2025 Canadian Nationals: SR Women's Free Program | Jan 19, 2025

[vigo]

I am very happy for Maddie winning her 3rd Canadian National title. I loved her new free skate. I am very happy for Sarah-Maude. She skated well in front of her hometown fans. I loved her joyous expression on her face when she saw her marks. It was priceless! I am very happy for Katherine too! Her facial expression said it all when she saw her marks, knowing she won her first medal at National’s.

 

[saine]

Sara-Maude lived up to her expectations of medalling at home. I didn’t think she had it in her to podium. I thought she would place 4th as she usually makes more mistakes on the free skate. This performance was similar to what she produces at 4CC. I’m so happy for her
@saine she peaked here and has basically secured her spot for 4CC and Skate Canada during the Olympic season. Wow!! What a delight.

I'm so happy for her after last year when she finished 6th after being 3rd in the short I was hoping she'd do well enough to get another 4CC spot and this should secure it for her. Hopefully she can keep it up and get her yearly PB there.

 

[FlossieH]

When do 4CC and junior worlds get announced?

 

[saine]

When do 4CC and junior worlds get announced?

They should be announced tomorrow after the High Performance Committee meets.

 

[RatedPG]

Also, for World Team Trophy, they should pick Maddie for one of slots, as she is the Canadian Champion with the highest SB. For the second spot, they should go with the higher finisher at 4CC between Sara-Maude and Katherine.

 

[discodisco]

Katherine was tight...

Very much so. I really love her story, and wanted her to do well, but the truth is the choreography is far, far simpler than many of the other skaters, and when she's not bang on, the weaknesses are pretty glaring. I think she was significantly over marked here, especially compared to how stingy the judges were with some of the other skaters. Yes, she has pretty good edges, and decent speed at times, but there were a lot of empty sections, I'm not a ton of expression from my perspective.

 

[discodisco]

I support the choice to retire Danse Macabre, which was not working for Maddie IMHO. But, this choice is—puzzling. And the costume is too fussy for her—Maddie is in no way a tiara kind of person

Agreed. I think what the program needs is a stronger ending to be honest. I didn't like the step sequence at all, and I think he really just needs some kind of showcase element at the end, maybe a nice spread eagle or ina Bauer or something like that to really highlight the musical phrase. The problem with step sequences these days is not they are a tough element to bring people in with, unless you are Patrick chan. This isn't the old days when a step sequence could be relatively simple. These days skaters have so many requirements with regard to upper body movement, complex turns, Etc etc, that a step sequence takes up so much time and aside from a few skaters today, it's typically anticlimactic. Either she's going to need to have a whole lot more passion for that last 45 seconds, or rework it choreographically I think. That said, I hated her previous program this year, so this is definitely an improvement, and I hope it gives her a lot of confidence going forward. Good for her for adding a second triple Lutz, in combination to boot

 

[discodisco]

Perhaps a little early to say so, but I think she could easily keep this program for next season as well, there's plenty of room for more choreography and refinement as she gets more comfortable with it.

I think a Ted mentioned that she wanted to use this music for the Olympic season, so she decided to get a head start on it after deciding to ditch her previous program. So looks like you'll get your wish.

 

[4everchan]

Very much so. I really love her story, and wanted her to do well, but the truth is the choreography is far, far simpler than many of the other skaters, and when she's not bang on, the weaknesses are pretty glaring. I think she was significantly over marked here, especially compared to how stingy the judges were with some of the other skaters. Yes, she has pretty good edges, and decent speed at times, but there were a lot of empty sections, I'm not a ton of expression from my perspective.

The difference between Sara Maude and Katherine was striking in that sense. Sara Maude approached jumps with a lot of difficult transitions... there was always something to look for... I like KMS and I am happy she got third place here. So I have no problem with it at all, but I had the same thoughts about difficulty of the choreography so I thought I would chime in on it too.

 

[NanaPat]

I think KMS needs a snazzier costume. The one she wore looked like she was portraying a poor relation or governess from a historical novel. I had to deliberately study her face to see that she is actually very attractive.

 

[Isk]

Agreed. I think what the program needs is a stronger ending to be honest. I didn't like the step sequence at all, and I think he really just needs some kind of showcase element at the end, maybe a nice spread eagle or ina Bauer or something like that to really highlight the musical phrase. The problem with step sequences these days is not they are a tough element to bring people in with, unless you are Patrick chan. This isn't the old days when a step sequence could be relatively simple. These days skaters have so many requirements with regard to upper body movement, complex turns, Etc etc, that a step sequence takes up so much time and aside from a few skaters today, it's typically anticlimactic. Either she's going to need to have a whole lot more passion for that last 45 seconds, or rework it choreographically I think. That said, I hated her previous program this year, so this is definitely an improvement, and I hope it gives her a lot of confidence going forward. Good for her for adding a second triple Lutz, in combination to boot

I agree. The first half of the new program is a lot better choreographed than Danse Macabre, but then there are some jumps - never mind the music, and a looong anticlimax. I wish skaters would sometime do the the step sequences mid-program, the fast section at about 2 minutes was perfect for it. I hope she changes the layout and/or maybe the music cuts in the second half to make it more dynamic.

 

[Isk]

Very much so. I really love her story, and wanted her to do well, but the truth is the choreography is far, far simpler than many of the other skaters, and when she's not bang on, the weaknesses are pretty glaring. I think she was significantly over marked here, especially compared to how stingy the judges were with some of the other skaters. Yes, she has pretty good edges, and decent speed at times, but there were a lot of empty sections, I'm not a ton of expression from my perspective.

I only found the SP on YouTube, pretty good edges, the one-foot entrance to the 2A was not too shabby and neither was the lunge entrance into the final spin. In general, the SP choreography minds the music, which is really nice, and the steps don't even look like steps, more like a continuation of the whole, which I sometimes found with P.Chan: somewhere at the end of the StSq you suddenly realize it was an element and not just skating. So the skill is there. I'd say, there is a bit of a lack of refinement, don't know it's too late to develop, but power is there, so I think she can work on flow. Maybe the LP is tougher stamina-wise, hence the emptiness, but I have to watch it to form an opinion.

 

[Tbirdie]

Oh my. About 70% lovely but those two mistakes are going to hurt. Maddie has a huge cushion now…

It was a shame how the scores were escalated. Maddie popped all her 2A and still won

 

[Tbirdie]

Such a shame about that fall on the loop. She so nearly held it. I think she's going to drop behind Sara-Maude, but hopefully she can stay on the podium. She's proved that Warsaw wasn't a fluke, and I would send her to 4CC as well.

I’m predicting she’s next years National Champion. The judges just weren’t ready this year.

 

[4everchan]

I’m predicting she’s next years National Champion. The judges just weren’t ready this year.

I like Katherine. She's calm, humble, and has solid technique. I was honestly missing a spark which is present with other skaters.