Jen Szilagyi and her Nexxice teammates are headed back to the Junior World Challenge Cup of synchronized skating in Neuchatal, Switzerland in mid-March.

The Ancaster teen is one of 20 skaters from the Western Ontario section who will represent Canada 1 at the world finals. A second Canadian team will also compete.

Last year, Jen, 16, was part of a fourth place Canada 1 team at the Junior worlds. Of the 16 skaters and four alternates, none had world championship experience. This year’s team includes 14 returning skaters from 2008 who all share a common goal to bring home the gold. Coach Trish Purdue-Mills, who led last year’s squad, is also making her second appearance at the world final.

“Our team has trained so much harder,” said Jen, a Grade 11 student at Ancaster High School. “Our mindset is different this year.”

The Canadian team will face a tough test from the Scandinavian competitors, notably Finland. Last year, Finnish teams took first and third at the Junior championships.

Jen started skating at age six and discovered the synchronized stream in 2001. She won her first synchronized team championship as part of the 2004 Burlington Ice Image Juvenile competitive team.

“I’ve always been a team person,” Jen said. “I really like the relationship I have with the other girls on the team.”

Unlike figure skating, synchronized skating is not an Olympic sport. But there are plenty of competitive skaters and fans.

At the 2009 Nexxice Junior Competitive finals at Mississauga’s Hershey Centre, Jen and her teammates competed in front of more than 1,000 spectators. The team took first at the Canadian world qualifiers earlier this year, earning a berth as Canada 1 in Neuchatal.

In addition to her training, both on and off the ice, Jen and her teammates also incorporate theatrics into every performance. Jen has worked with a Niagara Falls theatre group to sharpen her musical interpretation.

“You want (the fans) to feel you on an emotional level as well,” she explained.

The Nexxice team competes with a long and short routine, set to music. The current routine is inspired by the 2007 movie, August Rush, starring Keri Russell.

The long program lasts about four minutes and features a variety of turns, formations and fancy footwork. In a maneuver called the travelling circle, skaters join hands and spin while skating at full speed. There’s also the pass throw, where skaters align in an angled row and intersect with one another, and the travelling wheels, where skaters join hands and move like a giant wheel across the ice.

To see the full routine, visit You Tube and enter the search term, Nexxice Junior synchronized skating.

The team generally competes with one routine each year, but elements are constantly changed and improved according to judging standards. Judges grade each team based on technical elements and the grade of execution.

Jen’s Junior team represents the Burlington and Kitchener-Waterloo clubs under the Western Ontario section of Skate Canada. The team practices at various arenas in the Hamilton area. To maintain her individual skills, Jen is also a member of the Ancaster Skating Club at Morgan Firestone Arena.

To compete at international events like the World Challenge Cup, Jen and her teammates must raise about $3,000 per competition. That’s in addition to annual base fees of $7,000. Jen received financial support from several local businesses last year.

This year, her sponsors include Al and Janet Farrel and Helen Moore. Jen also has a part-time job at Michaels arts and crafts store.