has anyone ever completed ALL the tests? 

[DrillingSkills]

I recalled this skater's name from the fact her siblings were competing in both pairs and dance at the lower (intermediate?) national level a few years back. Her icepartnersearch.com bio says that she has her senior MITF, freestyle, free dance and pair tests, as well as seven international dances (on top of the golds) and senior solo free dance. Congrats to her!

http://icepartnersearch.com/showbio.php?i=2579

[Arwen17]

I recalled this skater's name from the fact her siblings were competing in both pairs and dance at the lower (intermediate?) national level a few years back. Her icepartnersearch.com bio says that she has her senior MITF, freestyle, free dance and pair tests, as well as seven international dances (on top of the golds) and senior solo free dance. Congrats to her!

http://icepartnersearch.com/showbio.php?i=2579

holy crap that is incredible! What a resume! And she's only 18 and she's already got all of that!!
That means its totally possible for people to pass all of the tests if they want to, especially if they start as a young child. And there must be others out there like her that have passed them all.
I guess she's still working on the last 3 dances since I think there's a total of 10 international dances?

I also like how this family is like oh yes I've passed all of the usfsa tests in existence, now I'm learning adagio skating. They never stop! XD

[icedancer]

I think Dan Hollander has passed all of his tests including of course his 8th (gold) figure test -

As a professional skater in Sun Valley (and Detroit) I think he made it a goal to get all of his dances and pairs just for fun.

I do not know if he has passed any of the MITF however - since these were implemented after he was a competitive skater but it would not surprise me if he has tested through those as well.

[AgnesNitt]

I heard an interview with dan a few years ago. He said then he quit his pairs tests because he lost his partner and size was an issue.

BTW--he is my dream coach.

[icedancer]

I heard an interview with dan a few years ago. He said then he quit his pairs tests because he lost his partner and size was an issue.

BTW--he is my dream coach.

He seems like a great guy!

Was that one of those Manleywoman skatecasts?  Those were great - I don't think she is doing that anymore (she was a former frequent poster on skatingforums btw).

I'm surprised he quit the pairs tests because although he is really not a very tall guy there are lots of willing partners out there (well maybe not lots but some) - and the Sr Pair test is actually not that hard - but yeah I think it's great that he wanted to test just for fun(!) and also of course the challenge of it.

[AgnesNitt]

And he got married a couple of years ago. He probably has turned his focus to family and doesn't have the time for testing.

[icedancer]

And he got married a couple of years ago. He probably has turned his focus to family and doesn't have the time for testing.

Yeah and they had a baby!

[phoenix]

A girl from my rink finished all her tests, including International dances, free dance, and figures. She is amazing!!

And yes, you are wildly underestimating the difficulty of dance. Even after she finished her senior freeskate, it took her years to get through all the dance tests.

[FigureSpins]

And yes, you are wildly underestimating the difficulty of dance. Even after she finished her senior freeskate, it took her years to get through all the dance tests.

I had a skating mom tell me that she wanted her daughters to do ice dance because the dance tests were "low-hanging fruit."  I laughed.

[icedancer]

I had a skating mom tell me that she wanted her daughters to do ice dance because the dance tests were "low-hanging fruit."  I laughed.

Well she was just rude!

It is true that for a freestyle skater the first 9 or so dances are pretty easy and they usually pass them (of course the Moves and FS tests are not that hard at the lower levels - that is the point!)

But yeah - dance is not easy especially the higher you get on the testing ladder!  A lot of single skaters have a problem with partnering in general (oh no! There is another person right there!) or they the solo on the Silver and above totally gets them if they have no sense of timing - or pattern - or...

[Query]

Jaya Kanal, who I once took a few lessons from, has Gold tests in 3 disciplines (Figures, Freestyle, Moves), but only list herself as pre-gold in Dance. If I remember right, she started skating as an adult (she already had a strong background in land dance, especially Modern Dance). Perhaps she could get Gold in dance too if she really wanted to...

I had another coach who had competed, I think at or near a U.S. Junior National level, in Freestyle. She had switched to competing at a roughly similar level in Pairs, then Ice Dance, because coaches said that gave her a better chance of making it to the top. It is possible that she had had to pass all the USFSA tests in all 3 disciplines. (I think Moves didn't exist yet.) But she said she had loved Freestyle best, that the switches weren't her choice.

I suspect many serious competitive skaters concentrate on one discipline, and don't bother preparing for or taking the tests they don't need to compete.

[Arwen17]

Found another mythical unicorn!
https://imgur.com/li0Hu10

Found it in the March 2018 skating magazine USFSA sends to everyone.

She looks like she might be in her twenties or thirties. Probably not a teenager, though it can be hard to tell sometimes.

[Bill_S]

That's impressive!

I corresponded with her mother Jo Ann when I was skating regularly on PIC skates between seasons. Jo Ann wrote the book on how to jump and spin on inline skates, which I purchased.

In a blog somewhere, Jo Ann mentioned that her kids, including Rebekah, skate 6 times per week. No wonder they are so talented.

[AgnesNitt]

I think Kathy Hurd-Carillo has done all of them. I know she's got her eighth test too, plus dance, pairs, MITF, freestyle etc.