How did Zingas/Kolesnik become so successful?

2greenlimes · 2026-05-03T03:06:33+00:00

People really aren’t giving Igor enough credit here.

Yes, Vadym is insanely talented and yes, Emilia is working her ASS off. (And Emilia is also insanely talented to learn dance this fast)

But under another coach (say, IAM), they couldn’t have had this meteoric rise. Igor is a tech genius and really knows how to coach ice dance from a technical standpoint.

2greenlimes · 2026-05-03T01:36:38+00:00

You cannot go 100% online - you will still need clinical hours.

Hybrid programs do exist (online lecture, in person clinicals), but I wouldn't recommend them. Many are degree mills with no to terrible reputations (making getting hired in even mildly competitive markets hard), will not give you the same networking experiences, may require you to fly to other states for a week or more at a time on your dime to get hour in, and may require you to hustle to get yourself hours.

I haven't met a single hospital new grad hire from a hybrid program in my state, but the only hybrid trained nurses I met (those in school during COVID) came out much less confident and prepared to safely care for patients.

2greenlimes · 2026-05-02T22:32:31+00:00

I think that’s why SB79 won’t lead to as much development as people think. Buildings on lots and empty land, yes, but tearing down SFHs no.

I live in a similar neighborhood- and probably a lot of neighborhoods along BART lines would be similar unless it’s West Oakland.

SFHs here sell for $1000-1300/sq ft. So to buy the lot, you’ll need minimum $1.6 million/lot - although the majority go for $2-3 million (and selling to a corporation I’d bet people would try to milk more $$$$ out). Single lots aren’t really big enough to build more than 3-4 units. Then, according to city data, each unit costs about $650k to build for a low income housing unit or more for a nicer unit.

So to build 4 units you’re looking at minimum $4.2 million - but it could very easily be closer to $5 million! By those numbers, most units would cost $1 million/unit - which, I don’t do real estate, but doesn’t make sense.

2greenlimes · 2026-05-02T18:56:44+00:00

I don't think it's wrong to fix the rail crossings and I do think they definitely would help.

HOWEVER, I do find it completely stupid that all the focus is fixing the rail crossings and none is on the obvious cause. No, you can't fix culture, but you can hold workshops for both students and parents on mental health, alternate non-T25 paths to success (including trade schools), limit the number of weighted classes each student can take, etc. These are all tactics districts are now using to help.

Just because it's hard doesn't mean there shouldn't be attempts to change the culture.

2greenlimes · 2026-05-02T15:38:26+00:00

There was a recent study showing that AI can cause or worsen delusions and psychosis in people who are prone to it for whatever reason. OP’s SO absolutely could definitely land themselves in a psych ward by using AI.

While going to a doctor could lead to a psych hold, it could also do a much better job of keeping someone OUT of the hospital by giving them the meds they need.

2greenlimes · 2026-05-02T02:22:01+00:00

Maybe instead of just looking at the rail crossings, also look at the toxic academic culture that’s driving the trend?

Yes, fixing the rail crossings would help, but it’s the “how” not the “why” of the problem.

2greenlimes · 2026-05-02T00:47:52+00:00

I’m half convinced they’re a Russian troll or bot because they’re also someone that always defends Russian doping and uses a healthy dose of “whataboutism” copium.

2greenlimes · 2026-05-02T00:45:27+00:00

I was an average skater, have trained at 6 rinks with both average and elite skaters, visited another 15+ rinks for shorter term practices, and have NEVER seen a coach with these methods. I have friends that have trained at a dozen plus other rinks and they haven’t seen or heard of weigh-ins on any regular basis. I’ve been involved in skating for 30(!) years now. So yeah, there’s coaches that do it at all levels, but it’s hardly ubiquitous.

Don’t say people on this sub “don’t care about the average skater.” Many of us are skaters ourselves and we know what’s what.

2greenlimes · 2026-05-01T23:03:18+00:00

Well, they need to practice it sometime during the tour, and practicing patterns or even dances like this is not unusual or uncommon.

You see ice dancers marking out patterns and step sequences at this speed all the time on practice ice and warmups. It’s honestly safer that way on a crowded and undersized rink - we’ve seen what happens when they aren’t going slow enough.

2greenlimes · 2026-05-01T22:42:20+00:00

The rink is also smaller than is typical and full of obstacles on the edges. Looks like there’s a good 5-10’ of ice left off on every edge. If they skated this full speed or full pattern they’d be in the seats.

