2021-22 Retirements, Splits & Partner Changes

[moonvine]

She was born and raised in Missouri.

Awesome!

 

[BlissfulSynergy]

^^ Yes, Chelsea Liu was a moderately successful pairs skater with Brian Johnson in U.S. juniors, and they came up to seniors for at least a season (maybe two) before splitting. The rest is history with the magical pairing of Jessica Calalang & Brian Johnson. After the split with Brian, Chelsea was paired with Ian Meyh. The team of Liu/Meyh looked promising at 2019 U.S. Nationals. But that off-season, Chelsea was recruited by Chinese fed to join their pairs division. I haven't seen any footage of Chelsea with Xie Zhong of China. That's interesting if she and Zhong were good enough to take bronze at Chinese Nationals. In general, Chelsea has had issues with jumping consistency, but maybe she's improved that aspect of her skating.

Ian Meyh subsequently paired with Nica Digerness (who had split with Danny Neudecker, now paired with Sasha Fakhrutdinov). Nica had been recovering from recurring injuries, so I'm not sure where her partnership stands with Ian. Plus, they were/ are situated in Sappenfield's camp, as was/is Danny & Sasha. Not sure of the status of either of those teams. Neither are listed on the ISP, as they didn't compete last season.

 

[Weathergal]

My guess is Todd and Jeni. Danny has been hanging with the pairs at Great Park for some time now.

Tarah appears to be in Detroit, presumably with Jim and Amanda, but I'm not 100% certain.

Thanks! After I wrote this, I read that Chelsea was with Jenni and Todd so I realized Jim probably wasn't a good guess. I originally ruled out Jenni and Todd since they have Jessica and Brian, and Chelsea and Brian had skated together at one point (having no idea what type of parting it was). So it sounds like all is good there! I think Jenni and Todd will work their magic once again with this new pair.

I didn't realize Tarah was with Jim and Amanda, but that makes sense as she in particular always seemed to get along well with Jim. I also missed that they had moved from Florida to Michigan so, in short, your post was very informative!

 

[GoneWithTheWind]

Anastasia Tarakanova has retired, according to IFS Magazine.
She will focus instead on coaching in Oksana and Vladimir Bulychev's group.
I will miss seeing her on the ice, but good luck to her in her new coaching career.

 

[CaroLiza_fan]

Anastasia Tarakanova has retired, according to IFS Magazine.
She will focus instead on coaching in Oksana and Vladimir Bulychev's group.
I will miss seeing her on the ice, but good luck to her in her new coaching career.

So sorry to hear this. Of the young Russian skaters that came through in the past few years, Tarakanova was the one that got to me. There was just something about her style of skating that I liked more than the other skaters that came through with her.

But, good to hear that she will be staying on in the sport as a coach, and passing on her expertise.

All the best for the future, Nastya!

CaroLiza_fan

 

[Andrea82]

Judging by social media stories, Jasmine Tessari and Stephane Walker have been trying out together in the last couple of months.

 

[BlissfulSynergy]

Judging by social media stories, Jasmine Tessari and Stephane Walker have been trying out together in the last couple of months.

That's interesting. I would imagine if they partner, they'll compete in ice dance for Switzerland.

 

[el henry]

The Skating Lesson is reporting that Olivia Serafini and Mervin Tran have split.

https://twitter.com/SkatingLesson/status/1417263809056624641

 

[moonvine]

The Skating Lesson is reporting that Olivia Serafini and Mervin Tran have split.

https://twitter.com/SkatingLesson/status/1417263809056624641

Oh no!

 

[BlissfulSynergy]

I imagine this sad news about Livia/Merv splitting their on-ice partnership is true, but TSL is not an official source.

I wonder whether they will make any announcements on their respective Instagrams? Plus, it will be interesting to see what their future plans are in the sport, etc.

Mervin is such a smooth, talented pairs guy. But as I recall, he had issues with a back injury during a U.S. Nationals competition.

 

[4everchan]

in the comments, TSL mentions Mervin is having another concussion.... this could turn to be the end for him... but of course, let's wait for official news.. very sad for Mervin as this was perhaps a better match for him than a lot of his previous partners since Narumi.

 

[BlissfulSynergy]

^^ Yes, I thought Livia/Merv were improving steadily, and they're very compatible personality-wise. It has been apparent too from Livia's Instagram posts how close they are. So this is definitely sad if it involves retirement related to concussion issues.

I don't agree that Merv didn't have other good pairs matches post Narumi. Mervin is an excellent pairs guy. He looked quite good with Natasha Purich, but they weren't together long. Merv and Marissa Castelli were very good together; they were a smooth, speedy, stylish team. But they had too many obstacles to overcome.

Wishing Livia & Mervin all the best in their future endeavors.

 

[dorispulaski]

https://twitter.com/AnythingGOE/status/1416887538384609290?s=20

Moa Iwano JPN has switched to ice dance !

 

[norwegianfairytale]

Norwegian single skater Milla Ruud Reitan has switched to ice dance and paired with Nikita Remeshevskiy from Germany. They are skating for Germany, is now a part of the junior national team and qualified and got a spot for JGP in Slovakia.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CRzcYcBDs4L/

 

[GoneWithTheWind]

Cross-posting from the Pairs thread:

From an interview with Stanislav Morozov, he's coaching a new pairs team representing Finland: Milania Vaananen and Mikhail Akulov!

Milania previously skated singles for Finland and was the junior silver medalist in 2019. Mikhail previously competed with Ioulia Chtchetinina, placing as high as 13 at Europeans in 2018.

Link to the interview: https://rsport.ria.ru/20210725/morozov-1742733164.html

 

[hanca]

Cross-posting from the Pairs thread:

From an interview with Stanislav Morozov, he's coaching a new pairs team representing Finland: Milania Vaananen and Mikhail Akulov!

Milania previously skated singles for Finland and was the junior silver medalist in 2019. Mikhail previously competed with Ioulia Chtchetinina, placing as high as 13 at Europeans in 2018.

Link to the interview: https://rsport.ria.ru/20210725/morozov-1742733164.html

Placing ‘as high as 13’? You forgot to mention that they placed 13th out of 14 pairs, and with a score of 130! That’s not a good score even for juniors! Akulov is useless.

 

[Dr. Jenn]

Placing ‘as high as 13’? You forgot to mention that they placed 13th out of 14 pairs, and with a score of 130! That’s not a good score even for juniors! Akulov is useless.

Gee, tell us how you really feel.

 

[hanca]

Gee, tell us how you really feel.

I don’t feel anything bad or negative towards Akulov. But I can’t see a reason why I should celebrate that someone found an under average partner. I know it is hard to find a partner, but Russia has so many skaters that will never get through, it would be nice if Finland imported someone better.

 

[JustSomeGuy]

I don’t feel anything bad or negative towards Akulov

You literally called him useless. That is the definition of feeling something bad or negative.

And male ice dancers and pairs skaters are in shortage, even in Russia, and considering that the Russian fed has been taking steps to prevent athletes switching teams... yeah, no, they could not have 'imported someone better'.

 

[Lana05]

Akulov competed for Switzerland. It's not that FFKR suddenly decided to release him
Plus they are training in Armavir, Krasnodar Krai where they don't have competitors