As a New England native and then a college student in upstate New York, Lucy Bergemann got lots of first-hand exposure to snowy winter weather. But she says what really prepared her for her job as a meteorologist at Gray’s Colorado Springs station KKTV was not snow, but ice — the kind you skate on.
Bergemann was a competitive ice skater for 13 years, participating in individual and team competitions across the United States. She studied meteorology at SUNY Oswego but kept on skating on the school’s synchronized ice skating team — a “marching band on ice.” After graduating less than three years ago, she glided off to an on-air job in Colorado Springs, and she says it’s all thanks to the skates.
“I moved 2000 miles across the country, five days after I graduated. And I think a lot of that confidence and ability to trust myself comes from my history of performing out alone on the ice or relying on teammates to help get me through a program. And without skating, I don’t think that I would have that much trust in myself,” Bergemann said.
Skating didn’t just give her confidence. The fluidity as well as the discipline she learned while in sync with her skating teammates continues to help her with her new dance partner: the green screen.
“My mom always compared skating to TV, because you have to be aware of your body, especially as a weather person,” Bergemann said. “You have to be aware of where your body position is in relation to the [green] wall and the graphics. I never feel like I’m performing, but [skating] certainly has taught me how to be poised, to be professional and handle pressure.”
Bergemann says skating also helped her “synchronize” with her new colleagues. “I think skating, especially on a team, has allowed me to look at the bigger picture of not only my role on the weather team, but also how I fit into the station and what I can do as one member to make it a better workplace.”
Bergemann also coaches 14 girls between the ages of 7 and 16 at the Air Force Academy. But she keeps her two lives separate. On her social media she does not post pictures of herself or the girls on ice.
“My kids didn’t sign up to being on TV and on social media, and out of respect for them and their families, I just choose not to share [pictures of] them,” Bergemann said. “I’m just their coach who also is on TV.”
But despite the separation, her girls have picked up at least one pointer that works both on the ice and on the air.
“So I have what I call with them ‘diva mode,’ which is something I took from college. So that when they perform, I tell them they have to go into diva mode, so they have to smile really big and they have to perform and have fun,” Bergenmann said. “And one of them goes ‘Coach Lucy, you’re on diva mode when you go on TV.’ I guess I am, because I have to have a good time. [Because] if I’m having a good time, the audience is having a good time.”