Marissa Castelli and Mervin Tran pair up. | Page 6 | Golden Skate

Marissa Castelli and Mervin Tran pair up.

Alba

Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 26, 2014
I like the program and I like them. Very good chemistry and very fluid, gentle together.
It's obvious they need more time and lot of work to up their level and the quality of some of the elements, like the twist, but I actually like the lifts. The one entering into the death spiral was gorgeous. :yes:
 

flutzy13

On the Ice
Joined
Nov 12, 2012
The program felt very Marissa and Simon minus the huge twist and spectacular lifts. I guess that isn't a surprise given it's Marcotte choreo and Marissa was wearing a dress that she's used often in competition and shows. I kind of hope they avoid her in a black dress the next time they compete this- it's a summertime program and she and Simon did the all black costumes a lot.


Hopefully over time, they'll develop more of a unique style because as people have pointed out they had a nice, easy chemistry and move well together. The death spiral was gorgeous. With no chance at competing internationally for a year, they have a lot of time to get the rest of the elements down and become their own team.

Seeing this makes me interested to see the debut of Leng & Shnapir who I believe are also using Marcotte for choreo.
 

blue_idealist

Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 25, 2006
I think they look good, although it looks like they only did a double SBS jump. Funny that they competed against Purich and Wolfe and the scores were so close.
 

Mrs. P

Uno, Dos, twizzle!
Record Breaker
Joined
Dec 27, 2009
I wouldn't read too much into the scores or the tech content. They probably just wanted to get a feel for competition.
 

ice coverage

avatar credit: @miyan5605
Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 27, 2012
I wouldn't read too much into the scores or the tech content. They probably just wanted to get a feel for competition.

Tran's tweet supports your point, Mrs. P. :)

Mervin Tran ‏@skate_moivo
First step; make our debut (check). Next step; pass my senior pairs and senior moves in the field tests (pending). Wish me luck :p
7:44 AM - 10 Aug 2014
https://twitter.com/skate_moivo/status/498479979098017792

And yet I find it hard to believe that his former partner's higher score (by a hair) did not make even the unflappable Tran blink for just a second. ;)

Wishing Mervin luck with his tests, of course. :)
 

blue_idealist

Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 25, 2006
Tran's tweet supports your point, Mrs. P. :)

Mervin Tran ‏@skate_moivo
First step; make our debut (check). Next step; pass my senior pairs and senior moves in the field tests (pending). Wish me luck :p
7:44 AM - 10 Aug 2014
https://twitter.com/skate_moivo/status/498479979098017792

And yet I find it hard to believe that his former partner's higher score (by a hair) did not make even the unflappable Tran blink for just a second.

Wishing Mervin luck with his tests, of course. :)

It's kind of funny that Mervin has to take the senior tests again in the United States after being a world bronze medalist for Japan and passing the tests in both Japan and Canada, but I guess that's the way the cookie crumbles. LOL.
 

Sandpiper

Record Breaker
Joined
Apr 16, 2014
Pretty good skating for a first outing, and I agree with Alba, I think the lifts were definitely the best part of their technical arsenal. But goodness, I really can't get used to the lyrics-in-competitive-programs part... When it first started playing, my initial thought was, "Wait, did they switch to ice dance?!" The vocals were all kinds of distracting.

Still, I wish them luck, and they seem like a promising pair. :)
 

Scovies

Final Flight
Joined
Jan 10, 2014
I like the program -- even before they started, there was some really nice chemistry there. They're so much more well-matched, physically, than Castelli and Shnapir were, and they actually seem to like each other! I don't want to seem too harsh on Simon, but whenever I watched him with Marissa I wished she had a different partner. She is freaking fabulous -- she can really perform and sell a program -- and he never seemed to have the charisma to match her. Mervin looks up to the task.

Pretty good skating for a first outing, and I agree with Alba, I think the lifts were definitely the best part of their technical arsenal. But goodness, I really can't get used to the lyrics-in-competitive-programs part... When it first started playing, my initial thought was, "Wait, did they switch to ice dance?!" The vocals were all kinds of distracting.

Vocals don't necessarily bother me, but I'm not fond of the vocalists in the version of "Summertime" they chose (I'm partial to Sam Cooke and Janis Joplin). Still, I'm excited to see what they can do once they get some more experience under their belt.
 

Sandpiper

Record Breaker
Joined
Apr 16, 2014
Vocals don't necessarily bother me, but I'm not fond of the vocalists in the version of "Summertime" they chose (I'm partial to Sam Cooke and Janis Joplin). Still, I'm excited to see what they can do once they get some more experience under their belt.
The vocalists were part of the problem. Drew too much attention away from the skate. I suspect a different piece, or a different vocal interpretation, would've been less distracting.
 

