EVERETT — Aleksey Sinyagin, 31, grew up in Russia, where ice skating is as commonplace as baseball in America.
Thing is, he never tried skating himself.
On Saturday, Sinyagin was among roughly 140 people who enjoyed an afternoon of free ice skating at Comcast Community Ice Rink in Everett.
In honor of this month being National Skate Month — the U.S. National Figure Skating Championships conclude today in St. Paul, Minn. — the ice rink was opened up and free lessons were offered for first-time and beginning ice skaters.
Sinyagin and his wife brought their 3-year-old son, Anthony, for a skating lesson. Anthony, however, had second thoughts about getting out on the ice, so Sinyagin went onto the rink by himself.
“It was really good, it was my first time,” said Sinyagin, of Bothell, who left Russia five years ago. “It was a really great idea, and it was free. It’s a great way to bring people into this sport.”
Scores of people skated counter-clockwise around the rink during Saturday’s free skating event. Some people shuffled along the ice, snapping photos with their cell phone cameras, while others zipped through the crowd, skating forward and backward.
Many people appeared to be first-time skaters, said Kim Derickson, the learn-to-skate coordinator for Comcast Community Ice Rink.
With the success of the Everett Silvertips hockey team, many local residents already appreciate the value of ice skating, Derickson said. Still, not as many are familiar with figure skating, she said.
“Holding events like we did today shows off the sport,” Derickson said. “It’s definitely growing.”
The event featured a skating exhibition by members of the Everett Figure Skating Club and the Shoreline-based Highland Skating Club.
Savannah Hanby, 14, of Smokey Point, was among the performers in the exhibition. She started skating less than five years ago to help improve her balance for tae kwon do, but then realized she enjoyed skating more, she said.
To all the first-timers who hit the ice on Saturday, Hanby says to keep practicing. “I think it’s great other kids are learning to skate,” she said.
Reporter Scott Pesznecker: 425-339-3436 or spesznecker@heraldnet.com.
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