Derek Trent (born March 21, 1980) is an American former competitive
pair skater
Pair skating is a figure skating discipline defined by the International Skating Union (ISU) as "the skating of two persons in unison who perform their movements in such harmony with each other as to give the impression of genuine Pair Skating a ...
. He competed for most of his career with
Tiffany Vise
Tiffany Vise (born February 2, 1986) is an American retired pair skating, pair skater. Between 2003 and 2009, she competed with partner Derek Trent. On November 17, 2007, Vise and Trent landed the first clean throw quadruple salchow jump in inte ...
. On November 17, 2007, Vise and Trent landed the first clean throw quadruple
salchow jump
The Salchow jump is an edge jump in figure skating. It was named after its inventor, Ulrich Salchow, in 1909. The Salchow is accomplished with a takeoff from the back inside edge of one foot and a landing on the back outside edge of the opposite ...
in international competition.
[ They officially became the first team to perform that element in international competition.][
Because Vise spun and jumped in the clockwise direction and Trent in the counter-clockwise direction. They were a mirror pair.
]
Personal life
Derek Trent was born in Knoxville, Tennessee
Knoxville is a city in and the county seat of Knox County, Tennessee, Knox County in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 United States census, Knoxville's population was 190,740, making it the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Di ...
.[ He has two sisters, Kelli and Laura.][ In 2002, he graduated from the ]University of Colorado at Colorado Springs
The University of Colorado Colorado Springs (UCCS) is a public research university in Colorado Springs, Colorado. It is one of four campuses that make up the University of Colorado system. As of Fall 2017, UCCS had over 12,400 undergraduate an ...
with a degree in business and a minor in Spanish.[ In May 2008, he completed his MBA at the same university.][
]
Skating career
Early years
Trent began skating in 1987.[ At age ten, he moved to ]Colorado Springs, Colorado
Colorado Springs is a home rule municipality in, and the county seat of, El Paso County, Colorado, United States. It is the largest city in El Paso County, with a population of 478,961 at the 2020 United States Census, a 15.02% increase since ...
in order to train. Competing in ice dancing
Ice dance (sometimes referred to as ice dancing) is a discipline of figure skating that historically draws from ballroom dancing. It joined the World Figure Skating Championships in 1952, and became a Winter Olympic Games medal sport in 1976. Ac ...
with Eve Chalom
Eve Chalom (born October 22, 1979) is an American former competitive ice dancer. With Mathew Gates, she is the 1996 Nebelhorn Trophy silver medalist and a two-time (1997, 1999) U.S. national silver medalist.
Personal life
Chalom was born Octo ...
, he won the intermediate-level bronze medal at the U.S. Junior Figure Skating Championships in 1993. He and his sister, Kelli Trent, also competed together in ice dancing at the U.S. Junior Championships.
As a single skater, Trent placed 11th in the novice ranks at the 1996 U.S. Championships.
Trent began pair skating
Pair skating is a figure skating discipline defined by the International Skating Union (ISU) as "the skating of two persons in unison who perform their movements in such harmony with each other as to give the impression of genuine Pair Skating a ...
as a teenager, coached by Irina Vorobieva
Irina Nikolayevna Vorobieva (russian: Ирина Николаевна Воробьёва; 30 June 1958 – 12 April 2022) was a Russian pair skater who competed for the Soviet Union. With her then-husband Igor Lisovsky, she was the 1981 World ch ...
. He and Katie Gadkowski won the novice pewter medal at the 1998 U.S. Championships and the junior pewter medal at the 1999 U.S. Championships. With his next skating partner, Brandilyn Sandoval, he won the junior bronze medal at the 2001 U.S. Championships. When that partnership ended, he teamed up with Stacey Pensgen
Stacey Elizabeth Pensgen (born May 25, 1982) is an American former competitive figure skater who won the silver medal at the 2000 Four Continents Championships. She is currently the evening meteorologist for WHEC-TV News10NBC in Rochester, New Y ...
, who was switching from singles. They placed 14th at the 2003 U.S. Championships and parted ways shortly thereafter.
