brittany

Profile Name Brittany Chase Nickname Britt Birthday February 27, 1993 Birthplace South Bend, Indiana Hometown Colorado Springs, Colorado

Biography

Brittany Chase was born February 27, 1993, in South Bend, Indiana.

She was 4 years old when she first took the ice with size 1 used hockey skates. "My mom signed my brother and I up for a learn to skate hockey class," said Brittany. "

After my first class I didn't want to go back because it was too cold—I had 3 layers on," Brittany said. "I went back and my brother and I completed the class after several weeks."

After skating at the Ice Box in South Bend, Brittany started figure skating class lessons at the nearby Notre Dame ice rink while her brother continued with hockey. The family later began commuting to Chicago to skate.

Brittany skated singles for 10 years but eventually expressed her interest in learning pairs.

"I was 14 years old when I started taking a few off-ice lessons with Erik Schultz in the summer of 2007," she said. "He showed me a few things and I learned what a partner would expect from me."

Brittany added, "At our rink, the pairs are really fun to watch and I thought it looked challenging and fun. I had suggested the notion to my coach and to Dalilah (Sappenfield) in the spring of 2007 and thought maybe next year."

Her opportunity to skate pairs came sooner than expected.

"Events happened and things fell into place," she said. "I told Dalilah the second week of August 2007 that I wanted to skate pairs and Andrew was open so we had a try-out the next day."

"The tryout went great," Andrew said. It was all Brittany and Andrew needed to make the decision of becoming partners with the sectional championships and national championships all being held before the end of January.

But before they could compete, Brittany had to learn and pass all four pair skating tests to allow the team to get their qualifying competition paperwork in just in time for the September 1st deadline — and she did it.

The pair finished second at the Midwestern Sectional Championships and the U.S. Championships in the novice pairs event. At both, Brittany and Andrew won the short program en route to the silver medal.

"The most defining moment for me was this last year at the 2008 Nationals," Brittany said. "It was my first time there and we skated great for being together for four months."

Brittany is formerly coached by Jodi Tipton and Debbie Stoery in the Chicago area. In Colorado Springs, Brittany was coached by Tom Zakrajsek and Becky Calvin while her former choreographer is Catarina Lindgren.

Her hobbies include hiking, camping, bicycling, skiing, shopping and hanging out with her friends. Brittany also likes to play with the family dog, a black lab named Duke.

Quick Facts

• "I love watching America’s Next Top Model."

• "I am a great whistler."

• "I can speak some Spanish."

• "I dislike math."

• "I have four older siblings." Carson Chase, attends Air Academy High School; Miranda Carson, real estate appraiser living in Illinois; Sarah Chase, attorney, lives in Colorado; and Chris Chase, realtor/real estate appraiser, also in Colorado.