Scovies

Final Flight
Joined
Jan 10, 2014
Yeah, the man's vocals (who's singing in this one? I thought it was Tom Jones at first but I have no idea) were so... loud. There's such gorgeous instrumentation there, but the belting, and the fact that the vocals are mixed so prominently in the recording rather than turned down a notch, don't help.

This is still my favorite version of the song. The vocals are a bit more laid-back and complement the song rather than screaming over it, in my opinion.
 

gold12345

Medalist
Joined
Dec 14, 2007
Yeah, the man's vocals (who's singing in this one? I thought it was Tom Jones at first but I have no idea) were so... loud. There's such gorgeous instrumentation there, but the belting, and the fact that the vocals are mixed so prominently in the recording rather than turned down a notch, don't help

I agree. When the man started singing, it even startled me a bit. It was just too much. The female voice wasn't much better. Nice program though. It's nice to see Marissa show some sort of a connection with her partner rather than just project outward to the audience, which is what she mostly did with Simon since their chemistry was lacking. They look better-matched than Marissa did with a huge 6'4" partner, although the elements have a ways to go. The lift looked strong and secure, but the double twist looked like work. Their throw salchow looks about one-third of the size of Marissa & Simon's, but maybe some of that is because they're new. It'll be interesting to see if they can eventually build towards a more difficult throw in the SP, since salchows are what Marissa & Simon always did, and I used to wonder if it was mainly because of his height or something else.

Summer events are low-key and just to get your feet wet, but Purich must have had a chuckle over beating her former partner Tran by a couple hairs. It's nice that both of them were able to find someone to skate with for this season.
 

tulosai

Record Breaker
Joined
Dec 21, 2011
Basically agree with everyone else on this one. VERY good unison and chemistry for such a new team even on elements where it is harder to stay in unison like the SBS spin. Difficulty obviously must increase drastically on all elements but the lift for them to hope to be competitive, but it is to be hoped/expected that this will come with time. I really enjoyed the death spiral, I hope they will be able to basically keep it and increase the level on it- was a bit surprised to see it only got a level 1.

I am a bit concerned about the twist, which was poor, and about the SBS jumps where they seemed to only be going for a double jump and really struggled even with that, but as I say above they are a very new team and it is to be expected this will improve. I actually though the throw was okay, we are just used to seeing her and Simon execute insane ones.

I will say seeing them I do feel that she made the right choice splitting from Simon, even if she and Tran don't ever achieve any success. She looks just much happier skating with him and more connected to him on the ice than she ever did with Simon, and I think that is VERY striking and sad considering how long she and Simon were partnered. I hope Simon will look similarly happy and relaxed with his own partner.

And yes, I agree the music is not great.
 

flutzy13

On the Ice
Joined
Nov 12, 2012
I agree. When the man started singing, it even startled me a bit. It was just too much. The female voice wasn't much better. Nice program though. It's nice to see Marissa show some sort of a connection with her partner rather than just project outward to the audience, which is what she mostly did with Simon since their chemistry was lacking. They look better-matched than Marissa did with a huge 6'4" partner, although the elements have a ways to go. The lift looked strong and secure, but the double twist looked like work. Their throw salchow looks about one-third of the size of Marissa & Simon's, but maybe some of that is because they're new. It'll be interesting to see if they can eventually build towards a more difficult throw in the SP, since salchows are what Marissa & Simon always did, and I used to wonder if it was mainly because of his height or something else.

Summer events are low-key and just to get your feet wet, but Purich must have had a chuckle over beating her former partner Tran by a couple hairs. It's nice that both of them were able to find someone to skate with for this season.

As far as throws, I'm pretty sure C&S sticking to salchows was about that it was a jump Marissa was really comfortable with. They tried the 3A for a season or 2 but she would always rotate it and fall. And I remember hearing they tried to train either a flip or loop for the Olympic season but that she couldn't land it consistently and they decided to go with the 4S/3S since salchows were her thing. I don't think Simon's height was the issue at all and if anything it kind of saved them b/c he had enough power to throw her into a quad thereby giving her another jump option for the FS. I've read he and DeeDee are training and landing throw loops.
 

2A3TMom

Rinkside
Joined
Jul 28, 2014
Nice first go for Marissa and Mervin. Glad to see that the coaches have kept one of Marissa's trademark lift positions. Spins looked better too, even so early on their unison is decent. That was always a problem area for Marissa and Simon.
 

tommybuffano12

Rinkside
Joined
Apr 2, 2014
Bobby Martin

It's nice to hear that both Simon and Marissa are doing well with their new partners but shouldn't some credit be given to Bobby Martin?? He was up for coach of the year recently and I feel like he did a phenomenal job keeping Simon and Marissa together despite their issues. Hats off to Bobby:popcorn: Let's see how these 2 new teams develop!
 

