Castile and Okolski Show Promise

Brooke Castile & Benjamin Okolski

December 12, 2005
Article & Photo © J. Barry Mittan 

Brooke Castile (19) and Benjamin Okolski (21) are already making an impression. In 2004, the duo finished second in juniors at the U. S. Nationals and ninth at the World Junior Figure Skating Championships. Last season, they finished seventh at Nationals and at Four Continents in their first year in seniors. This season, they placed sixth at the Trophee Eric Bompard Cachemire, their first senior Grand Prix.

"This season, we're pretty much just looking to skate better than we have in the past," Okolski stated. "We haven't really reached our potential in skating as well as we can." "We want to prove that we can skate well in competitions," Castille added. "We're trying to skate every day like it's our last day in skating. We don't want to have any regrets at the end of the season. We hope to make it to the podium at Nationals." They haven't decided how long they will continue, but Okolski said, "I want to skate until I can't go anymore."

Castile began skating because her grandmother lived on a lake that froze in the winter. "I started skating in her backyard," she said. "I got lessons for a present on my seventh birthday." She reached eighth in intermediate ladies at Junior Nationals before deciding to focus on pairs. "I'm a good size for pairs so a lot of coaches asked me to tryout," she continued. "And I wanted to try something new. There's so much more you can experiment with and express in pairs. I like to do the lifts and the twists. Those are my favorite elements. And I like the throws even though I used to hate them. I'm really into ice dancing, but I'm too short to do that."

Okolski began skating when he was seven. "I used to play all kinds of sports," he said. "I played baseball, football, and soccer. When my parents moved from California to Michigan, they put me in winter sports and I started skating." He skated in freestyle until 2001, reaching as high as tenth in intermediate men at Junior Nationals, but was already focusing on pairs by the age of 12, when he started skating with his sister, Colleen. "It was her idea," he said. "Her coach had done pairs and wanted Colleen to do it. It took a lot of convincing for me to do pairs. But there are so many more elements, so many combinations of everything, with the elements so intertwined in pairs that you can do whatever you want. There are not as many possibilities doing singles. It would be like a painter doing only one subject."

"We got together after Midwesterns in 2001," Okolski said. "My coaches asked her to do pairs so she said she'd give it a try." They started in the spring of 2002. "She's a good partner in a lot of ways," Okolski continued. "She's small and a good jumper and skater. And we complement each other. She's a real firecracker, always upbeat and keeping me constantly going." "We match well," Castile agreed. "He's very dedicated and works harder than anyone I know. His work ethic makes me work harder. He's easy to get along with and very patient. He makes me want to practice."

The skaters are coached by Joseph Mero and Maria Moscato. "I'm most inspired by my coach Joe Mero," Castile said. "He really motivates my to keep lacing up my skates every day. They train for three and a half hours a day, five days a week, with another two hours on Sunday. They also do 30 minutes of stretching before and after practices, plus off ice lifts every day. They have an hour and a half of ballet each week and about four and a half hours of physical workouts, including running on an elliptical machine.

Castile does much of the choreography for the pair's programs. "I do pretty much the whole thing," she said. "Justin Pekarek did some of the footwork sequences and Maria helped me with the long. My favorite thing in skating is to be creative. I really enjoy choreographing and learning the programs. That's great because I hope to be a coach and a choreographer some day."
"I've studied the new system a lot," she said. "We've tried to make our programs flow and not have all the highest levels. Our lifts are level 4, but not all the other elements. We've changed the program many times to match the new system. I think we'll do better once everyone understands it. The points system is fairer, but they still have work to do with the levels for the elements. And I think you get punished too much for missing a jump."

Castile and Okolski usually change their music for one program each season, although next year they plan to change both programs. "It depends on how much we like it and the judges like it and whether we think we can make the program better," Okolski related. "Selecting the music is something we all do together. We try to envision our next year and what we want to do." Castile wanted to do "Romeo and Juliet" for the long program because she had seen the movie and liked the soundtrack. For their short program, they chose "Anticipation" by Luciani. "There's so much pressure in the short program," Castile stated. "We wanted something kind of soothing and relaxing that would just keep us moving along."

Both of the skaters are very interested in music. "Music is my passion," Okolski stated. "I listen to a lot of rock music including classic like The Doors, Pink Floyd, and Led Zeppelin. I love blues, like Eric Clapton and B.B. King. I'm learning to play the guitar. I used to play the piano and the viola. I'm looking to get back to playing the piano." He also collects CDs and things related to music, like posters and album covers. "We have about the same tastes in music," Castile added. "I like Pink Floyd and the blues a lot. And anything that's not on the radio."

Castile is also a visual artist. "My dad's an artist," she said. "And I have a studio in my basement. I like to paint and draw. Art was my favorite class in high school and I'm hoping to go to art school." Both skaters have graduated from high school, but have future educational plans on hold for now, although Okolski finished a semester at community college. He hopes to attend the University of Michigan to study aerospace engineering. "I've always been interested in space," he said. He's currently coaching skating for two to three hours a day.

To relax, both skaters like to hang out with friends and watch a wide variety of movies. Okolski played first base on his high school baseball team for a year and enjoys other sports. "I'd snowboard, skateboard, and wakeboard if it wasn't for the chance of injury," he said. "I play golf, basketball, and Frisbee golf." Castile doesn't play any other sports, but likes to visit her boyfriend, ice dancer Kevin O'Keefe, in Boston and chat with her friends on email. She also has two dogs, a Boston terrier and a West Highland white terrier.

They also enjoy traveling. "Everywhere we've been has been great," Castile said. "I liked Japan," Okolski said. "The cities weren't Americanized. The culture was completely different. Every bush and tree was different." He'd like to visit Italy and Munich again, while she would like to visit Italy and Greece.

As for their skating careers, they haven't set a specific long-term goal. "We want to go as far as we can," Castile said. "We need to improve on what we have," Castile added. "We hope to jell more as a team."