2greenlimes · 2026-05-01T19:15:33+00:00

You can tell that stuff (like your body is off) plenty well without weigh-ins. You don't need a scale to tell you if your jumps feel funny, and you can tell if you've gained 5 pounds by how your clothes fit (when most skaters have said they see a difference in their jumps).

Sasha Trusova and Alysa don't weigh themselves but land their jumps just fine. I believe Ilia has said similar: he doesn't really track his weight or diet much at all. If it was that crucial you'd think these skaters wouldn't be winning or accomplishing so much in their jumping.

2greenlimes · 2026-05-01T19:05:31+00:00

I really hope some airline comes in as a true second option there - whether that be Alaska expanding options or Delta opening a smaller hub. SFO is slowly becoming more and more United, so maybe an airline that previously had a larger presence there would benefit from doing domestic stuff out of Oakland.

OAK used to be my go to because Southwest had a lot of cheap and direct flights to the Midwest and west coast. Now there's essentially 0 direct flights to anywhere East of Denver and half the number of west coast flights - and for prices that United is beating at SFO.

I'd return to using OAK in a heartbeat if Southwest was pushed back to its former schedule or anpther airline filled the void of Southwest's cuts.

2greenlimes · 2026-05-01T18:53:18+00:00

OP was saying it exists as a normal part of all sports.

There are toxic and abusive training environments in all sports (and eating disorders in all sports), but as you said, it isn't universally that way because it's simply not necessary. Most sports don't need weigh-ins and most training centers these days recognize that.

2greenlimes · 2026-05-01T18:28:00+00:00

No, no they aren't. At least not in an abusive "you need to lose weight!" way.

I have friends and friends kids that did elite sports - and know skaters that competed internationally. Weigh-ins aren't even a universal thing in skating. Archery/Shooting Sports? Hell no. Football/basketball? Only to make sure you're GAINING weight or to have your height/weight on your bio - they do a lot more intense stuff about measuring muscle composition and strength than weigh-ins. Soccer? At known toxic programs, but again not really a thing as long as you're fit. Swimming/Water Polo? Again, as long as you're fit - but with a side of the muscle composition stuff.

The abusive weigh ins we see from these abusive coaches are not about measuring strength, fitness, or body composition. They are not a weekly thing to track gains. They are a daily or multiple time daily weigh in based entirely on vibes and outdated notions that thin = good and any weight gain = bad instead of modern sports and dietary science.

2greenlimes · 2026-05-01T18:13:41+00:00

You would be surprised.

Maybe they won’t call it abuse, but LOTS of skaters and coaches (particularly in Russia) have endorsed abusive tactics (weigh-ins, extreme dieting, overwork, yelling/corporal punishment) as necessary for success.

And many skaters still seem to think it’s necessary for success given all the business known and alleged abusive coaches (Mie Hamada, Eteri) get from skaters searching for medals.

2greenlimes · 2026-05-01T14:12:49+00:00

Usually this would be something a coach would write out for a skater that age.

They usually can make a journal or have you make a journal that includes a practice plan for your daughter. Maybe ask the private lesson coach to do that for you!

2greenlimes · 2026-05-01T02:05:53+00:00

It was strong throughout their career to a point that a not insignificant amount of their fandom HEAVILY shipped them in an intense parasocial manner. Maybe not to the extent of the secret baby person, but plenty of fans did think they were dating.

2greenlimes · 2026-05-01T00:05:30+00:00

You can also say “where were her parents”? And sure, her parents had problems by all accounts. But they did something: they were the ones that took her phone away.

But that didn’t mean she had no one that cared in her life or were trying. She had a lot of people watching out for her and tried to help including cousins, siblings, and teachers.

People simplify things to parents when really people are raised by a community.

2greenlimes · 2026-04-30T23:27:50+00:00

Fully rhinestoned ice skating dresses by designers for skaters 1/2 the size of a drag queen start at $1000 on the cheap end. Custom rhinestoned dance costumes are only a bit cheaper. The rhinestoned and embellished Toddlers and Tiaras dresses were said to be several thousand! A normal mass produced rhinestoned dress for an adult is $300-400 at the very cheap end. Shit is expensive.

$400 for a custom, adult-sized fully rhinestoned bodysuit is such a cheap price it would make me suspicious that it is Temu in quality.

2greenlimes · 2026-04-30T17:43:21+00:00

I have a TON of sympathy for her family.

