Spanish Skaters - news & thoughts

I figured, since we are seeing more successful Spanish skaters (a very good trend!), that the time has come for a Spanish skating news thread. So, I will kick it off with something I read on Twitter earlier today: Hurtado/Diaz are moving to Montreal to train with Dubreuil and Lauzon. Good luck to them!

I wonder if Spain might be able to field a team for the Olympic team event, if not in Sochi then by 2018.

What I'm wondering is whether Javier Fernandez will medal at Worlds, and if so, what color it will be!

I don't see Fernandez winning Gold but possibly Bronze. I think Gold and Silver will go to skaters with both high PCS and TES, with Bronze going to someone a little lower on either PCS or TES, or a Gold contender messing up a risk element or two. Fernandez' PCS was about 65 at last Worlds and has been boosted to about 80 this season, mainly due to his high tech content, a little too high on its own merit IMO. He still needs to improve his spins and general skating skills quite a bit.

I still see great potential in Fernandez, as I mentioned before this season started, because of all quadsters out there besides Chan, he has character/charisma on ice and potential to be an all round skater. And, he is not a headcase. Go Javi!

It would be thrilling to see Javi winning gold at Euros, the step he has done forward this season is huge! I like Brezina's short but I so dont like his Lp that I prefer Fernandez!
Last time I went to Worlds Takahashi won, I really hope I can go to Nice and maybe I ll give him good luck again!

Buttercup said:

I figured, since we are seeing more successful Spanish skaters (a very good trend!), that the time has come for a Spanish skating news thread. So, I will kick it off with something I read on Twitter earlier today: Hurtado/Diaz are moving to Montreal to train with Dubreuil and Lauzon. Good luck to them!

I wonder if Spain might be able to field a team for the Olympic team event, if not in Sochi then by 2018.

Click to expand...

Awesome, awesome news. I don't know if it's the best move, necessarily, but that they are clearly getting some support to do such a thing is definitely wonderful. D/L were known for terrific lifts, so I look forward to their inventions for this fabulous duo.

Fingers crossed for the question.

I definitely see Fernandez as front runner for Euro Gold, with Amodio crashing, Joubert plagued with injuries and inconsistency, and Brezina blowing the late LP jumps. Let's see who will bring it on the day(s) and how much Plushenko's legend bonus is worth at Euro. Will Verner be there?

Excited for D/L for getting the support to train in Montreal since staying Spain would not offer the level of coahing and training environment they need to rise up further. They should contend for a medal at Euro.

At 2010 legend bonus was 91.30 and he hasnt gotten that much worse. Which is a mou point now anyway cause he even doesnt have an ISU minimum score to go.
And Joubert, how much inconsistent, he has been landing on euro podium for the last 10 seasons, I suppose this is some kind of a record. It is also Gachinski and KVDP and Contesti.
BTW What happened to Adrian Schulheiss and Preubert this season?

This thread made me feel so proud of our skaters It's amazing what they're doing.

I'm so glad for H/D's move to Canada, I'm sure D/L can help them, they were training there this summer, and the last time I talked with Sara she was all excited and happy for this move. I really hope it's a successful one for them.
My friends who went to Spanish Nats have told me very good things about our Junior ice-dance couple Celia Robledo/Luis Fenero, they've been skating together for only a few months, and Celia has never done ice-dancing before but everybody says they're talented and they're improving quickly.
Anyway the ice-dancing situation is still a bit uncertain. The Spanish Fed is trying to get a good coach for coaching here so both couples can come back and train in the country (Robledo/Fenero are currently training in France) but seems complicated.

About our single skaters, Javi's season is almost unbelievable. We knew he was good, we knew he needed a change to shine, and we knew Brian Orser would help him, but noone could imagine that improvement in just a few months. Remember that Javi started training in Toronto in July and 3 months later he was winning a silver at Skate Canada. I see him winning a medal in Euros, but I think it's a bit early for a World Medal. A top-5 would be perfect for him.
Javier Raya has been working hard this summer with his 3a and his 3-3s. I want him to do well at Euros, last year he was so nervous he couldn't show what he's made of. It'll be his first time at Worlds as well.
Sonia seems to have the 3flip under control now, and she has changed her LP for this season, let's see if clean programs can help her to reach the Euros top 10.

And Junior Worlds will be interesting to see, the whole team will debut there. Victor Bustamante, Elena Mangas, Rodriguez/Maestu and Robledo/Fenero.
It's also Rodriguez/Maestu's first season together, and it's their first time doing pairs. They're officially the 1st pair in the country and they still have easy elements in their programs, but step by step they're improving

seniorita said:

BTW What happened to Adrian Schulheiss and Preubert this season?

Click to expand...

Adrian has been out with a really bad injury; I believe it's his back. He didn't go to nationals, but I remember reading something that made it sound like he was going to be at Euros. I'd love to give you a link, but I can't remember where it was that I read it.
Also, last season, he seemed to be dealing with some amount of depression & I wouldn't be surprised if a good dose of it was still lingering about him. The poor kid just can't seem to catch a break.

As far as Preaubert goes, I believe he's retired & doing something in accounting. I think he's actually done some commentary for EuroSport, too.

sigrid said:

This thread made me feel so proud of our skaters It's amazing what they're doing.

Click to expand...

One thing I really like is that unlike some smaller federations, the Spanish fed didn't try to import people from other countries whose great-grandmother came from Spain or whatever - it really is Spanish skaters who do most of their training, at least up to junior if not more, in Spain. That also strikes me as very smart in the long-term.

Thanks for all the information on everyone, especially the juniors whom I hadn't heard much about, but also the senior skaters - it's much better than Google-translating news reports...

seniorita said:

What happened to Adrian Schulheiss and Preubert this season?

