British and Irish Figure skating 2021-2022

[La Rhumba]

I thought I'd throw the cat amongst the pigeons and ask your opinions on the Women's comp at the British Championships this year. We all know both GB and International Judges will always give Natasha McKay the highest PCS of all our Women skaters, she looks a million dollars on the ice, and has good all round presentation. But we have others landing 3Lutz, 3Flip, and the 2A with ease - Kristen Spours today in Budapest. Do you think there is any chance of another skater being sent to Beijing if they beat Tash?

 

[DSQ]

I think if Kristen Spores beats Natasha McKay in Warsaw and at nationals she has every chance of going to Beijing. However McKay has being bringing out the 3Lz and like you said she is miles ahead in PCS so we’ll see.

 

[La Rhumba]

Been announced that Sheffield skater Morgan Swales, 22, is among the list of Pros for Dancing on Ice starting in January.

 

[La Rhumba]

Tayside Trophy entries

http://www.iceresultsuk.org.uk/Dundee/2021/TaysideTrophy/index.htm

 

[moonvine]

Tayside Trophy entries

http://www.iceresultsuk.org.uk/Dundee/2021/TaysideTrophy/index.htm

PJ!!!!

 

[CaroLiza_fan]

Tayside Trophy entries

http://www.iceresultsuk.org.uk/Dundee/2021/TaysideTrophy/index.htm

Thank you!!!

Wow, nearly the entire Irish team is entered! It's only the ones that are based overseas (Elizabeth and the Condons) that are missing.

Good to see pretty much all the top Junior and Senior British Singles skaters entered. Should make for good competitions.

When we have a decent sized Pairs field, I'm a bit disappointed that Zoe and Chris are not entered. But, at least Anastasia and Luke are.

Boys but it makes me feel old seeing Tamsin Sear's daughter competing in Juniors! Can't say I'm familiar with the other British Junior girl, Christie Anne Shannon. But, from a quick search there, I gather she is Scottish.

And after she rescued the Ladies competition in 2019, it is good to see Aleksandra Golovkina returning. I admit that I was worried when she withdrew from Nice last week. But, with her now training in Dundee, it would make sense to do their competition instead of going through all the red tape involved with travelling to France.

Hope there's a livestream!

CaroLiza_fan

 

[DSQ]

Tayside Trophy entries

http://www.iceresultsuk.org.uk/Dundee/2021/TaysideTrophy/index.htm

A good number of competitors this year in seniors. A big improvement from last year. Excited to see the senior men compete. Looks like Ponsart might have an easy win but for everyone else it’ll be close!

It’s a real shame I can’t attend. I swear I will be there next year! Anyone else going?

 

[ladyjane]

Looks to be quite an event. I noticed that one our (Dutch) junior women will also be competing there.

 

[La Rhumba]

Official announcement of the new British Junior Ice Dance partnership of Billy Wilson-French from Yorkshire and former US competitor Katarina Delcamp. Christopher Dean is their Head Coach.

https://m.facebook.com/100037191111622/posts/534952247754474/?d=n

 

[CaroLiza_fan]

Official announcement of the new British Junior Ice Dance partnership of Billy Wilson-French from Yorkshire and former US competitor Katarina Delcamp. Christopher Dean is their Head Coach.

https://m.facebook.com/100037191111622/posts/534952247754474/?d=n

Sorry, but I have to bring up the auto-correct turning Alper Uçar into "Alper Ulcer"!!!

In all seriousness, that is some coaching team they have.

With the talent of the two skaters, and the amount of skill and experience of all those that are involved with them, I can see this becoming a very successful partnership.

Looking forward to seeing them in action.

CaroLiza_fan

 

[La Rhumba]

Sorry, but I have to bring up the auto-correct turning Alper Uçar into "Alper Ulcer"!!!

In all seriousness, that is some coaching team they have.

With the talent of the two skaters, and the amount of skill and experience of all those that are involved with them, I can see this becoming a very successful partnership.

Looking forward to seeing them in action.

CaroLiza_fan

Plus it'll make the British Junior Championships alot more interesting! I could've easily predicted the results before. No doubt Christopher Dean being based back here has added some attraction and gravitas to the UK icedance scene.

 

[litenkyckling]

Plus it'll make the British Junior Championships alot more interesting! I could've easily predicted the results before. No doubt Christopher Dean being based back here has added some attraction and gravitas to the UK icedance scene.

I assumed they would be going Senior for some reason but yes should definitely have a solid 1-2 in juniors now! I think Fear/Waddell will definitely be feeling the heat soon because if DelCamp/Wilson-French (does that make them DC/W-F or just D/W-F?) have as good of a debut as B/H then there will be a great fight for the no.2 spot at worlds that I think we should have all of next quad, all being well.

 

[Ruthypegs]

This is great news - I saw Billy skating at a John Curry tribute (starring Mark Hanretty) a few years ago, and was really struck by his elegant skating and posture. I've noticed them both (Billy and Katarina) recently at IceSheffield, so maybe that was part of the tryout.

Sheffield now has an ice dance academy, https://www.iceskating.org.uk/ice-dance-academy headed by Christopher Dean and Mark Hanretty. Exciting times for us Sheffield folk!

