South Jersey skater Isabeau Levito opens her season with a win in Aston

Three months ago, South Jersey figure skater Isabeau Levito became the Junior World champion.

So one might think she’d have some downtime. And she did — a few days off, a week to break in new skates, and a vacation to visit relatives in Italy. Her mother is from Milan — site of the 2026 Winter Olympics, which Levito has her eyes set on.

But while summer might seem like the offseason for a winter sport, figure skating doesn’t take much of a break. On Saturday, Levito, 15, won her first competition of the season, the Philadelphia Summer International Competition at IceWorks in Aston.

This also was a preview of the upcoming season. Summer competitions generally are considered to be a time for skaters to test new programs before judges. They often add different jumps, spins, and footwork as the season goes on.

Yet Levito, who lives in Mount Holly and trains in Mount Laurel, earned a score in her free skate, or long program, that was just four one-hundredths shy of her personal best.

“I didn’t expect that,” Levito said of her score. “I kind of came into this competition just like I want to present my programs very well. I was less focused on the technical elements and more focused on just like showing my programs for the first time the best that I can, for a first a good first impression for these programs.”

Her coach agreed.

“We didn’t expect this high score,” Yulia Kuznetsova said. “But we moved to seniors. The component system changed a little bit, and we didn’t expect that much. But what am understanding from feedback [Levito had a critique with Team USA judges on Sunday] programs lookvery stylish.”

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Part of the goal during that quick turnaround was to make Levito look more grown up and more like an international skater. Kuznetsova choreographed her programs with strong story lines.

Her short program is to Latin music, “Una Noche Mas,” by Yasmin Levy.

“I really love it so much,” Levito said. “I feel like it’s very — is the right word flirtatious?”

Said Kuznetsova: “I try to make you be like a movie star. I try to teach you to be, yes, flirtatious, but be strong lady who learn how to say how to rule the life. There is tension and flirtation, but whatever happens, she’s still strong and elegant.”

Her long program is to “Dulcea Si Tandra Mea Fiara,” sung by Catalina Caraus and Eugen Doga, a Romanian version of a song originally featured in a Russian movie. Kuznetsova created a story that is sort of a heavenly version of The Little Mermaid. Here, Levito is an angel who falls in love with a person who is on earth.

“And the angel wants to connect with this person ... and protect the person,” Kuznetsova said. “We’re going to try to keep up with the story throughout program, and the program can be very emotional.”

For that one, Levito is wearing a blue dress with a wing in rhinestones on the front and back.

“She is very gifted with her hands,” Kuznetsova said of Levito’s artistry, “and how she can bend [her shoulders, back, and arms]. Not everybody can do. And, of course, she worked a lot with a [ballet] teacher.”

Levito’s critique was requested by Team USA and helpful to her and her coaching team. She was assigned to two Grand Prix competitions this fall — Skate America, which will be held Oct. 21-23 in Norwood, Mass.; and the MK John Wilson Trophy on Nov. 11-13 in Sheffield, England.

She won’t only be competing against the top skaters in the world, but she will also have new rules with which to contend. This year, to get the highest levels in footwork, one must avoid repeating steps. And spins need to have difficult entrances and exits, increased speed during certain parts of the spin, or the skater must spin in both directions, which few can do.

The judges on Sunday told Levito and Kuznetsova that her footwork and combination spin were in good shape but that she should add difficulty to her layback spin.

They are considering this a transition year. She is on the rise, and a new quadrennial between Olympics has begun.

Her most difficult jump at this point is her triple lutz-triple loop combination.

“And hopefully we can have triple axel by the middle of the season,” Kuznetsova said. And maybe also quadruple toe loop, flip, or lutz.

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Besides moving up a level internationally and figuring out the new rules, Levito also faced a bit of adjustment in recent months. She grew about three inches and now is 5-foot-1 or a bit over. The growth didn’t affect her jumps, however; some skaters must relearn them. But she did wind up with an injury, an ankle sprain.

“She missed four weeks of skating after her vacation because of her left ankle,” Kuznetsova said. She wound up working on her programs “a total of probably five weeks, six weeks. I mean like working on them” intensively.

All of which made her win in Aston all the more impressive. She placed ahead of a fellow New Jersey skater, Lindsay Thorngren, whom she has been competing with since they were very young. Thorngren, who lives in North Jersey, placed third at Junior Worlds. Gracie Gold, a former national champion and 2014 Olympian who trains in Aston and has been making a comeback in recent years, placed third.

This puts Levito into a good place for the upcoming season. And while she doesn’t like to speculate about placements at the U.S. Championships or internationally, others wonder aloud or online for her.

The other skaters who medaled at the 2022 U.S. Championships, where Levito won bronze, are not competing in the upcoming Grand Prix season. Only Alysa Liu has announced her retirement, so other skaters may still compete at the U.S. Championships. Two-time national champion Bradie Tennell missed last season with an injury but is coming back.

“I am definitely not going to count her out,” Levito said of Tennell.