Drat!
After finding out this morning that Lucy Hancock and Billy Wilson French had split (I
posted about it in the splits thread earlier), now I have found out that Phebe Bekker and Theo Alexander have split too!
Nationals was the first time I had seen Phebe and Theo, and I was really impressed by them. So this has just come as a real shock to me.
some info about irish skating...
the board of the ISAI is voluntary, the two people mentioned are both on it as far as I know alongside Clara Peters' mother, two other members of the skating community and a development officer who i believe is involved with Lee Valley rink. Edward Alton is married to Anastasia Kuzmina and they both coach in Belfast. Sophia Tkacheva lives the furthest from the rink and is the most advanced of the skaters still training in Ireland since Conor Stakelum moved to Dundee. Should be a few for junior ladies at nationals as the Condon girls have recently started competing under an Irish club and Robyn Foster is due to move up as far as i know.
I was so impressed with Elizabeth Golding when she made her Junior GP debut at the start of the season. I had heard bits and pieces about her over the past few years, but was actually shocked with how good she was when I finally saw her.
So, given that I had been hearing a lot more things about Sophia than I had been about Elizabeth, I am really looking forward to when she comes into Juniors full time too.
And if all these other girls also move into the Junior Ladies field, I have to say that the future is looking very exciting for Irish Ladies skating.
Thanks for mentioning Edward Alton. It's been years since I heard anything about him (took a double take when I saw the name of his wife! There is a successful Biathlete who has been using that same name since she got married a few years ago). Good to hear that he is still involved in the sport. (Wish Tameron was too, but she has found success in a different field).
I got a real surprise when I was watching the Toruń Cup the other week and discovered that 2 of the Hegartys are now competing together in Ice Dance.
It looks like Laura and Kevin must be doing both Singles and Ice Dance this season, because in the autumn they were both competing in Singles at Skate Southern, the Volvo Open, and the Narva Cup.
Laura Hegarty Rink Results Bio
Kevin Hegarty Rink Results Bio
Do you know if they plan to continue doing both? Or if they are just trying Ice Dance out this season to see how it goes, before deciding at the end of the season how to proceed.
I have to say, the thought of an Irish partnership in Ice Dance is pretty exciting, because figure skating on this island has pretty much been focussed on Singles skating. Sure, we had Tameron and Edward in Pairs up here, but I can't think of any other partnerships in either category from this island.
Any word on the Ice Dome...?
CaroLiza_fan
topic: but if you aren’t sick of musicals yet (!) it is currently BFI Musicals season at a lot of independent cinemas across the UK just now if anyone wants to see some of the musicals we’ve been listening to on the ice on the big screen instead!
