2017-18 State of U.S. Men's Figure Skating

[ice coverage]

This week Nathan Chen worked with dancer Alex Wong , who posted a video of Nathan spinning:

https://www.instagram.com/p/BX8pCXyBkqp/?taken-by=alexdwong (Aug 18)​

(As an Instagram story, Alex posted an off-ice photo of himself with Adam, but [IMO] did not seem to imply that they are working together as well.)

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From Unseen Skaters, it seems Adam got 256.21 (SP 89.33 and FS 166.88). 2nd best among US men in summer competitions. It looks like only Nathan has not yet competed in club competitions.

Speaking of Adam: my belated thanks to Tahuu.

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Ryan Bradley will go live on Skate America's FB page tomorrow, per this USFS tweet today:

https://twitter.com/USFigureSkating/status/898649038970646528 (Aug 18)​

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Max Aaron's workout playlist has been added to the USFS Spotify account:

https://twitter.com/USFigureSkating/status/898558174936039425 (Aug 18)​

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Looking forward to any news and crumbs from Champs Camp.

The Shibutanis will be posting Instagram stories tomorrow on the @teamusa account; Jason is taking requests for his Champs Camp blog; Lynn Rutherford will be reporting ....

[Off topic for this thread (but sweet ): Per Ashley Wagner's Instagram story, Romain will be taking care of her kitty Dex in her absence.]

ETA (on Aug 19):

New word of more social media plans: this weekend Lynn Rutherford is posting on IceNetwork's Instagram account (as well as tweeting from her own account, I expect); and today (?I think only today?) Chock/Bates are posting on the USFS Instagram account.​

ETA:

Forgot to say that I'm so happy that Lynn gave us an initial bonus of a nice photo of Jordan Moeller :yay: (in the context of his OTC job) and thanked him for his Instagram tips.​

 

[karne]

Max Aaron's workout playlist has been added to the USFS Spotify account:

https://twitter.com/USFigureSkating/status/898558174936039425 (Aug 18)​

I should point out this is very workout-able. I did my stretching to it this morning.

 

[ice coverage]

FYI for Dornbush fans:

When Brendan Kerry competed his FS at Golden West tonight, behind the boards with Gambill was Dornbush.

I think the same was true two nights ago when Brendan competed his SP. IIRC, a male was behind the boards with Gambill then too, but on Thursday, my eyes could not make out the face of the person.

Tonight's also-at-first-hard-to-see guy eventually could be identified clearly as Dornbush. His face was more visible in a shot right after Brendan came off the ice. Richard was wearing what looked like it could have been(?) an official Team Australia jacket ("AUS" logo prominent on the front). [But maybe it was Brendan's jacket, and Richard was just wearing it temporarily??]

So ... maybe Richard showed up just as a friend to support his bestie Brendan?
Or I wonder whether it is possible that Richard has taken on a role on Brendan's coaching team?? ​

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Congratulations to Camden Pulkinen for winning JGP Austria .

 

[skatenewbie]

i wonder why Adam Rippon dont have any Senior B yet?

 

[SnowWhite]

i wonder why Adam Rippon dont have any Senior B yet?

It's possible he has chosen not to compete in one this season. If that's the case, he may want more time to focus just on training because he was injured last season. He would certainly get an assignment if he wanted one. Or he may be going to Finlandia, where he competed in 2014 and 2015. The entries aren't out yet for that.

 

[StitchMonkey]

i wonder why Adam Rippon dont have any Senior B yet?

I think it is partly recovery reasons. He has mentioned he wanted his GPs as late as possible. So he may not want to push his healing to quickly too soon.

 

[Bluediamonds09]

What happened to Joshua Farris?

Any new news on Tim Dolensky?

 

[el henry]

What happened to Joshua Farris?

Any new news on Tim Dolensky?

If you mean, why did Josh not attend Champs Camp, no information has been released. He is still listed to appear at NHK.

Sad to say, I do not remember if Timmy D. has been assigned to a Senior B yet. I certainly hope he will be,

But he released this vid on Friday of those practicing those gosh-darn amazing spins, including the best headless scratch spin in biz, bar none:

https://www.instagram.com/p/BYjX2N5AFKI/

 

[Ic3Rabbit]

If you mean, why did Josh not attend Champs Camp, no information has been released. He is still listed to appear at NHK.

Sad to say, I do not remember if Timmy D. has been assigned to a Senior B yet. I certainly hope he will be,

But he released this vid on Friday of those practicing those gosh-darn amazing spins, including the best headless scratch spin in biz, bar none:

https://www.instagram.com/p/BYjX2N5AFKI/

Tim's a substitute for Nebelhorn.

He's also skating in the the US Figure Skating Classic in SLC next week.

 

[el henry]

Tim's a substitute for Nebelhorn.

He's also skating in the the US Figure Skating Classic in SLC next week.

Thx for the reminder; I completely forgot about the US classic look forward to, I hope, quality vids of the SP, where he ends with that great scratch spin. :agree:

 

[Weathergal]

If you mean, why did Josh not attend Champs Camp, no information has been released. He is still listed to appear at NHK.