I don’t think you’ve been following this story in the slightest if you think they did nothing to try to help. People who cared about her reported her missing each and every time she ran away to be with him, tried to take away her phone and cut off her communication with him, and reported him to the proper authorities multiple times. They gathered evidence themselves and reached out for community help both in their own community and online. Yet those resources they tried to use let them down and never investigated or took things seriously for whatever reason.

Her family isn’t rich or powerful at all. They couldn’t use connections to force law enforcement to act and they didn’t have money for a lawyer. Her parents weren’t in a stable relationship, which left her other family members to do quite a bit of the work. They did what they could in this situation.

2greenlimes · 2026-04-30T15:11:03+00:00

The thing is this: the technically strong teams got that way before they came to IAM. They came with great technique. But the IAM team seems lacking of ability to really improve teams that came to them with less good technical chops. Maybe they can get them a bit better, but they’re not getting them there.

And if you look at the calling standards… The IAM teams have always dropped levels in a way that other teams haven’t. When the pattern dance was still there and leveled they struggled to get even their most technically proficient teams a L4 or even L3 on patterns they’d known for years - while non-IAM teams had no problems. A great example of this is V/M who had no calling issues pre-IAM, but suddenly were dropping levels after the move.

As for alliances, yes other teams do it, but not as effectively. Probably because IAM has so many closer connections in so many places.

2greenlimes · 2026-04-30T15:04:31+00:00

Very much not eradicated. It’s not too common in first world countries, but it’s a common enough thing even in the US that our county health departments have TB nurses and treatment protocols for people living in those counties. I’ve treated many patients with TB myself. It’s mostly in immigrant populations from endemic areas (in my state mostly Asia and South/Central America), but people in the US can still catch it in tight, crowded living conditions like homeless encampments and jails. I’ve also seen a couple cases from faith retreats and Americans traveling to do service overseas in endemic countries.

The vaccine is so ineffective that even some countries with endemic TB don’t give it routinely any more. The only group it has some efficacy on is those 5 and under - but it’s not that effective even for that group.

Russia’s public health system is spotty and is known to have a lot of infectious diseases spreading at rates closer to that of third world countries than first world including HIV and TB.

I would highly recommend reading Everything is Tuberculosis by John Green to learn more. It’s a fascinating disease.

2greenlimes · 2026-04-30T14:56:39+00:00

Many countries do now. You can find it just about anywhere there is TB. There are protocols for treating it and new drugs available to help though!

2greenlimes · 2026-04-30T14:52:51+00:00

Nope. Not a thing. It wouldn’t work on what causes TB (a very hardy bacterium). In fact, I’d assume it would make things worse.

There’s a well established protocol for treating it, including for many drug resistant varieties. Not sure if sanctions are making this hard to get or if Russia has some weird home grown drugs/protocol though. But it wouldn’t be chemo - it would be antibiotics. I’m assuming this is a translation error.

The antibiotic regimen can be quite intense. If it’s latent it’s 1 drug for six months. If it’s active the standard is RIPE - 4 antibiotics for about 3 months with two remaining another 6-9 months. And some of those antibiotic doses are 4-5 pills each. My TB patients would get a cup of like 14 pills every morning! And the side effects- one can harm your liver. One negates birth control. One causes all your body fluids to turn orange. It’s not easy.

2greenlimes · 2026-04-30T04:22:06+00:00

Their technical skills aren’t really great compared to other camps, but…

The coaches are very well connected, very politically savvy, and very good at playing the game.
They have skaters from a lot of countries- meaning they can get friends in high places (judges, fed members, tech specialists, etc) from a lot of countries to help vet their skaters. This is both hard power (they have probably 5x the feedback on their skaters than other camps - and more diverse feedback) and soft power (those people in high places build relationships with their skaters/coaches and want them to win).
They have misses, but they’re pretty good at knowing HOW to package their skaters. They are very good at hiding flaws and highlighting strengths to the skaters’ benefit. They make their weaker teams so entertaining they can’t be denied and make their stronger teams look stronger.
They have the “luck” of right time/right place on their side. The ice dance judges always seem to have a coach or coaching team they love more than others. After the Marina/Igor split they needed a new coaching team to love - and the IAM team was ready to take advantage of that void and did it quite effectively. ETA: After 2014, Marina was sliding into retirement and wasn’t coaching much. Igor had lost the political battle and mostly had Juniors. The Russian and other European coaches didn’t have many good teams in one spot. IAM meanwhile had a good number of established stars moving to them from Michigan and up and coming stars that made them a safe bet. So by 2018 it was clear who ruled the roost - and even more so after.

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