british nats, good luck thread

[mkfanatic]

a BIG GOOD LUCK to the following:

John and Sinead Kerr (u can do it!!!)
Claire Smith
Pauline Smith
Stephanie Smith
Stephanie Smith and Jaymes Monte
and....
Jennifer Holmes
i will b there cheering you all on!!!

[Mathman]

Hi, MKFanatic. I tried to vote for you at the Tara site (you are KZ, right?) but it said "#1 is not a valid vote.":(

Go Sinead and John!

Mathman

[Anke G]

Since I just found the link to the results for the British Nationals (Dec. 3-6), I thought I'd post it here (click on "results" at the bottom of the page):

http://www.britishchampionships2003.co.uk/

It was interesting to see how large the field was in senior mens. And there are some pairs coming up through the program!

Anke G.

[hockeyfan228]

Is Tristan Cousins, who placed third in Men's Seniors, a relative of either Robin or Steven Cousins?

He received one first place ordinal in the LP, from judge #3.

[Anke G]

Yes, Tristan is Robin's nephew. Robin has done some choreography for him, but I don't know which programs.

You might enjoy this article from last year in which Robin talks about the state of British skating...

http://sport.guardian.co.uk/olympics...648169,00.html

[hockeyfan228]

Anke G,

Thank you so much for posting the article!

In the program from last year's Euros, there was an article that said that the ISU was funding a talent development program for skaters from the UK, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Norway, Estonia, Iceland, and Latvia. Top coaches from Russia, Canada, the US, and UK worked with young skaters from participating countries in workshops and training sessions, and they also gave training for coaches. It sounds like a great way to pool resources and get exposure to the type of training that deep national programs have.

From the participants, it looks like this is for singles skaters, and the program is aimed at the younger kids. So far, their biggest success story has been Sweden's Lina Johansson.

With so many countries in the pool, the skaters don't have to rely on top contenders from their countries for role models; they can identify with all of the skaters in the program. In another five to ten years, there may be a crop of contenders from these countries.