![\"\"](\"http:\/\/figureskatersonline.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/IMG_0025.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nIt\u2019s been a whirlwind year and a half since Jessica Calalang and Brian Johnson, both 24, teamed up in spring 2018. They started competing a few months later, and placed a promising fifth at the 2019 U.S. Championships.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n This season, Calalang and Johnson\u2019s schedule has been quite full. The pair competed at Skate Detroit in the summer, then at U.S. International Figure Skating Classic in Salt Lake City, and continued with the first 2 Grand Prix events of the season, Skate America and Skate Canada. Last weekend, they achieved their biggest success to date, winning the ISU Challenger Series event Warsaw Cup. They topped a field of 21 international pairs in Warsaw.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n It\u2019s been a busy season indeed. But as a relatively new team, Calalang and Johnson feel a sense of urgency. \u201c<\/span>We’re trying to really get the experience in and keep coming closer to all of our competitors,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cBecause they have the years. And we’ve got to get there.\u201d <\/span>With the 2022 Olympics coming up, Calalang and Johnson are on a mission to grow their partnership as quickly as possible.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n After they competed at Skate America, Calalang and Johnson took a few minutes to talk with Figure Skaters Online<\/i><\/span> about how their partnership started and their progress this season.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Figure Skates Online (FSO):<\/strong> Before you teamed up, both of you were in long-term partnerships with other pairs skaters. Brian, you skated for four years with Chelsea Liu; Jessica, you skated for seven years with Zack Sidhu. Both partnerships ended after 2018 Nationals. How did you decide to try out together?<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Jessica Calalang:<\/span><\/strong> We decided to have a tryout because we were training under the same coaches [Jenni Meno and Todd Sand, 1998 World silver medalists]. We already were situated living in California. So, everything would remain the same, except we would train together. All the stars were aligning, in that sense. So we had a tryout. We had messed around before; if one of our partners was injured, we’d do lifts together. So when we started trying out, it was a little familiar. But the timing of our twist and throws was different. That was something that we really had to work on a lot. And we still do, because we’ve only been together for a year and a half.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Brian Johnson:<\/span><\/strong> We had other tryouts. It definitely wasn’t like: “Oh, let’s break up with this person, and I’ll get with you now.” I don’t think we even thought about it, originally. It just kind of happened: \u201cYes, maybe we should try out. We’re here.”<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Jessica:<\/span><\/strong> It was like: “You’re single, I’m single. Let’s try it.” (Laughs<\/i>)<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n FSO:<\/strong> What were your coaches\u2019 thoughts about the tryout?<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Brian:<\/span><\/strong> \u00a0<\/span>I think they liked it. They said we looked really good together.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Jessica:<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0 Y<\/span>es. It had nothing to do with [the fact that] we were both training under them. They were looking at it very objectively. They looked at skating skills, elements, technique, body line. They made sure all of that was up to par before we got together. Because we weren’t just in it for one season. We’re in it for that Olympic cycle.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Brian:<\/span><\/strong> \u00a0<\/span>They wanted it to be the absolute right pairing for both of us.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n FSO:<\/strong> You both have worked with Todd and Jenni for some years. Can you talk about what they’re like as coaches, and your relationship with them?<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Jessica:<\/strong>\u00a0I moved to California when I was 15. So I was really young. I didn’t know what I was doing. And I’ve been with them for almost 10 years. I had done pairs for one year prior to moving over there. But they really made me into the pairs skater that I am today, and I owe a lot of it to them. They took me from the ground up to this level. I’ve always felt that nurturing connection with them. They’re like my second parents.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Jessica:<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/strong>We usually have one lesson a day with one of them, and we’ll see the other one later. It’s just nice to get the male and female perspective. Plus, they’ve been through the whole journey of going to the Olympics. [Meno and Sand competed together at the 1998 Olympics.] So they know exactly what needs to be done.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n FSO:\u00a0<\/strong>Do they usually teach separately, rather than together?<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Jessica:<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/span>It depends. If we’re having a problem on something, they’ll both come.