Reigning U.S. National Pairs Champions Caydee Denney and Jeremy Barrett have announced they will be now be coached by John Zimmerman and Silvia Fontana-Zimmerman at the Saveology Iceplex in Coral Springs, Florida ending their partnership with Jim Peterson, Alison Smith, and Lyndon Johnston. Sylvia Fontana-Zimmerman is the five-time Italian National Champion and married John Zimmerman in 2003. John is the three-time U.S. Pairs Champion with Kyoko Ina."We feel this change is necessary to take our skating to the next level," Barrett told U.S. Figure Skating. "We look forward to working with John and Silvia. They were great competitors, and we feel they have a lot to offer as coaches."
"Silvia and I are looking forward to great things from Caydee and Jeremy," Zimmerman said. "We’re honored to continue the amazing work Jim, Lyndon and Alison have done, and are excited to get the season under way."
The move from the Tampa/St. Petersburg area to the Ft. Lauderdale/Miami area also puts distance between dating couple Jeremy Barrett and Amanda Evora, who along with Mark Ladwig are the reigning U.S. Silver Medalists and now former training partners to Caydee and Jeremy.
The split appears to be an amicable one with both sides mutually respectful.
"It is difficult to lose a team at this early stage in their career," Peterson said. "However, Alison, Lyndon and I are proud of guiding Caydee and Jeremy to their goals of representing the United States as Olympians and achieving a national title in a short period of time. Both are talented athletes and competitors, and we wish them all the best in the future."
"Jim, Lyndon, Alison and the staff at Ellenton Ice Rink have done so much for us as skaters and as people," Denney said. "We would like to thank everyone there for supporting us and believing in us."
