GroomTeam USA took on some of the best professional groomers from around the world and triumphed in the World Grooming Team Championships, held in Dachau, Germany, in September. The team took first place in three categories and third place in another to earn the gold medal.

Teams from 12 nations entered the 20th world championship event to rack up points in four grooming categories. The U.S. team took first place in poodles, purebred scissoring, and sporting breeds (spaniels and setters), and third place in hand-stripping to amass 36 team points. The French team took second place with 22 points. 

Groom Team USA members include Lindsey Dicken of Wag N’ Splash (Altamonte Springs, Fla.), Irina Pinkusevich of the Merryfield School of Pet Grooming (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.), Komako Tanaka of Koko’s Paws (Nashville, Tenn.), and Veronica Frosch of Coon Rapids, Minn. Greta Dalrymple of Top Notch Grooming Salon (Niles, Mich.) served as alternate. Teresa Dreese of The Paragon School of Pet Grooming Inc. (Jenison, Mich.) was team coordinator. 

The 2009 team sponsors included The Andis Co. (Racine, Wis.), Wahl Clipper Corp. (Sterling, Ill.), 44/20-Shear Perfection (Whittier, Calif.), and GroomersHelper.com (Margate City, N.J.).

“This is a tremendous achievement honoring the artistry, expertise and hard work of our team members. The competition has the very best groomers in the world,” said Chuck Simons, a team adviser and owner of Groomers Helper. “Having a world championship shows you how far the profession of grooming has come, and the level of excellence of the industry throughout the world.”

Competing teams came from Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, England, Germany, Holland, Italy, Spain and Switzerland. Championship judges hailed from Belgium, England, France, Italy, Spain and the United States. [December 2009 PET AGE]