German Pair Vartmann/Van Cleeve to Split After Worlds

paircheck · Feb 16, 2015

http://www.sportschau.de/wintersport/eiskunstlauf/eiskunstlauf-em-stockholm-kuer-paare100.html

like it is mentioned in this article mari vartmann and aaron van cleeve are going to split after worlds

mari wanna skate with ruben blommaert (split with annabelle prölß before nationals in 2014) in the future

and aaron searchs a new partner with his former coach knut schubert in Berlin

i hope mari and ruben will match better than mari and aaron

what do you think???

surimi · Feb 16, 2015

wow, that's an awful lot of German pairs that quit or split within just one year. S/S, Proelss/Bloemmaert, the Wendes, and now this pair. It is still unknown which country Savchenko/Massot will skate for, isn't it? That leaves how many German senior pairs in the current pair skating field?

anyanka · Feb 16, 2015

Makes sense in some regard. Aaron is originally from an island a few hours' away from Vancouver, and has dual Canadian-US citizenship. Having him take up German citizenship would require him to relinquish all his other passports, is that right? Also, this pair wasn't truly improving. Maybe Aaron can skate for US or Canada with a new partner?

Mrs. P · Feb 16, 2015

Did the Wendes spilt? I thought they just retired and are coaching in Germany?

blue_idealist · Feb 16, 2015

anyanka said:
Makes sense in some regard. Aaron is originally from an island a few hours' away from Vancouver, and has dual Canadian-US citizenship. Having him take up German citizenship would require him to relinquish all his other passports, is that right? Also, this pair wasn't truly improving. Maybe Aaron can skate for US or Canada with a new partner?

He did get German citizenship since they were at the Olympics in 2014.

blue_idealist · Feb 16, 2015

Mrs. P said:
Did the Wendes spilt? I thought they just retired and are coaching in Germany?

They're coaching... they were with V/VC at Europeans, I think.

GF2445 · Feb 16, 2015

So what is now left of Germany's skating program???
Well we lost most of the pairs already.

surimi · Feb 17, 2015

AFAIK, the Wendes retired. There is just one other German pair I know of, Minerva Fabienne Hase and Nolan Seegert. Saw their EC performances on TV and thought they weren't bad at all, especially if this is their first competitive season together.

paircheck · Feb 17, 2015

current or future senior german pairs are

1.) Savchenko / Massot: (if the French federation release massot... maybe this year for the 2015/2016 season???)
2.) Hase / Seegert: (they compete only 9 month together this season.. gonna see how they can improve for the future)
3.) Vartmann/Blommaert: will team up after worlds .. gonna see how they match together... wish them all the best...
4.) ....../ van Cleeve: Aarom has german citizenship since 2014 .... searchs for a new partner
5.) Prölß/.....: Annabelle searchs for a new partner too
6.) Montalbano/Hocker-Scholler: Danielle and Konrad are Training together in Oberstdorf.. gonna see how they will go no in the future...

what do u think...?

anyanka · Feb 17, 2015

blue_idealist said:
He did get German citizenship since they were at the Olympics in 2014.

They were not. S/S and the Wendes went. But I think they must have given him his passport as the alternate? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Germany_at_the_2014_Winter_Olympics#Figure_skating

QuadThrow · Feb 18, 2015

surimi said:
wow, that's an awful lot of German pairs that quit or split within just one year. S/S, Proelss/Bloemmaert, the Wendes, and now this pair. It is still unknown which country Savchenko/Massot will skate for, isn't it? That leaves how many German senior pairs in the current pair skating field?

they will skate for Germany

CaroLiza_fan · Feb 18, 2015

Mmmm. Interesting development.

You all know how upset I was when Annabelle and Ruben split, because I saw them as the hot future prospect for German Pairs skating. But, when I read the explanation (he was struggling to throw her because she was having a growth spurt), I could understand why.

But, I have to admit at first I was baffled by Mari's eagerness to skate with Ruben.

This is going to sound really bad, and I wish I could think of a way of putting this more diplomatically, but I can't. So apologies to Ruben.

My initial thought was: if Ruben is struggling to throw a teenage girl because she is growing, how is he going to throw a fully grown woman?!

However, that was before I looked at their respective ISU Bios, and found that Annabelle (163cm) is 10cm taller than Mari (153cm).

So I suppose the problem Ruben was having is specifically to do with Annabelle's height, rather than the more general body changes that are happening with her.

Now that I have cleared that up, I can see that this is a very good move for both Mari and Ruben. Ruben has got himself a partner, and Mari has now got herself a better partner than she had.

As for their current partners, I can't see them pairing up. Aaron is the same height as Ruben, so he is likely to come across the same problems as Ruben did with regards Annabelle's height.

More importantly, Aaron is 27, while Annabelle is 15. How many years would they be able to get together before he decided to retire?

Yes, the age difference is the same as we have with Zhang Hao and Peng Cheng. But, no disrespect to him, but Aaron van Cleave is not the same quality of skater as Zhang Hao.

