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Gold Is the Goal

Local skaters Brooke Castile and Ben Okolski surprised everyone when they took first place at the 2007 U.S. Championships. But the focus and dedication that got them there – and has them on course for the 2010 Olympics – is something anyone can learn from.

By Ellen Piligian Photos by Daniel Lippitt

Brooke Castile and Ben Okolski are hungry. It’s a hunger that is felt not just in the stomach, but also in the heart.

Now in their fifth season as a team, Castile, of Grosse Pointe Woods, and Okolski, of Ann Arbor, landed a first place finish at the 2007 State Farm U.S. Championships in January, fifth place at the Four Continents Championships in February and 12th place at the World Championships in Tokyo in March. In the past year, they’ve become a global force on the ice.

But despite such success, Castile, 20, and Okolski, 22, crave direction and organization. They energize and balance each other. They thrive under pressure and soak up opportunity.

"They are like sponges. They have the hunger to learn," says Johnny Johns, a three-time national gold medalist who has been coaching the pair at the Arctic Figure Skating Club in Canton since March 2006. "A lot of times, after you win the nationals you lose perspective. You’ve got to keep [the training] up."

That appetite, along with a series of smart decisions, has fueled the pair’s future.

The right team

Friends since 1999 – when Castile was focusing on singles skating and was good friends with Colleen, Okolski’s sister and pairs partner – the duo teamed up in 2001. Okolski’s coaches asked Castile if she would give it a try. Okolski says lifts were getting increasingly dangerous with his sister, whom he calls a “a normal-size girl.” Castile’s 5-foot-1-inch frame was perfect for the 5-foot-11-inch Okolski.

"As soon as we tried out, I loved it," recalls Castile. The pair started training together the following spring, making steady progress on the national scene while training at rinks around the Detroit area. By 2004, they were second in juniors at the U.S. Nationals and ninth at the World Junior Figure Skating Championships.

The right regimen

Although Castile and Okolski were performing well, they knew they could achieve more. So when they found themselves in need of a new coach in March 2006, they contacted Johns, whom they credit for much of their improvement.

“Being a donor is the best feeling in the world,” says Reece. “We were all so happy that we had a match inside the family.”

Castile and Okolski needed more organization and direction, according to Johns, who’s coached many top pairs teams, including 1999 U.S. champions Danielle and Steve Hartsell of Westland.

"They were kind of wandering with no purpose. They weren’t good at practicing, they weren’t good at training, they weren’t good at competing," says Johns. "I sat them down in March [2006] and told them I used to watch them compete and thought they were really good. Then halfway through, they got really bad. So I never worried about them [competing against his skaters]."

To help them become more consistent, Johns laid out a game plan, including structuring their training sessions at the Canton skating club. “Here, athletes know what they are doing every hour. It takes a lot of the guesswork out of it,” he says.

When the pair skated their long program in pairs at the State Farm U.S. Championships in January, they were only hoping to medal – bronze or silver at best. But after bringing the Spokane, Wash. crowd to its feet with a clean program that included a heartstopping triple twist, Castile and Okolski took the gold.

“I’m still surprised,” says Johns, "Even when they finished, I thought second would be cool. We’d go to [the world championship] next year, not this."

As for the skaters, "Everything came together," says Castile, a bubbly young woman. "We skated the best of our group. … I felt all the work we put in paid off."

The right environment

Sharing the ice with such top skaters as 2006 Olympic silver ice dance medalists Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto has been a boost. "Here they have world- and Olympic-class athletes. That helps," says Johns, who says that before coming to Canton, Castile and Okolski were the only team at their training rink in Taylor. "They were not motivated before."

Castile agrees with Johns’ assessment of their new environment. "That’s made the biggest difference in our skating," she says. “The bar has been raised because of who we are with. Everyone pushes each other.”

The right vision

It also helps that Castile and Okolski simply work together well, especially considering they practice 20 to 30 hours a week. “It’s easy because we were friends,” says Okolski.

“We not only get along, but we have a lot in common, like music tastes,” says Castile, referring to their shared love of blues and rock ‘n’ roll. “We have a deep respect for each other. We’re in it for the long run.”

Their personalities also complement each other. “She’s organized and I’m not,” says Okolski. “Brooke has a really good work ethic that pushes me to work each element to the max.”

“I’m fire, he’s water,” adds Castile. “He keeps me level. I get really stressed and hyper easily. The best thing is, he’s patient. It’s why we work so well together.”

And if they ever argue, it’s about stupid things, she says. “Stuff that doesn’t matter, that’s easy to let go, like if a rink is actually Olympic size or not,” Castile says.

The teamwork has enabled the pair to perform the difficult triple twist, a move many teams never even attempt.

“They brought back the triple twist. … It’s opened up the eyes of some coaches,” says Johns. “They have an outstanding triple twist. It just clicked.”

While the two imagine a life one day without skating – Okolski would love to fly with the United States Air Force, while Castile hopes to attend art school and become a fashion designer (she designs the team’s costumes) – for now, they share one vision. They want to get better one day at a time, one goal at a time. If Castile and Okolski continue to improve, Johns predicts they have a shot at another national medal in 2008, and is optimistic they’ll earn a coveted spot on the U.S. Olympic team in 2010.

One thing of which they are certain is that they’ll never go back to singles skating. Why?

“You never feel like you’re lonely,” says Okolski of being part of a team.

“All the success you have is with someone you care about,” adds Castile.

VITAL Info

Ben Okolski and Brooke Castile are part of the Champions on Ice tour, with a Detroit stop on the itinerary.

WHAT: Champions on Ice
Where: Joe Louis Arena, Detroit
When: 7:30 p.m. Friday, April 20
Tickets: $25-$155, through Ticketmaster, at the Joe Louis Arena and Fox Theatre box offices, and Hockeytown Authentics in Troy More info: 313.471.6611 or www.OlympiaEntertainment.com