By Victoria Burdman, Team FSO special contributor
Photos by Robin Ritoss
(Beach photo from Gloucester, Mass. courtesy of Aleksandr Selevko
Victoria Burdman from Celebrate the Weekend caught up with 2025 Cranberry Cup silver medalist Aleksandr (Sasha) Selevko of Estonia at the Skating Club of Boston. (They spoke in Russian).
It was a busy week at the Skating Club of Boston with U.S. Figure Skating’s Champs Camp starting on Monday following Cranberry Cup and culminating with Summer Sizzler show August 14.
Congratulations on your second place finish. How do you feel about your performance at the Cranberry Cup?
Selevko: Not everything worked out – but I’ve never started the season so early, so I am happy with the result! There is of course work to be done. There was a mistake in the short program (Editor’s Note: Sasha was third after short and third in free to earn overall silver) and there were mishaps in the free but I am happy that I succeeded with the first three jumps in the free [Quad Lutz, Quad Toe Loop and Triple Axel] and this is a large step forward for me.
Do you plan to upgrade the technical content as the season progresses?
Selevko: Yes, the short program here was a “lighter version”, and there were also mistakes; in the free program there was supposed to be a triple axel at the second part, and we also replaced the Quad Toe loop with triple Flip in the free program – we plan to have two [quad] Toe loops and a [quad] Lutz in the free program.
Tell me about your programs. They have definitely created some stir here at the Cranberry Cup.
Selevko: Adam Solya helped me with short program when he came to Boston for the World Championships in March. It has been rather “experimental”- to Prince’s Kiss. I have been getting different feedback on it. Some like it a lot, some hate it. I like that it draws attention, there is interest! My free program was choreographed by David Wilson and Sandra Bezic [to music by Nico Cartosio]. I like it a lot. The feedback that I received was all positive to this one. Yes, it needs to be trained more, I agree with that, it was my first competition skate with it (we had test skates and it was good) but here at the competition it was more stress and I got tired towards the second part and skated slow. It is supposed to be performed with more energy. So we will continue working it and I hope it will only get better from here and we get even more positive feedback for it.
I see a bit of physical resemblance (in the short), you probably don’t need a lot of make- up…
Selevko: Thank you, but I do actually (laughs)
Tell us about your new training arrangement. How long have you been here at the Skating Club of Boston with Olga Ganicheva and Alexei Letov?
Selevko: I am here since February. I continue my connection with my home base coaches in Tallinn but I now spend most of my training time here. I had a difficult period adjusting to Boston and America in the beginning, physically too, but everything is fine now. I decided that I am staying here now.
Was this move for personal reasons? [Editor’s Note: Aleksandr is dating a U.S. pairs skater Emily Chan, who is training at the Skating Club of Boston with her skating partner Spencer Howe under Ganicheva and Letov].
Selevko: Yes, of course. But I am really grateful to the [Skating Club of Boston] Club. I was rather shocked with the warm reception and all the help they provided as I was settling in. Adjustment from Europe is difficult, there is a lot to deal with. I am glad that it’s all been dealt with by now. In the beginning, it was not easy but it is all for the best, I believe.
I saw you came out to support (fellow club member) Jimmy Ma during his performance at Cranberry [Editor’s Note: Ma was leading after the short and skated last].
Selevko: Yes, we are all friends in our training group here!
I also saw you at Emily’s practice here at the rink and your coach Alexei Letov even told you to go home and rest. Do you get involved with each other’s training?
Selevko: We definitely support and help each other. It’s mutual and it helps the training process. We know what the other is going through, how difficult the training process is. If I am going through a difficult patch she takes on more and vice versa.
What do you like the most about Boston?
Selevko: I like going to the sea – a lot! I say “sea” because I grew up near sea [Baltic Sea]. Sometimes we go further to Rhode Island or Cape Cod beaches but I also like to just walk the [waterfront] promenade in Quincy here. The fact that Boston is on the water is very important. I have not come to the ocean for a while and I feel that I’ve missed it. At home in Tallinn there is sea access almost everywhere. I am used to passing by the sea when I drive to the rink and when I return home from the rink.
How else do you like to relax off ice?
Selevko: On days when I have shorter ice time I like to get out for walks; we also play computer games with friends for a bit – it helps to take my mind off ice. When I just arrived here it was all about training and I started feeling a bit of a burnout.
How was your off-season period this year? Did you manage to take time off?
Selevko: Not really [laughing]. I had a short break to go home to Tallinn and then we went to Texas for a little bit but I never really took time off ice since I came here from Europe in February.
Do you approach this (Olympic) season differently – mentally and/or training vice?
Selevko: I have been going through a lot of changes already; I would not want to put myself under additional pressure of this being “a very important season”. I just want to make my fans, spectators and myself happy with my skating.
Where is your next competition?
Selevko: The new Challenger event in Georgia, Tbilisi series event in the beginning of October. And then I have one Grand Prix event so far- Skate Canada International at the end of October.
There are two Selevko skaters and Estonia has one Olympic spot…[Selevko’s younger brother Mihhail is also an international competing skater]
Selevko: Yes, there is one spot for the Olympics and Worlds but two spots for the Europeans. My brother Mihhail is training in California right now with Rafael [Arutyunyan] and we will reunite in Tallinn next week. We call each other each week, sometimes daily.We are competitors but we are also trying to support each other.Whoever one of us goes to Olympics- it’s all in the family.