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Brian:<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0<\/span>There’s four [pairs] teams at the rink right now. So we have three sessions, and they spread out with everybody. We have a couple sessions where it’s just us and Alexa and Chris [two-time U.S. champions Alexa Scimeca Knierim and Chris Knierim<\/a>]<\/i>. And they’ll both sometimes coach that together.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n FSO:<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong> How is Robin Szolkowy mixing into the coaching situation?<\/i><\/span> [Szolkowy, five-time World pairs champion with Aliona Savchenko, moved to their rink, Great Park Ice & Fivepoint Arena in Irvine, CA, in spring 2019.]<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Jessica:<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0<\/span>We don’t work with him a whole lot. He works a lot with the younger pairs, because when they’re young, you have to get the technique down right from the beginning. And then, he’s also innovative with lifts.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Brian:<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/strong>Yes, he’s been great with that.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Jessica:<\/span><\/strong> He\u2019ll say: ‘Let’s try this! I don’t know if it’s going to look good, I don’t know if it’s going to work, but try it. If it doesn’t work, it doesn’t work, we won’t do it.’ (Laughs.<\/i>)<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Brian:<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/strong>The first lift exit in our long program was [from] him. We were trying to think of something that wasn’t just a bring-down or cartwheel. And he said: ‘Try this.’ I love working with him.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n FSO:<\/strong>\u00a0Brian, you talked about improving your skating skills. How have Todd and Jenni helped with that?<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Brian:<\/span><\/strong> Extension, lines, get the leg higher, foot turnout, more efficient on the crossovers. When I first came to them, I could get speed, but it really looked like I was working hard. I’m still trying to make it look effortless–getting down in my knees, and refining everything.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n FSO:<\/strong>\u00a0 So they’ll coach you, as you go through crossovers and stroking?<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Brian:<\/span><\/strong> Yes! Every once in a while, I’ll do a foot wrong, and Jenni will say: ‘Turn your foot out!’<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n F<\/span><\/strong>SO:\u00a0<\/strong>So you had a similar basis in skating skills, from working with the same coaches. How did the other elements go when you first started skating together?<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Jessica:<\/span><\/strong> Lifts were no problem. When we first started doing it, the triple twist was a little wild. Just because it was bigger than when I was doing it with Zack.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Brian:<\/span><\/strong> It was really just feeling the timing with everything. It takes a while, just a bunch of reps, you’ve got to feel it out. As a pairs guy, and going through a couple partners, I feel like everything has been different with everyone. So you have to find that little groove, and then you can really start maneuvering from that.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n FSO<\/strong>:<\/strong> In other interviews, you mentioned throw jumps as being one of the more challenging elements.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Brian:<\/span> <\/strong>We had a big problem with throws when we first started. She was so different from every other partner I’d had. It’s not a bad or a good thing. I had never done throws with somebody who had her timing. So it was really hard for me to adjust, especially on the Salchow–she likes to hold it a long time before the takeoff. I just wasn’t used to it and it took me a while. Todd at one point said: ‘Yeah, it took Jenni and I three months to get a throw. You guys will be fine.’<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n FSO:<\/strong>\u00a0Jessica, I remember talking with you and Zack Sidhu at 2018 U.S. Championships, and you said that throws were a point of pride with you — that you felt you didn’t miss them very often.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Jessica:<\/span> <\/strong>Yes. When I missed [a throw] in 2018, that was, like, heartbreaking for me. Yes. I had only done throw triples with Zack. I’d been with the same person for years, I had the timing, I didn’t have to worry about it. I didn’t have to think too much. Then, going with Brian, we really had to dissect the throw a little bit. And I had to not be so stubborn about doing it a certain way, because it is a totally different person. We just had to find that technique that worked. Compromise. (She smiled.<\/i>)<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n<\/a>
\n<\/b>Brian:<\/strong><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/strong>They definitely improved a lot of aspects of my skating, especially skating skills-wise. I love working with them both. They’re a little different in their styles. I’d say that Jenni’s almost a little more intense.<\/span><\/p>\n