Figure skating has always been at the center of family life for Max Naumov and his parents, Russian pair skaters  Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov, who are 1994 World Pair Champions, 1992 and 1994 Olympians and winners of the gold at the 1995–96 Champions Series Final.

With skating in his blood, Max, now 18, “fell in love with it from the beginning….I knew it was what I was called to do.”

His parents, eager to coach their son and others to achieve competitive excellence, brought their dream to the United States in 1998, first settling near a rink in Connecticut, and then in 2017, in Massachusetts, close to The Skating Club of Boston.

Today, Max is a member of Team USA and is indeed making his mark: he is ranked among the top national skaters and is the 2020 U.S. National junior champion. Other career accomplishments include 2017 U.S. National Novice Champion, 2013 U.S. National Juvenile Champion, also a winner of two international competitions. He joins a long list of Club champions, and will soon be representing the United States, as well as the Club, in upcoming ISU World Junior Championships.

For him, the Skating Club of Boston has been the perfect springboard for developing his skating skills and nurturing his Olympic dreams.

“Kids want to be competitive when they’re young,” he says, “and the Club supports them every step of the way. There are people here to look up to and to inspire you.”

Vadim agrees. “Everyone leads by supporting improvement, and that’s very important for young people. It makes them want to strive, work harder and achieve high levels of excellence.”

Vadim, who has worked with management to help develop a new training program called Tomorrow’s Champions, admires how The Club is constantly striving to support competitive skaters.

“With the new facility opening, I believe The Club will become one of the most successful training centers in the country,” he says. “Our aspiration is to inspire young skaters to consider a competitive environment, to show them all the possibilities that are out there. We’re so happy to be part of this driving force to create champions.

“I don’t know any place in the country where you can find so much thought and work put into a facility to meet the comfort of the skater,” he adds.

Max, for his part, will be among the first to appreciate those high standards as he continues to train and set his sights on the Winter Olympics of 2022.

“With the new facility, there are so many opportunities to bring more people into figure skating,” he says. “To me that’s what’s really cool. I can imagine young skaters will be inspired to pursue skating and see where the sport can take them.”