Click to expand...

Alban finished his MBA and is working in the financial sector in Paris. I think he's been on some broadcasts in France as part of the commentary team.

Maybe there should be a French skaters thread, too.

seniorita said:

At 2010 legend bonus was 91.30 and he hasnt gotten that much worse. Which is a mou point now anyway cause he even doesnt have an ISU minimum score to go.

Click to expand...

Plushenko will be able to go to Euros if he wants to go. Forget about the minimum score, it doesn't apply to his case. The only way he won't go is his health or lack of will.

sigrid said:

About our single skaters, Javi's season is almost unbelievable. We knew he was good, we knew he needed a change to shine, and we knew Brian Orser would help him, but noone could imagine that improvement in just a few months. Remember that Javi started training in Toronto in July and 3 months later he was winning a silver at Skate Canada. I see him winning a medal in Euros, but I think it's a bit early for a World Medal. A top-5 would be perfect for him.

Click to expand...

I don't think it's too early for Fernandez to win a World medal. I can see him beating the like of Plushenko and all 3 Japanese men already. You know the most stunning thing about his success this year? He has yet skated a clean FS or even close to one yet he has still been very competitive against some top skaters in the world. Just imagine him skating two clean programs, that would be phenomenal. If he can skate two clean programs, I can see only two skaters who can top him this year because he got one of the most ambitious FS program than anyone else, including that of Patrick Chan. Until Chan adds a 3rd Quad into his program, the BV of Fernandez's FS will continue to be higher and that says a lot about the Spaniard's determination. He needs to establish himself as the top skater from Europe first though and that means he should try to win the Euro and beat Plushenko and Joubert on his way to that title, then this will cement his place as the skater to look out from Europe when Nice rolls around.

wallylutz said:

He needs to establish himself as the top skater from Europe first though and that means he should try to win the Euro and beat Plushenko and Joubert on his way to that title, then this will cement his place as the skater to look out from Europe when Nice rolls around.

Click to expand...

I get your point. Javi hasn't skated a clean LP yet, and has always scored over 160 in the Grand Prix so with clean programs he could easily win a World Medal. Is just that I don't want to put that pressure over his shoulders yet. We've seen that he's quite solid recently and doesn't have big meltdowns even trying to get a medal in his first GP final, but we don't know how he could react skating in the last group of a big competition, expecting a medal from him.

Euros will show us a lot. He's the best European so far so he's the main rival for everybody. Brezina, Verner, Plushenko, Joubert, Amodio, Gachinski... Of this group I think the biggest threat PCS-wise could be Plushenko, who has 5 of his jumps in the 1st half of his program. The other skaters have good technical programs but lower PCS scores. Maybe Javi is the most complete of them all, but he needs to skate more or less clean programs to beat them.

Buttercup said:

Thanks for all the information on everyone, especially the juniors whom I hadn't heard much about, but also the senior skaters - it's much better than Google-translating news reports...

Click to expand...

Whenever you need a translation just ask, I'm not very good translating Spanish into English but I bet I can do a better job than Google

claphappy said:

Adrian has been out with a really bad injury; I believe it's his back. He didn't go to nationals, but I remember reading something that made it sound like he was going to be at Euros. I'd love to give you a link, but I can't remember where it was that I read it.

Click to expand...

Adrian won't be at Euros. Here is the list of the Swedish skaters participating. Sweden has now a pair also! http://iof2.idrottonline.se/SvenskaKonstakningsforbundet/Media/Nyhetsarkiv/ParakaremedistorEM-trupp/

Here is quite a resent article of Adrian where he says he will retire after the Olympics. Also it sounds like he might not go to the Worlds either, because the lack of preparation:
http://www.dn.se/sport/schultheiss-ser-slutet-efter-os

and for the 1st time Spain was represented by .... me at ISU Adult in june 2011
i finish 2 time in 2nd place (free skating and artistic)
i know adult competition is not yet know by people but its very fun to see skater all over the world to compet between 28 and 78 years old at different level .. beginner to master class (ex: Midori Ito)

patinage_adulte said:

and for the 1st time Spain was represented by .... me at ISU Adult in june 2011
i finish 2 time in 2nd place (free skating and artistic)

Click to expand...

patinage_adulte said:

and for the 1st time Spain was represented by .... me at ISU Adult in june 2011
i finish 2 time in 2nd place (free skating and artistic)
i know adult competition is not yet know by people but its very fun to see skater all over the world to compet between 28 and 78 years old at different level .. beginner to master class (ex: Midori Ito)

Click to expand...

That's great. I know they have this in tennis, and right now Mike Tyson is in the process of trying to get an over-40 competition started in boxing: http://www.fightnews.com/Boxing/mik...ournament-but-without-vitali-klitschko-104270 (here's hoping he's successful )

By the way, since watching Javiar Fernandez on the GP this season, in particular his last competiton, I said outright this kid has ALL the goods to dominate the field in the same way Evgeni Plushenko has dominated for over a decade now. He just needs to stop the little nervous hops/bobbles/turnouts on some of his jumps. And imho he alone would be a worthy successor to the Great Plushenko.

Jmho.

Does Spain have a synchro team yet?

Seeing Javier winning the Euro and winning a medal at Worlds would be a dream coming true, but I agree that one shouldn’t expect it and shouldn’t set him under pressure. He has made a fantastic progress in such a short time. 2012 will be the first year where he is a contender and while I think he has pretty good nerves, it is quite a challenge to deal with that new situation. I think a medal at Euros and top 6 at Worlds could be a reasonable aim.

Hurrah for p_a !