Max Aaron

Max Aaron
Aaron during the exhibition gala at the 2013 U.S. Championships
Personal information
Full name	Maxwell Theodore Aaron
Country represented	United States
Born	(1992-02-25) February 25, 1992 Scottsdale, Arizona
Home town	Scottsdale, Arizona
Residence	Colorado Springs, Colorado
Height	1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)
Coach	Tom Zakrajsek Becky Calvin
Former coach	Julie Patterson Doug Ladret
Choreographer	Phillip Mills
Former choreographer	Mark Pillay Lori Nichol Pasquale Camerlengo Tom Dickson Catarina Lindgren
Skating club	Broadmoor SC
ISU personal best scores
Combined total	240.22 2014 U.S. Classic
Short program	78.96 2014 U.S. Classic
Free skate	162.45 2013 Skate America

Maxwell Theodore Aaron (born February 25, 1992) is an American figure skater. He is the 2013 U.S. national champion, the 2011 U.S. national junior champion, and a three-time U.S. International Classic champion (2012, 2013, and 2014).

Personal life

Maxwell Theodore Aaron was born in Scottsdale, Arizona.^[1] The second of three children born to Mindy, a nurse, and Neil, a pediatrician, he has two sisters, Madeline and Molly, both of whom have competed in pair skating.^[2][3] He is Jewish,^[4] and was raised in a traditionally Conservative Jewish home.^[5] He said:

I grew up looking to all those Jewish athletes for inspiration. I always thought the list needed to be longer. We needed to have a stronger representation of Jewish athletes, and I’m so happy that I’m part of them now.^[5]

Aaron attended Chaparral High School in Scottsdale and later Cheyenne Mountain High School,^[6] graduating in 2010. He received the Principal's List Award and was on the honor roll for four years.^[7] He then began studying at Pikes Peak Community College^[5] and the University of Colorado Colorado Springs, where he majors in finance.^[7]

Career

Early years

Aaron began skating as a hockey player at age four, and took up figure skating at age nine to improve his skating skills.^[8][9] He competed in the USA Hockey nationals in 2006 and 2007.^[5] In hockey, he played U16 AAA, the highest level for ages 16 and under, and was one of 40 youngsters to make the USA hockey development team in 2007.^[8][10] He led his league in goals and penalties for two years.^[8]

In figure skating, Aaron finished in 5th place on the novice level at the 2007 US Championships and 13th on the junior level at the 2008 U.S. Championships.^[7] He continued to compete in both sports until he injured his back, later in 2008. After fracturing the right and left of his L5 lumbar vertebrae, he spent four months in a body cast and another four in physical therapy, and was required to stay off the ice for a year.^{[6][8][10][11]}

Aaron later moved from Scottsdale, Arizona, where he had skated at Alltell Ice Den,^[6] to Colorado Springs, Colorado, to train at the Broadmoor Skating Club and the World Arena.^[8][11] There, he picked Tom Zakrajsek as his head coach and Christy Krall for additional technical advice.^[8] Zakrajsek describes Aaron as a strong jumper who jumps high, skates very fast with tremendous power, and has the ability to compete very closely to what he trains.^[8]

2010–present; US Championship

A year after his back injury, during the 2009–10 season, Aaron won the bronze medal at the U.S. national junior championships.^[8] In 2011, he won a silver medal at the SBC Cup in Karuizawa, Japan.^[8] He then won the national junior title, while at the same championships, his younger sister Madeline won the novice pairs title with her partner, and his older sister Molly finished in 11th place in senior pairs.^[8] He then competed in the 2011 World Junior Championships in Gangneung, South Korea, and placed 5th.^[8]

Aaron won gold at the 2012 U.S. International Classic.^[12] He took silver at the 2012 Cup of Nice.^[13]

At the age of 20, Aaron won the 2013 U.S. Championships.^[14][15] After opening his West Side Story free skate with a quad Salchow-double toe combination and a quad Salchow, he performed six triple-jumping passes in bonus time.^[10][16] He scored a total of 255 points and won gold ahead of silver medalist Ross Miner and three-time winner Jeremy Abbott.^[15]

Aaron made his Grand Prix debut at the 2013 Skate America. In sixth place after the short, he placed second in the free and pulled up to win the bronze medal behind winner Tatsuki Machida and silver medalist Adam Rippon. He placed 7th and the NHK Trophy. At the 2014 US Nationals, he placed third and was named to the team for the World Championships, where he placed 8th. Together with Jeremy Abbott's 5th place finish, they gained the third spot back for the US men.^[17]

On June 28, 2014, it was announced that Aaron had been named to the 2014 Skate Canada International and 2014 Rostelecom Cup for the 2014–15 Grand Prix season.^[18]

Programs

Competitive highlights

GP: Grand Prix; CS: Challenger Series (began in the 2014–15 season); JGP: Junior Grand Prix

2009–present

2003–2009

See also

• List of select Jewish figure skaters

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Max Aaron.

• Max Aaron at the International Skating Union
• Max Aaron at the United States Olympic Committee
• Max Aaron at IceNetwork