So, for me, Aaron has only 2 options available to him:

Retire.
Go back home to Canada as a new partner for Kirsten Moore-Towers.

(I would have suggested persuading Margaret Purdy to come out of retirement, but she is even taller than Annabelle!)

Annabelle has been quite clever, and continued to compete in Singles skating at the same time as she was competing in Pairs. So, if she can't find a partner, she can always fall back on that.

I just had a look at Ice Partner Search, and there are not that many male Pairs skaters on there at the moment, and none in Germany. Given Ruben's problems, I kept an eye out for guys taller than him, and there are are only 9 on there that fit this criteria.

So, Annabelle might be better off concentrating on the Singles career.

Anyway, all the best to Mari and Ruben for their new partnership, and to Annabelle and Aaron for whatever the future holds for them.

CaroLiza_fan

paircheck · Feb 18, 2015

CaroLiza_fan said:
Mmmm. Interesting development.

You all know how upset I was when Annabelle and Ruben split, because I saw them as the hot future prospect for German Pairs skating. But, when I read the explanation (he was struggling to throw her because she was having a growth spurt), I could understand why.

But, I have to admit at first I was baffled by Mari's eagerness to skate with Ruben.

This is going to sound really bad, and I wish I could think of a way of putting this more diplomatically, but I can't. So apologies to Ruben.

My initial thought was: if Ruben is struggling to throw a teenage girl because she is growing, how is he going to throw a fully grown woman?!

However, that was before I looked at their respective ISU Bios, and found that Annabelle (163cm) is 10cm taller than Mari (153cm).

So I suppose the problem Ruben was having is specifically to do with Annabelle's height, rather than the more general body changes that are happening with her.

Now that I have cleared that up, I can see that this is a very good move for both Mari and Ruben. Ruben has got himself a partner, and Mari has now got herself a better partner than she had.

As for their current partners, I can't see them pairing up. Aaron is the same height as Ruben, so he is likely to come across the same problems as Ruben did with regards Annabelle's height.

More importantly, Aaron is 27, while Annabelle is 15. How many years would they be able to get together before he decided to retire?

Yes, the age difference is the same as we have with Zhang Hao and Peng Cheng. But, no disrespect to him, but Aaron van Cleave is not the same quality of skater as Zhang Hao.

So, for me, Aaron has only 2 options available to him:

Retire.

Go back home to Canada as a new partner for Kirsten Moore-Towers.

(I would have suggested persuading Margaret Purdy to come out of retirement, but she is even taller than Annabelle!)

Annabelle has been quite clever, and continued to compete in Singles skating at the same time as she was competing in Pairs. So, if she can't find a partner, she can always fall back on that.

I just had a look at Ice Partner Search, and there are not that many male Pairs skaters on there at the moment, and none in Germany. Given Ruben's problems, I kept an eye out for guys taller than him, and there are are only 9 on there that fit this criteria.

So, Annabelle might be better off concentrating on the Singles career.

Anyway, all the best to Mari and Ruben for their new partnership, and to Annabelle and Aaron for whatever the future holds for them.

CaroLiza_fan

anyanka · Feb 18, 2015

I like CaroLiza_fan's suggestion of having Aaron skate with Kirsten M-T for Canada, and he already has citizenship since he was born there, but wouldn't he be obliged to sit out another year until Worlds 2016 before they can compete internationally? That would mean he/KMT would have only one year before the next games to build up for 2018.

CaroLiza_fan · Mar 7, 2015

Just wanted to let you know that I have some news about Aaron.

When I went onto Facebook earlier, I found a notification from Aaron inviting me to become a fan of a page for a business he is currently in the process of setting up.

The business is called VC Empire, and it seems to be a fashion shop (Well, the website has a picture of a T-shirt and the Facebook page has a picture of a watch!). It is due to launch in "Summer 2015" (so, after the current figure skating season has finished).

Interestingly, when I looked up the "who is" for this domain, I found that the website was registered around the same time as the split with Mari was announced.

But the most fascinating thing is where the business is based. It is not based in Germany, nor is it based in Canada. Nope, it is based in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan.

I wonder if somebody is planning to have a sideline coaching...

There has been no official announcement yet with regards his skating career. But, I take these developments as meaning that he is indeed retiring.

All the best for this new chapter in your life, Aaron. I hope it proves successful!

CaroLiza_fan

German Pair Vartmann/Van Cleeve to Split After Worlds

paircheck

surimi

Congrats to Sota, #10 in World Standings!

anyanka

Mrs. P

Uno, Dos, twizzle!

blue_idealist

blue_idealist

GF2445

surimi

Congrats to Sota, #10 in World Standings!

paircheck

anyanka

QuadThrow

CaroLiza_fan

MINIOL ALATMI REKRIS. EZETTIE LATUASV IVAKMHA.

paircheck

anyanka

CaroLiza_fan

MINIOL ALATMI REKRIS. EZETTIE LATUASV IVAKMHA.

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