 

[DSQ]

Looks to be quite an event. I noticed that one our (Dutch) junior women will also be competing there.

Dundee isn’t that easy to get to but The Netherlands is one of those places I think is very well connected with Scotland.

I think you can fly straight to Edinburgh and get the train. in fact all the skaters are from countries with good Scottish transport connections.

 

[ladyjane]

This is a skater who trains in Switzerland even if she represents The Netherlands, so she'll fly from there. But you're absolutely right, from our country it's relatively easy to travel to Dundee.

If I went myself, I would probably make a long weekend of it, and take the ferry to Newcastle, and drive north (I am one of those people who really love it to be able to drive on the left side of the road!). But...I've planned to go to the NRW competition as that is a lot closer. And except for Mikai the complete Dutch team (in women, pairs and Ice Dance) will be competing there. And no days off needed!

 

[ladyjane]

To be honest the Tayside competition seems to be better attended, especially in the senior Pairs. You've got six of them there. Enjoy!

 

[La Rhumba]

To be honest the Tayside competition seems to be better attended, especially in the senior Pairs. You've got six of them there. Enjoy!

Hopefully this will be a regular event on the ISU Calendar, and you can attend next year. Last year there were a few Scandinavian skaters and even a couple of club competitors from New York. But it's definitely grown this year. I just wish there was a Dance event.

Sending Congratulations to Natasha McKay who has become engaged to long term partner Ross. I wonder if this will be her final season? Anyway, her ring is gorgeous!

 

[Mauvedreamer]

I agree that £60 is a lot for those that are just getting it for one specific thing.

But, it sounds better when you think that for £40 you were only getting the sports content, but for £20 more you are getting the sports content AND all of Discovery's documentary and entertainment content.

And now that Discovery essentially owns WarnerMedia, we may well end up with their movies, children's programmes and the HBO content getting added to Discovery+ at some stage in the future (HBO's deal with Sky runs until 2024). But, if this does happen, I hope that we don't see the price going sky-high. (Pun intended!)

As for the geo-blocking, I would almost guarantee it will remain. Now that the ISU have got the money from Discovery in their pocket, they don't care about whether the fans can actually watch or not. And because they have paid the money for the rights, Discovery won't want people watching elsewhere for free.

Oh, how I wish the EBU hadn't sold Eurosport. If they had held onto it, we might still be able to watch figure skating for free.

CaroLiza_fan

They unblocked for Skate America but not Skate Canada it seems. I am with sky and just seen you can get a free subscription to Discovery plus ,would this include the Eurosport figure skating? It's an offer I only just found. Looked on Eurosport Player you can still subscribe for one month at 6.99. If I can get it free on this sky Q deal I will. Any information about it . Thanks

 

[CaroLiza_fan]

They unblocked for Skate America but not Skate Canada it seems. I am with sky and just seen you can get a free subscription to Discovery plus ,would this include the Eurosport figure skating? It's an offer I only just found. Looked on Eurosport Player you can still subscribe for one month at 6.99. If I can get it free on this sky Q deal I will. Any information about it . Thanks

Ah, I thought that was only a launch offer. I didn't realise they were still doing it.

I don't have Sky Q, but I would like to think it's the same content that you get online. (There again, look at the difference between the Eurosport content on the On Demand section of Sky+HD, and the content on the Eurosport Player).

However, from what I have picked up, Discovery+ is not like some of the other services on Sky Q (e.g. Disney+, Netflix), where you can have one account that covers both viewing on Sky and viewing on the computer / mobile/ etc. If you take up the 12 month free offer on Sky, then you can only view Discovery+ via Sky. If you want to view Discovery+ on other devices, you still have to pay the £60 per year / £7 per month. And if you do that, I don't know what happens when the 12 months on Sky ends. Can you then link Sky to your online account?

But, that is only my interpretration of what I have read. I may be completely wrong.

Whatever the case, that we are having this discussion confirms what I said before about Discovery+. They were in too big a rush to launch it, and did not think everything through properly. And it has resulted in all this unnecessary confusion.

CaroLiza_fan

 

[Mauvedreamer]

Ah, I thought that was only a launch offer. I didn't realise they were still doing it.

I don't have Sky Q, but I would like to think it's the same content that you get online. (There again, look at the difference between the Eurosport content on the On Demand section of Sky+HD, and the content on the Eurosport Player).

However, from what I have picked up, Discovery+ is not like some of the other services on Sky Q (e.g. Disney+, Netflix), where you can have one account that covers both viewing on Sky and viewing on the computer / mobile/ etc. If you take up the 12 month free offer on Sky, then you can only view Discovery+ via Sky. If you want to view Discovery+ on other devices, you still have to pay the £60 per year / £7 per month. And if you do that, I don't know what happens when the 12 months on Sky ends. Can you then link Sky to your online account?

But, that is only my interpretration of what I have read. I may be completely wrong.

Whatever the case, that we are having this discussion confirms what I said before about Discovery+. They were in too big a rush to launch it, and did not think everything through properly. And it has resulted in all this unnecessary confusion.

CaroLiza_fan

OK thanks that's been helpful. Not sure if I can get the free trial on my sky Q but I will take a look at both options. Much appreciated