Renée Roca
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Renée Roca (born May 18, 1963) is an American ice dancer and choreographer. She is a three-time U.S. national champion with different partners. Competing with partner
Donald Adair Donald Adair (born 1960) is an American former ice dancer. With Renée Roca, he is the 1986 U.S. national champion. An injury led to Adair's sudden retirement from competitive skating prior to the 1987 World Championships. He married Kelley Morr ...
, she is the 1986 U.S. national champion. She later teamed up with Russian skater Gorsha Sur, with whom she is the
1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peace ...
and 1995 U.S. national champion.


Career

Early in her career, Roca competed with Andrew Ouellette. She later teamed up with
Donald Adair Donald Adair (born 1960) is an American former ice dancer. With Renée Roca, he is the 1986 U.S. national champion. An injury led to Adair's sudden retirement from competitive skating prior to the 1987 World Championships. He married Kelley Morr ...
. Their most successful season was 1985–86, in which they won
1985 Skate Canada International The 1985 Skate Canada International was held in London, Ontario on October 24–26. Medals were awarded in the disciplines of men's singles, ladies' singles, pair skating, and ice dancing Ice dance (sometimes referred to as ice dancing) is a ...
,
1985 Skate America The 1985 Skate America was held at RiverCentre, St. Paul Civic Center in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Medals were awarded in the disciplines of single skating, men's singles, ladies' singles, pair skating, and ice dancing. Results Men Ladies Pairs ...
and the 1986 U.S. national title. She also achieved her highest World placement, 6th at the 1986 World Championships. The following season, they won the U.S. silver medal. He decided to retire ten days before the 1987 World Championships, stunning Roca who had hoped to qualify for the 1988 Winter Olympics. After that partnership ended,
Judy Blumberg Judith Ann Blumberg (born September 13, 1957) is an American former competitive ice dancer. With Michael Seibert, she is a three-time World bronze medalist (1983–85), the 1980 Skate Canada International champion, the 1981 Skate America champ ...
and Brian Boitano helped pair Roca with
Jim Yorke James "Jim" Yorke (October 28, 1962 – June 21, 2008) was an American ice dancer. Competing in partnership with Eleanor DeVera, he won silver medals at the 1983 Nebelhorn Trophy and Grand Prix International St. Gervais. He later competed wit ...
. Roca and Yorke placed 4th at the 1988 U.S. Championships. They withdrew from the 1989 event. Roca left competition and began working as a skating choreographer. She choreographed the free program Jill Trenary used to win the 1990 World Championships. In early 1990, Russian skater Gorsha Sur, who had defected to the U.S. the previous month, was advised to contact Roca by Belgian skater, Jirina Ribbens. Ribbens noted, "Of all the U.S. ice dancers, Renee's style is the most European. She has a classically elegant and dramatic flair, more like a ballerina than a ballroom dancer." Roca and Sur worked together in Detroit for two weeks and were soon invited to audition for tour organizers and to compete at professional competitions. A year later, the International Skating Union changed its eligibility rules, allowing professional skaters to reinstate as amateurs to compete at the World Championships and Olympics; Sur convinced Roca to return to eligible competition. The pair choreographed for
Elizabeth Punsalan Elizabeth Punsalan or Swallow (born January 9, 1971) is an American former competitive ice dancer. With her husband Jerod Swallow, she is a five-time U.S. national champion, two-time Skate America champion, and competed twice in the Winter Olymp ...
and Jerod Swallow the free dance they used to win the 1991 U.S. Championships. Roca began competing with Sur in the 1992–93 season. They were coached by
Sandy Hess Sandra Kay "Sandy" Hess-Gerathy (born 1949) is an American Olympian figure skating coach. From 1988 to 1996 she was the Ice Dance Director of the Broadmoor Skating Club in Colorado Springs, Colorado, a leading center for figure skating. Notable ...
in
Colorado Springs, Colorado Colorado Springs is a home rule municipality in, and the county seat of, El Paso County, Colorado, United States. It is the largest city in El Paso County, with a population of 478,961 at the 2020 United States Census, a 15.02% increase since ...
. Roca and Sur won the 1993 U.S. national title. Roca and Sur hoped to win the United States' single berth to the ice dancing event at the
1994 Winter Olympics The 1994 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XVII Olympic Winter Games ( no, De 17. olympiske vinterleker; nn, Dei 17. olympiske vinterleikane) and commonly known as Lillehammer '94, was an international winter multi-sport event held fro ...
. To do so, the couple had to not only win the 1994 U.S. national title but also receive accelerated citizenship for Sur due to the Olympics' citizenship requirements. A Republican Representative and Democratic Senator, both from Colorado, lent their support to speed up Sur's naturalization in Congress. It was argued that his case differed from other athletes because not speeding up the process would hurt an American citizen, Renee Roca. However, their efforts were stymied in late December 1993 when the United States Olympic Committee denied a request for a waiver to the requirement that athletes be citizens by the national championships. In addition, their main rivals for the Olympic spot, Punsalan and Swallow, were involved in a letter-writing campaign to Congress to prevent Sur from receiving expedited citizenship. During a warm-up at the 1994 U.S. Championships, Roca was skating backward and collided with the team of
Galit Chait Galit Chait ( he, גלית חייט, ''Galit Hayat''; born on January 29, 1975) is an Israeli former competitive ice dancer. She and her partner Sergei Sakhnovski competed internationally for Israel from 1995 to 2006, becoming the 2002 World bro ...
and Maksim Sevostyanov, fracturing a bone in her left arm. Two hours later, she returned from the hospital with her arm in a cast and decided to try to compete. They placed second to Punsalan and Swallow in the rhumba, however, Roca was unable to secure a firm grip with her left hand. The couple was ultimately forced to withdraw from the rest of the competition. Roca and Sur returned to competition the following season and defeated Punsalan and Swallow at the 1995 U.S. Championships to reclaim their national crown. At the 1996 U.S. Championships, their fortunes reversed again and Roca and Sur placed second to Punsalan and Swallow. Roca and Sur retired from eligible competition at the end of the season and toured with Stars on Ice. Roca also choreographed the short program that
Nicole Bobek Nicole Bobek (born August 23, 1977) is a retired American figure skater. She is the 1995 U.S. national champion and 1995 World bronze medalist. She also competed at the 1998 Winter Olympics. Personal life Bobek was raised by her Czech mother J ...
used when she placed first at the 1995 Worlds in that segment and the program Alissa Czisny used to become 2011 National Champion and 2010–2011 Grand Prix Final Champion. Roca was a choreographer on the television show '' Skating with Celebrities''.


Programs

;With Sur


Results

''GP: Champions Series (Grand Prix)''


With Sur


With Yorke


With Adair


With Ouellette


References


External links


Care to Ice Dance? - Roca & Sur


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{{DEFAULTSORT:Roca, Renee 1963 births Sportspeople from Rochester, New York American female ice dancers Living people Figure skating choreographers World Junior Figure Skating Championships medalists American figure skating coaches Female sports coaches 21st-century American women