Katie McBeath and Nathan Bartholomay Build on Strong Connection in Second Season Together

For most of her skating career, Katie McBeath was either alone on the ice or trying to steer clear of other skaters.
 
Switching from singles to pairs in her mid-20s, McBeath remembers being caught by surprise one of the first times she did a stroking exercise alongside Nathan Bartholomay.
 
"We were doing a little finish at the end and he said, 'Look at me,'" McBeath said. "I was like, 'What?' That was just such a new feeling."
 
Bartholomay understood. "What do you mean, look at you?" he imagined his new partner thinking. "I'm trying to skate over here!"
 
In only their second competitive season together, the connection between McBeath and Bartholomay continues to grow stronger. 
 
Last year in their first U.S. Championships as a pairs team, they finished an impressive seventh. Now they are primed to move up in the rankings at the 2022 Toyota U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Nashville, Tennessee, Jan. 3-9.
 
"We're really looking forward to showing our improvements this year," said Bartholomay. "We've been steadily getting better throughout the season."
 
They placed fifth at the Autumn Classic International in Montreal in September, which marked their first international competition as a team and McBeath's first as a pairs skater. They posted personal bests in the short program (56.60) and free skate (112.01), even placing fourth in the latter.
 
McBeath and Bartholomay recorded the second-highest technical score in the event, "so we know that we're on par with everybody in the first mark," he said.
 
In October, they won gold in Henderson, Nevada, a stop in the 2022 U.S. Figure Skating Championship Series presented by Toyota, with a total of 171.21 points including a new personal best of 60.30 in the short program.
 
It's no wonder they mesh so well, since perfect timing is what brought them together.
 
McBeath, 27, had competed at the U.S. Championships four times as a senior singles skater -- with her highest finish 13th in 2016 – and was ready to explore a move to pairs.
 
Meanwhile, Bartholomay, 32, a 2014 Olympian with Felicia Zhang, had decided to part amicably with his then-partner, Deanna Stellato, ahead of his knee surgery in 2019. They had won two straight bronze medals at U.S. Championships, but knew the surgery would keep him off the ice for seven or eight months. 
 
"That's a long time to wait for someone if they're not 100 percent sure," said Bartholomay. He still talks often to Stellato, who now competes with Maxime Deschamps for Canada.
 
McBeath, who started skating at age 6, had been approached a few times during her career about trying pairs. 
 
"I was a little skeptical," she said. "I qualified for my first nationals (U.S. Championships) when I was 19 years old, so I was like, 'Oh, well, I'm a little bit older and I didn't know much about pairs.'"
 
She would "dabble in it" with 2010 Olympian Mark Ladwig when they were together for the U.S. Figure Skating Governing Council meetings. He'd suggest trying a lift and she was game.
 
But attending a "team up" camp in Texas really sparked her interest. Kyoko Ina called McBeath after the camp and told her about Bartholomay.
 
McBeath remembered him from an event in which they both competed in Slovakia and had followed his career.
 
"He definitely has experience," she thought. 
 
And how many rookies get an Olympian as their first partner? "That was a treat," McBeath said.
 
Bartholomay held tryouts with McBeath and only one other person before his surgery, "so while I had the surgery I could decide if I wanted to actually do it or not and if I was going to be able to," he said.
 
Bartholomay, of Newtown, Pennsylvania, was ready to embark on serious training with McBeath, a Cleveland native, in mid-2020.
 
"I really felt like I had more to offer to the sport as an athlete and as a competitor," he said. "There's really not a better feeling than when you're gliding on the ice."
 
McBeath is his sixth partner, so Bartholomay is used to making adjustments. With aspirations of becoming a coach when his competitive career is over, he has already helped new partners, including Stellato, learn the ropes after coming over from singles.
 
"I've been told that I'm very patient," Bartholomay said.
 
And he knew going in that McBeath was probably going to land that side-by-side triple. "She's a great jumper," he said.
 
Their double Axel-double toe loop-double toe loop combination has earned a lot of points for them, and they have a crowd-pleasing star carry.
 
McBeath said the throws were the hardest elements for her to learn. "When I didn't really have that body awareness of the throws I'll admit they were a little bit on the scary side," she said.
 
They train in Irvine, California, under the guidance of coaches Jenni Meno, Todd Sand, Christine Binder and Chris Knierim.
 
Pairs teams Alexa Knierim and Brandon Frazier, Jessica Calalang and Brian Johnson and Chelsea Liu and Danny O'Shea also train at the Irvine rink.
 
"I'm a very visual learner," McBeath said. "So, on a daily basis, seeing all the big-trick elements, helped me grasp what I needed to do."
 
"It's such a positive energy here," added Bartholomay. "We really motivate each other."
 
They worried that their biggest adjustment might be to each other's taste in music.
 
"We have a lot in common, but music is not one of them," McBeath said. 
 
With help from their coaches and choreographer, they chose "Leave a Light On" by Tom Walker for their short program and "The Blower's Daughter" by Christina Aguilera and Chris Mann for their free skate.
 
"Our chemistry on and off the ice plays to that music super well," McBeath said of the free skate. "I felt like it was an easy piece to portray and we could build upon our strengths."
 
Team USA will nominate two pairs teams to the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022 in Nashville, and the U.S. Championships will also determine other international assignments.
 
"We're hoping to get Four Continents," Bartholomay said.
 
Understandably, McBeath has wondered what would have happened if she and Bartholomay had teamed up sooner. 
 
"Then I also am like, 'Well, I think this was the timing that I was supposed to have in my life,'" she said. "Would I have been able to learn stuff as quickly with a different partner? There are so many unknowns."
 
And she's just thankful they found each other when they did. "Nate is not only super strong and a super competent skater and partner, but he is such a genuine person," McBeath said. "And that's the type of person I needed to be partnered up with. The way our personalities go together really helped us become successful quickly."

Fans can watch the action this week in Nashville on NBC and USA, as well as live and on-demand on Peacock Premium. Visit the 2022 Toyota U.S. Figure Skating Virtual Fan Experience for a behind-the-scenes look at the event.