Shawn Sawyer - Out or In?

[thumbyskates]

Heard rumours of Shawn Sawyer withdrawing from Worlds to do full SOI tour...assuming this means Kevin Reynolds gets this spot, but I can confirm neither. The other Canadian alternate listed in Liam Firus.

Can anyone confirm? ISU still has Shawn listed.

 

[Violet Bliss]

The rumour started because of David Baden's tweet:

Good news skating fan! Shawn Sawyer will do all 12 Starsonice shows! @FSUniverse @fsonline @skatebuzz

However, there has been no other confirmation. His name remains on Team Canada's list.

 

[thumbyskates]

The rumour started because of David Baden's tweet:



However, there has been no other confirmation. His name remains on Team Canada's list.

I saw that tweet. Thanks for confirming there is no confirmation

 

[EWalker]

Skate Canada announced today that Sawyer has decided to skip Worlds and Reynolds will go in his stead. Additionally, Samson has withdrawn due to a knee injury and Amelie Lacoste has been named to the team.

 

[thumbyskates]

Thanks!!! Just noticed both those on their "Meet the World Team" on Skate Buzz.

Sad for Sawyer - but he went out with a bang at Canadians, that's for sure. Here's hoping Kevin is back on his A-game!!!

 

[Tonichelle]

out - http://www.skatecanada.ca/AboutUs/NewsDetails/tabid/2157/sni[2797]/754/language/en-US/Default.aspx

 

[Violet Bliss]

I'm happy for both Shawn and Kevin. Shawn has a great future in show skating and it's right for him to focus on it now. Kevin just gets a redeeming opportunity for this season and I hope he returns to form and the rightful stage at his competitive career.

 

[wallylutz]

Skate Canada announced today that Sawyer has decided to skip Worlds and Reynolds will go in his stead. Additionally, Samson has withdrawn due to a knee injury and Amelie Lacoste has been named to the team.

LOL, it's funny how Canada deals with questions of who should be sent to the World. Last year, Vaughn Chipeur too had a last minute injury and needed to be replaced by Kevin Reynolds, who many thought should have been sent to the Olympics. So some people thought Skate Canada wacked Chipeur's knees. Fast forward a year later, Kevin still luckily gets the same bye again from a last minute withdraw. You have to wonder if Skate Canada encourage Sawyer to withdraw given his claim that they never supported his come back and in fact discouraged him to continue skating this past summer. Samson is a headcase at international competitions, her only good skate every year seems to be at Canadian Nationals while she pretty much bombed everywhere else, including failing to qualify for FS at the 2010 Worlds. Lacoste seems to the female version of Kevin Reynolds, but tends to skate poorly at Nationals. Maybe the USFS can suddenly find an excuse to whack someone's knees so Abbott could be sent to the Worlds instead.

 

[dorispulaski]

Why? Abbott has the same problem as Samson. Usually skates well at US Nationals, and usually skates not as well at other events. Except this year, when he did not do well at US Nationals either.

Sadly, Evan & Johnny are not skating this year, so it's a transitional year for the US men. Armin, Jeremy and Adam got to skate at 4CC's. Ryan, Ross & Richard are skating at Worlds.--spreading the competitions among 6 skaters is not a bad idea in a transitional year IMO.

 

[colleen o'neill]

I would never rule out that Skate Canada might " encourage " a skater to take this or that route, but in Sawyer's case , if he was going to retire this year , he might not want to lose out on the chance to get firmly established professionally by being able to do all the CSOI shows , and of course make some money. Professional skaters still need ice time, costumes , etc.,etc.

Go, Sean.

 

[ImaginaryPogue]

In this example, I'm hesitant to subscribe to any conspiracies.

It's pretty clear to me that Sawyer looked at this season as his competitive denoument. He had one of his greatest skates ever at Canadians and probably sees more of a future touring than as a Worlds competitor, especially since he's not likely to do much better than maybe tenth.

Additionally, I'm not sure why SC would look at Reynolds as the best possibility for the future. More accurately, of the four men not named Chan that Canada named to the Worlds team as members and substitutes, Reynolds definitely has the most potential (Russell, Firus, Sawyer and Reynolds along with Chan, fwiw). But his he really worth jerryrigging above the other competitors? I don't think so. Time and time again he's demonstrated he cannot deliver. Joanne McLeod clearly has a hard time mentally preparing her students for the bigger competitions (Sandhu, Leung). And thirdly, if they really did want Reynolds on the team, just announce that a skate-off at 4CC will be held. Don't pretend to be beholden to Nationals results when you're demonstrably not.