Sad to say, I do not remember if Timmy D. has been assigned to a Senior B yet. I certainly hope he will be,

But he released this vid on Friday of those practicing those gosh-darn amazing spins, including the best headless scratch spin in biz, bar none:

https://www.instagram.com/p/BYjX2N5AFKI/

The speed, the centering, the positions...

And at the Aerial Challenge, he was jumping very well, too! Plus his musicality is stellar! I believe he's an accomplished musician who has even composed his own skating music. He also seems like a nice guy to boot!

Yeah, I'm a fan! :luv17:

 

[el henry]

The speed, the centering, the positions...

And at the Aerial Challenge, he was jumping very well, too! Plus his musicality is stellar! I believe he's an accomplished musician who has even composed his own skating music. He also seems like a nice guy to boot!

Yeah, I'm a fan! :luv17:

I love, I mean the masters of spinning in men's skating. How could it be otherwise as a Toller uber? One major reason I Jason and Deniss V. from Latvia, those spins.

And of course Tim. I had the pleasure of seeing Tim live this year at the Philly International Comp. This is going to sound really idiotic to people who have attended lots of comps, I guess, but there he was, 75 feet in front of me (this is basically a club comp with bleachers shoved up against a hockey rink ) and those spins are just as fast as on TV. And just as blurry. I guess I thought the blur was an optical illusion for the camera, but no, it's real life.

Tim was also a sweetheart who posed for no less than four selfies with the group I was sitting with in the bleachers where we were sitting. (If you weren't falling over a skater every ten minutes at this comp, you weren't trying. Not a selfie gal, so not me, alas ). From those ten minutes, he seemed like a very nice and gracious young man.

I'm on the Tim fanclub train

 

[Weathergal]

I love, I mean the masters of spinning in men's skating. How could it be otherwise as a Toller uber? One major reason I Jason and Deniss V. from Latvia, those spins.

And of course Tim. I had the pleasure of seeing Tim live this year at the Philly International Comp. This is going to sound really idiotic to people who have attended lots of comps, I guess, but there he was, 75 feet in front of me (this is basically a club comp with bleachers shoved up against a hockey rink ) and those spins are just as fast as on TV. And just as blurry. I guess I thought the blur was an optical illusion for the camera, but no, it's real life.

Tim was also a sweetheart who posed for no less than four selfies with the group I was sitting with in the bleachers where we were sitting. (If you weren't falling over a skater every ten minutes at this comp, you weren't trying. Not a selfie gal, so not me, alas ). From those ten minutes, he seemed like a very nice and gracious young man.

I'm on the Tim fanclub train

Thanks for sharing that story elhenry--very cool! And yes, I am also very much a Jason and Deniss fan and adore their spins! :luv17:

 

[Barb]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Qi7IEX_Qo8 Vincent Zhou new FP

what are his chances to make the Olympic team?

 

[apgold]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Qi7IEX_Qo8 Vincent Zhou new FP

what are his chances to make the Olympic team?

If Vincent stays healthy, I'd say his chances are pretty good. But a lot can happen between now and January, so we'll see!

 

[andromache]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Qi7IEX_Qo8 Vincent Zhou new FP

what are his chances to make the Olympic team?

Is it just me or is Vincent looking pretty darn tall???

They are clearly working hard on his packaging to make him seem more grown up, and his skating skills look much better than they did at Nationals last year. He doesn't have the skating skills or charisma of Nathan, but this kid should be a major post-Olympic threat if he continues this development.

 

[mrrice]

Is it just me or is Vincent looking pretty darn tall???

They are clearly working hard on his packaging to make him seem more grown up, and his skating skills look much better than they did at Nationals last year. He doesn't have the skating skills or charisma of Nathan, but this kid should be a major post-Olympic threat if he continues this development.

I agree. He looks great and I was so happy to see him do so well at Junior Worlds. Winning that title gives him a ton of momentum going into the new season and I can't wait to see him on the GP this fall. Do we know where he is slated to compete?

 

[shmay]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Qi7IEX_Qo8 Vincent Zhou new FP

what are his chances to make the Olympic team?

He seems to basically be one of two locks barring a major injury

 

[VIETgrlTerifa]

I think both of Zhou's programs look great. I'm going to have to re-think groaning every time someone announces MR now. There are like 3 programs to it by top skaters that I'm actually surprisingly almost loving (Vincent's/Virtue & Moir's/Karen Chen's). Jeffrey Buttle is a genius for realizing Vincent looks like a walking CW show and using Snow Patrol's "Chasing Cars" to show off what a natural Vincent is at showing internalized teenaged boy angst. It's the perfect choice for him.

 

[Jammers]

Is it just me or is Vincent looking pretty darn tall???

They are clearly working hard on his packaging to make him seem more grown up, and his skating skills look much better than they did at Nationals last year. He doesn't have the skating skills or charisma of Nathan, but this kid should be a major post-Olympic threat if he continues this development.

Even Nathan's skating skills a couple of years ago were't the best but just getting older and working on them with Marina took his skating to a new level and the same thing is happening with Vincent. He's at the age just like with Nathan where male skaters improve over just a matter of months.