Stability pays off for ice dancers

In a sport where breakups are as frequent as bad costumes, ice dancers Meryl Davis and Charlie White are a model of stability.

The bronze medalists in dance have been together since 1997, longer than any other senior dance or pairs team at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships. They’ve been around so long, Michelle Kwan and Tara Lipinski were still trying to outskate each other when they started.

“I guess we got kind of lucky. Not everybody meshes,” White said. “We have two personalities that go really well together, and we have similar work ethic and similar morals. We want the same goals.

“We’ve been able to get along really well with no problems.”

It takes years for dance teams to hit their stride, part of the reason the Americans were so bad for so long. Teams would hit a rough patch or finish lower than they wanted at nationals, and they’d break up.

Now, though, teams are seeing that perseverance pays. Olympic silver medalists Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto were together six years before they won their first medal at the world championships in 2005.

The 20-year-old Davis and the 19-year-old White made a slow climb up the ranks, skating for three years each in the novice and junior divisions at nationals. But they’re coming into their own now. They won the junior title last year, and were third at the world junior championships.

Their third-place finish at their first senior nationals earned them a spot on the world championship team.

“It’s an honor to be with the two U.S. superpowers over the last couple of years,” White said. “They’ve done a great job making a name for the United States in the sport. It’s phenomenal just being up there with them.”