The littlest skater

Skyler Shipstad trips the ice fantastic A very talented four-year-old ice skater from Seymour, Skyler Shipstad, just captured her second gold medal at the Mississippi Valley Skating Competition in March. Skyler trains at the Icearium, an ice skating facility in Farragut under the direction of her coach/mother Kristin Shipstad. Skyler has been on ice skates since the age of two and visited her first ice rink at one week old. Skyler loves to perform in front of an audience and has been known to shed a tear in order to go out to perform her program just one more time for the love of hearing the applause when she is finished. Her mother, herself an accomplished skater having performed with Disney on Ice for three years and worked a professional coach for 10 years, said that seeing young Skyler on the ice is like looking back at old movies of herself. “It brings back old memories,” said Kristin Shipstad. “I feel so proud because it brings me back to when I was her age. She’s very, very talented and she loves to perform.” Skyler truly has skating in her blood, which would explain why she is the fourth generation of Shipstad ice skaters. The Shipstad family has a rich history in the ice skating world. Eddie Shipstad Sr. (Skyler’s great grandfather) started Ice Follies, the world’s first traveling ice show back in 1936, which today is known as Disney on Ice. Her father Bill Shipstad competed in the World Curling Championships and today manages the Icearium. Skyler’s favorite skater is Sasha Cohen, the current silver medallist in this year’s World Championships.