THE TEAM
Julia and Drew came together from opposite sides of the world. Julia was born in St. Petersburg, Russia, while Drew was born in Juneau, Alaska. They each moved to New England when they were young, and it seems that they were destined to to skate together from the beginning.
Julia's father, Alexander Vlassov, skated pairs for the former Soviet Union. He and his partner, Irina Vorobieva, were coached by the legendary Tamara Moskvina and went to the 1976 Olympic Winter Games. They won the bronze medal at the 1976 World Championships, and the World silver medal the next year. Alex moved to the United States in the early 1990s, looking for a new life in a new country, and soon his wife and baby daughter joined him.
Julia started skating when she was young and she won the US National Championships as both a Juvenile and an Intermediate freestyle skater. She and her father always planned that she would skate pairs when she was old enough, and when she was eleven they started looking for a partner.
Meanwhile, Drew had tried lots of different sports. He played football for a while and he was a talented basketball player. Drew's sister, Tess, is a figure skater, and when he was twelve he decided to try skating too. He always wanted to be a pair skater. When he was sixteen, he was looking for a partner and his coach told Alex of his interest.
Alex said he’d be able to tell in twenty minutes if he had found the right partner for Julia. Drew was the first person she ever skated pairs with, and they all knew right away that it was a perfect partnership. Julia was only eleven, but she was already a very accomplished skater. Under Alex’s guidance, with their experience in singles and lots of hard work and dedication, the team was on its way.
Julia and Drew have become close friends. They often go on vacations together with their families. Although there's a big age difference between them, they have a lot of things in common. Drew is even learning to speak Russian! Alex coaches the team in a mixture of Russian and English. It's easy to see the Russian influence in their skating and training methods too. Julia's mother, Laura Amelina, choreographs for the team.
Julia and Drew won their first National medal in 2003 and their first National Championship in 2004. They have had a lot of success in national and international competitions since then; they won the silver medal at the Junior Grand Prix Final in 2005, and capped their junior career by winning the 2006 World Junior Championship.
In the summer of 2006, Julia and Drew began competing as seniors. They competed at the Cup of China and NHK Trophy on the senior Grand Prix circuit and finished an impressive 7th at the 2007 United States National Championships. Now poised on the beginning of the 2007-2008 season, Julia and Drew hope to show a more mature, polished look to the audiences and continue their dreams of being a top US pair team.
Julia Vlassov and Drew Meekins's web site is written and produced by
Julia Vlassov and Drew Meekins in cooperation with
the webmaster and Figure Skaters Online.
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