Chase Fishpaw started the MCFSC Learn to Skate program when he was quite young, but found he preferred to go on Wednesday nights and eat in the stands and watch his brother instead of skating himself. When he was nine, and his brother completed Basics, he was ready to start again. He passed most of Learn to Skate in a year, and started synchronized skating after only a few sessions of Basics. Now he competes as a junior level ice dancer.
Chase took lessons from MCFSC coach Becky Mueller for many years. She got him involved in all kinds of things, including that first synchronized skating team, pairs, and dance with a partner. Becky took Chase and his partners to competitions and to other cities to get input from other coaches, like Bruce Montemayor, who now has relocated to Minot, and Kim Marshall, of the Cleveland area. Chase competed in dance for several years with Jessica Wing of Minot, and competed in pairs with Megan Thompson of Minot. With both he was Upper Great Lakes Regional Champion at the Juvenile level, and participated at Junior Nationals. Jessica and he placed as high as 8th in Juvenile Dance at the 2000 USFSA Junior Nationals.
Chase and Megan quit doing pairs together when she grew about six inches. Chase continued skating synchro, however. Eventually he earned his gold medals in both moves in the field and dance, and completed the intermediate level in freestyle.
Bruce’s arrival in Minot helped Chase understand the fine points of being a male ice dancer and an ice dancing partner. Chase practiced dance with several female skaters after Jessica quit dancing, but seriously started looking for a competitive partner in spring of 2003, when he was selected to participate in the USFSA partner tryouts in Colorado Springs. There he met all kinds of serious competitors looking for partners. Staying at the Olympic Training Center was an eye-opener, too.
Eventually, Chase decided to locate in an area where he could coach with Robbie Kaine, past president of the PSA (Professional Skaters Association), formerly Bruce’s coach. He tried out with perhaps twenty different skaters before cementing a partnership with Emily Blynn of Villanova, Pennsylvania. Emily and Chase trained outside of Philadelphia and in the Newark, Delaware area. With Robbie and Cheryl Demkowski Snyder as their primary coaches and former Olympic Gold medalists, Natalia Linichuk and Oleg Ovsianikov, choreographing their programs, this pair enjoyed great success competing in Junior Level Ice Dance for a number of years, they just missed earning a spot in 2004 by earning a 5th place at the Pacific Coast Sectionals. More recently, this lovley dance pair has moved in different directions, putting Chase once again in the arena of finding a new dance partner.
Currently Chase is a student at the University of Delaware where he plays cello in the University Orchestra. He has enjoyed getting to know many of the top level skaters from all over the world who train at the U of D rink and other local rinks.