 

[Violet Bliss]

If Skate Canada had intended to sub Kevin for Shawn, they would have taken action earlier. Shawn only withdraws now because Worlds is delayed, resulting in a time conflict for him so he had to choose between going to Worlds or beginning his show skating career. I believe it is a wise decision for him to focus on the latter now. He is going out with a bang with that glorious skate at Canadian Nationals. There is no telling if he will repeat the performance at that level at Worlds and even if he does, he wouldn't medal. He has a fan base for a great show skating career and the opportunity of doing CSOI right now should not be missed.

Go Shawn!

Go Kevin!

 

[demarinis5]

Wishing Shawn good luck in his pro career.

Happy for Kevin and especially for Amelie!

 

[gmyers]

Now Sawyer can do programs never having to worry about a 3A ever again! So he is totally free to lessen his jump difficulty and focus on entertaining choreo and all that kind of stuff for show skating.

Good Luck to Reynolds hope he can bring his quads and also do his 3A.

Skate Canada got lucky here! Reynolds can do quads but Sawyer had no quad ability. So even with Reynolds problems on 3A he can do jumps worth more.

Joey Russell- Who thinks he will make the FS? Or will he get to the FS but place in the 20's?

 

[dorispulaski]

RE Joey, one can hope!

However the field in Mens at Worlds is very, very tough. I expect some good skaters to not make the FS.

 

[ImaginaryPogue]

Now Sawyer can do programs never having to worry about a 3A ever again! So he is totally free to lessen his jump difficulty and focus on entertaining choreo and all that kind of stuff for show skating.

Good Luck to Reynolds hope he can bring his quads and also do his 3A.

Skate Canada got lucky here! Reynolds can do quads but Sawyer had no quad ability. So even with Reynolds problems on 3A he can do jumps worth more.

Joey Russell- Who thinks he will make the FS? Or will he get to the FS but place in the 20's?

Barely make the FS. One of Russell's slight advantages is that he goes for trickier combinations (3F-3Lo) so he can absorb the loss of GOE in his SP slightly better. Won't mean much in this competition for overall ranking, but I can see him slipping ahead. One thing that is worth remembering is that when you get to the "barely qualifying for the FS group" is that many don't have a triple axel and they go for doubles. Russell does go for the 3A.

 

[wallylutz]

Barely make the FS. One of Russell's slight advantages is that he goes for trickier combinations (3F-3Lo) so he can absorb the loss of GOE in his SP slightly better. Won't mean much in this competition for overall ranking, but I can see him slipping ahead. One thing that is worth remembering is that when you get to the "barely qualifying for the FS group" is that many don't have a triple axel and they go for doubles. Russell does go for the 3A.

I have to disagree here. Those who can make the top 24 for the FS at the World Championship will mostly likely have a Triple Axel. It has been an unwritten requirement for almost 2 years now. Those who do Double Axels in the SP better have a Quad combo to compensate like Stephane Lambiel. I have seen men who did solid 3A and an otherwise solid SP with no major errors, failing to make the cut after the SP. One of the examples I remember most vividly was the North Korean man representative at the Vancouver Olympics. I honestly thought he skated quite well technically and would had him about 22 or 23th after the SP but he failed to make the cut and he had a Triple Axel in his SP and he also skated mostly clean.

Skater like Joey Russell will need to be mostly clean and with a Triple Axel. He isn't a big gun like Joubert or Chan, who can afford a sub-par skate and still make the cut. I also thought that Joey didn't improve very much compared to last year, judging it based on his skate at the Canadian Nationals. Certainly, back in 2010, there was more a buzz about him than there was this year. Many thought he had a good shot at making the Olympic team. To be honest, I think he needs to demonstrate a more refined skating in his technique and as well as his overall presentation. If we can give him a little bit of Shawn Sawyer, I think Joey would be a much better skater.

He is in the same boat as Miner and Dornbush, 1st time at Worlds. We'll see how all 3 handle the pressure of being on the big stage.

 

[ImaginaryPogue]

Kevin Reynolds, Victor Pfeiffer, Jinlin Guan, Jamal Othman, Ryan Bradley and Air-Pekka Nurimkari all made the free skate without a 3A last season at Worlds 2010. Not all had quads.

But I agree that my assertion is mostly wrong.

 

[blue_idealist]

I think Joey will make the FS but come in the 20s. He does have good presentation and musicality compared to a lot of the guys at his level. Btw I agree with the person who said he hasn't improved much since last year. I actually think his LP at last year's nationals was better than this year's. Maybe it was the motivation of trying to make hte Olympics.

 

[Bluebonnet]

It was a very smart decision from Sawyer! He knew that he did his best at Canadian Nationals and it's difficult to top that. He peaked and that was it. It's a great time to retire and go on pro.

Now, if USFSA wants Jeremy Abbott to go to this worlds, just have Scott Hamilton offer Bradley the SOI for this year, it'll do the trick.