Art&Sport

Medalist
Joined
Apr 28, 2011
interesting point that goes beyond what you write here. I don't know what marissa's ultimate goal is, and, for many people, and the federations, the olympics is the ultimate goal. This is a four year sport, and popularity and momentum seems to hinge on the olympic results or showing. But for pairs, sometimes maybe we should question that. And mervin and marissa's situation really is the perfect example.

Just how important should it be that a team go to the olympics. Yes, very important, but at the expense of not skating with a decent partner, or being competitive? Perhaps those considerations should deal-break the olympic ambition. Being a great team and being able to go to worlds, and being fantastic on the ice has to be a close second, and (but where you are not going to be on a good team: ) maybe even better than skating in a crappy partnership going nowhere even if you get to go the olympics.

Consider what jsf and narumi did to get a narumi team to the olympics. (i have nothing against either.) one doesn't need a crystal ball to see that the japanese team that narumi is now on is never going to be as good on the ice as the narumi-mervin team. And inbetween, now and the next olympics, there are going to be four years of okay skating, but narumi-ryuichi are never going to be podium except at the japanese national level. Jsf and narumi made the choice that the olympics were more important than continuing the tran partnership. I respect that position, but i also disagree with it because it destroyed what could have been a team that potentially could have been super-great, and much more inspirational nationally and internationally for the discipline (imho).

As well, for marissa in particular, is it worth skating four years in a partnership that causes you to be unhappy just to get to the olympics? (again, a personal choice, but, for me, especially after sochi 2014, i am not so sure that the 2018 olympics are such a fantastic event to gamble everything you have on at the added cost of spending four years in an unfulfilling partnership.)

i know the national federation system is important for funding, and that olympics is the be-all end-all (ie the ultimate) for most teams, but, in cases such as tran and marissa, because of their individual personal experiences, it might be that their particular priorities are shifted to being on the very best skating team (that can still compete internationally, just not at the olympics). To me, it is a breath of fresh air to see two skaters i adore take the road less travelled (but to me more rational) and they can be present enough, even without the olympics, to make it worthwhile.

Let all of us skating fans rejoice.

ITA :clap: Marissa and Mervin are aware of the obstacles surrounding their partnership but apparently something felt very right after they tried out, and that seems to be the key. It seems to me, they desire to skate, compete and see where their partnership takes them, plus an asset is that they were already good friends for a number of years. Witness this tweet and pic by Chris Knierim, retweeted by Mervin: https://mobile.twitter.com/ChrisKnierim/status/490859439441068032


You took Tanith, and now Mervin too?! :cry:

Hey, we gave you Kaitlyn Weaver! :)

Exactly, plus Joshua Reagan of the U.S. is paired with Brittany Jones of Canada, and they are looking like a team with some future potential for Canada.


For me, Tran's goal is a matter of greater interest, given that Castelli already is an Olympian with a team medal. As you say, heckuva lot easier for her not to dwell on dreams of 2018.

For both Tran's sake and Castelli's, I hope that their partnership is successful by whatever measures that they together choose for themselves. I agree that for any athlete, the Olympics should not be the only measure of success.

But I (an American who likes Team Canada too) do not rejoice that Tran will not be skating for Canada. And I do not rejoice that once again his path to the Olympics is (at best) extremely uncertain. The Olympics are much more than a competition. They are a life experience that virtually every Olympian (whether a medalist or not) holds dear.

Unless you ask them and they provide you with an answer, you really can't be sure about the reasoning for their decision to partner, and what their individual and mutual goals are as a team. None of us can know unless we find out from them directly.

In any case, we're at the beginning of the Olympic cycle. A lot can happen in four years. The IOC could change its policy regarding citizenship. Immigration reform could happen.

There's no point of losing out on the opportunity to skate with a good partner the next several years over the prospect of doing one event. Especially, that even if you do get citizenship your ability to get into that event is not guaranteed.

Absolutely, Mrs. P! :rock:

And Marissa and Mervin look good in their debut, considering the fact there was a rumor Mervin had an injury. I'm very glad they still decided to skate and I'm glad they have time to continue developing before bigger comps. They already have wonderful chemistry, footwork, spins, leg lift and lovely death spiral. The technical side will surely improve with a lot more hard work together and more time/ competitions under their belts. :)
 
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