Partnership with Vise
Trent teamed up with Tiffany Vise
Tiffany Vise (born February 2, 1986) is an American retired pair skating, pair skater. Between 2003 and 2009, she competed with partner Derek Trent. On November 17, 2007, Vise and Trent landed the first clean throw quadruple salchow jump in inte ...
in July 2003.[ They had skated for years at the same rink and her partnership had ended at the same time. Because they were both partnerless, they tried out together, despite the fact that they rotate in opposite directions. Very few teams at the highest level rotate in opposite directions because it makes elements like pair spins and twists much more difficult, due to the fact that one partner will have to "force" themself to rotate in the "wrong" direction in order to complete the element (Vise spun his way on twist lifts). They represented the ]Broadmoor Skating Club
The Broadmoor Skating Club is a figure skating club based in Colorado Springs, Colorado that has long been a major training center for the sport of figure skating. Founded in 1939, it was originally known as the Pikes Peak Skating Club, and was ...
.
Vise/Trent won the bronze medal at their first major event together, the 2003 Golden Spin of Zagreb
The 2003 Golden Spin of Zagreb was the 36th edition of an annual senior-level international figure skating competition held in Zagreb, Croatia. It was held between November 12 and 15, 2003. Figure skaters competed in the disciplines of men's sin ...
. Beginning in the 2006–2007 season, Vise/Trent began attempting a throw quadruple salchow jump
The Salchow jump is an edge jump in figure skating. It was named after its inventor, Ulrich Salchow, in 1909. The Salchow is accomplished with a takeoff from the back inside edge of one foot and a landing on the back outside edge of the opposite ...
in competition. At the 2006 Skate Canada International, they were credited with fully rotating the element but not with landing it successfully.[
Vise/Trent began the 2007–2008 season at the ]2007 Skate Canada
The 2007 Skate Canada International was the second event of six in the 2007–08 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating, a senior-level international invitational competition series. It was held at the Colisée Pepsi in Quebec City, Quebec on November ...
, where they placed 5th. During the free skate at the 2007 Trophée Eric Bompard
7 (seven) is the natural number following 6 and preceding 8. It is the only prime number preceding a cube.
As an early prime number in the series of positive integers, the number seven has greatly symbolic associations in religion, mythology, s ...
, they became the first-ever pair to successfully execute a throw quad salchow in an international competition.[ They won the pewter medal at the 2008 U.S. Championships and were sent to the 2008 Four Continents, where they placed 8th.
In the 2008–2009 season, Vise/Trent placed 5th at the ]2008 Skate Canada International
The 2008 Skate Canada International was the second event of six in the 2008–09 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating, a senior-level international invitational competition series. It was held at the Scotiabank Place in Ottawa, Ontario on October 30 ...
and the 2008 Trophée Eric Bompard
8 (eight) is the natural number following 7 and preceding 9.
In mathematics
8 is:
* a composite number, its proper divisors being , , and . It is twice 4 or four times 2.
* a power of two, being 2 (two cubed), and is the first number of t ...
. They placed 8th at the 2009 U.S. Championships. The pair was coached by Doug Ladret
Douglas James Ladret (born November 13, 1961) is a Canadian figure skating coach and former competitive pair skater. With Christine Hough, he is the 1987 Skate Canada International champion, 1989 NHK Trophy bronze medallist, and 1988 Canadian nat ...
and Jill Watson in Scottsdale, Arizona
, settlement_type = City
, named_for = Winfield Scott
, image_skyline =
, image_seal = Seal of Scottsdale (Arizona).svg
, image_blank_emblem = City of Scottsdale Script Logo.svg
, nick ...
.[
On April 30, 2009, Trent announced his retirement from competitive figure skating.][
]
Post-competitive
Trent works as a coach. He is certified as a judge on the national level.
Programs
(with Vise)
Competitive highlights
''GP: Grand Prix
Grand Prix ( , meaning ''Grand Prize''; plural Grands Prix), is a name sometimes used for competitions or sport events, alluding to the winner receiving a prize, trophy or honour
Grand Prix or grand prix may refer to:
Arts and entertainment ...
; JGP: Junior Grand Prix
The ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating (titled the ISU Junior Series in the 1997–98 season) is a series of international junior-level competitions organized by the International Skating Union. Medals are awarded in the disciplines of men ...
''
With Vise
With Pensgen
With Sandoval
With Gadkowski
Singles career
References
External links
Official site
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Trent, Derek
Living people
American male pair skaters
1980 births
Sportspeople from Knoxville, Tennessee
Figure skaters from Colorado Springs, Colorado
20th-century American people
21st-century American people