Another solid outing for Noémie at Volvo Cup today. Euros TES minimums for the free skate achieved, an unofficial SB for the free skate, a whopping personal best in PCS for the free skate (we're talking a solid two points on Cup of Tyrol from back in the day) and an absolute (if, again, unofficial) PB for total score. 41.29/44.79 = 86.08, total 135.71, and this is the first competition in which she's gone at minimum first-level clean* in both programs too.
Plus, finally a choreographic sequence that's worth the name and lets her express something beyond 'I can do an Ina Bauer and a spiral'. I am appreciating Michael Huth's choreography for her more and more...
So, she enters the SIS personal best list, which determines eligibility for Senior Nationals, in fifth place and with a month to go. The top of the leaderboard is (or will be when SIS updates its spreadsheet) currently:
--Alexia Paganini 174.16 (Swiss Nationals 2019 - places 1-3 carry over to the new season if not supplanted by a more recent score)
--Anais Coraducci 156.81 (Golden Bear 2019)
--Yasmine Kimiko Yamada 153.25 (Swiss Nationals 2019)
--Tanja Odermatt 142.79 (Finlandia Trophy 2019)
--Noémie Bodenstein 135.71 (Volvo Cup 2019)
--Shaline Ruegger 133.43 (Halloween Cup 2019)
Yoonmi Lehmann doesn't seem to be skating this season; she has no assignments on the spreadsheet and her 2019 Nationals score isn't listed on the leaderboard. I hope she's not dealing with injury.
Things may change slightly based on how Shaline and Noémie skate at their respective Swiss Cup events this weekend and next, but probably not by much (Shaline had a rough trot in the SP at Eulach Cup today, poor girl), so Noémie will be starting in the final flight at Nationals in a month's time, and is in a good place to fight for the podium. All she needs to be in contention for assignment to Euros too is to meet the internal SIS benchmark of 70.5 TES across a competition. She was 2.38 points below that benchmark here, but Swiss Nationals also count for these purposes, so she's got time to make the grade. While it's an outside chance that she'll make it to Euros this year**, there are always substitute spots - but the more important thing right now is to be back in the conversation, ready to build on for next year. And if she can put out two more SPs like yesterday's at Zuri-Leu Cup and Nationals - they're focussing on sending skaters who can make the FS and help keep that second spot open for Switzerland - her place in that conversation will be more secure.
But all those numbers are really just me keeping track of the details. What's most important is that she's both gaining back the technical ground she lost to injury over the 18 months before the start of this season, slowly but surely, and growing substantially and visibly as a skater and performer. And looking so much stronger, happier and more confident than before. I couldn't be happier for her.
*First level of clean is no falls. Second is no falls and no underrotations or no falls and no edge calls/queries. Third is no falls, no underrotations and no edge calls or queries. Not that anybody but me uses those definitions. The SP was second level and the FS was first, and if she can get those URs sorted by Nationals she'll absolutely kill her PB...
**Coraducci would be favorite for the second slot at this point, but she's also favorite by far for the Winter Youth Olympics, and that's only about a week before Euros - it's unlikely they'll ask her to do both. Yasmine Kimiko Yamada and Tanja Odermatt are otherwise the strongest candidates.
ETA: Updated SIS Personal Best list, top 6:
--Alexia Paganini 174.16 (Swiss Nationals 2019 - places 1-3 carry over to the new season if not supplanted by a more recent score)
--Anais Coraducci 156.81 (Golden Bear 2019)
--Yasmine Kimiko Yamada 153.25 (Swiss Nationals 2019 - just scored 142.69 at Prague, will skate next at Warsaw Cup)
--Tanja Odermatt 142.79 (Finlandia Trophy 2019)
--Shaline Ruegger 140.86 (Tirnavia 2019 - withdrew from Eulach Cup after the SP, scheduled to skate next at Warsaw)
--Noémie Bodenstein 135.71 (Volvo Cup 2019 - skates next at Zuri-Leu Cup)