2024-25 British and Irish figure skating

[FlossieH]

British and Irish skaters are competing internationally this season in the Junior Grand Prix, Challenger Series and Grand Prix series.

Junior GP entries
Riga
Lucas Fitterer (GBR)
Allie Peterson (IRL)
Neamh Davison/Daniel Borisov (GBR, pairs)
Molly Hairsine/Alessio Surenkov-Gultchev (GBR, ice dance)
Mimi Marler Davies/Joseph Black (GBR, ice dance)

Ostrava/Czech
Leilah Patten (GBR)
Zarah Wood/Alex Lapsky (GBR, pairs)

Thailand
Tao Macrae (GBR)
Molly Hairsine/Alessio Surenkov-Gultchev (GBR)

Ankara/Turkey
Jedidiah Lincoln (GBR)
Alice Smith (GBR)
Zarah Wood/Alex Lapsky (GBR, pairs)

Gdansk/Poland
Tao Macrae (GBR)
Saoirse O'Sullivan (IRL)
Rebecca Ritchie/Kyle Mcleod (GBR, pairs)
Molly Hairsine/Alessio Surenkov-Gultchev (GBR)

Ljubljana/Slovenia
Lloyd Thomson (GBR)
Arina Vorobeva (GBR)
Ashlie Slatter/Atl Ongay-Perez (GBR)

Wuxi/China
Ashlie Slatter/Atl Ongay-Perez (GBR)

Challenger series entries

Cranberry Cup (8-11 Aug, USA)
Tao Macrae (GBR)

Lombardia Trophy (13-15 Sept, Bergamo)
Connor Bray (GBR)
Kristen Spours (GBR)
Carolane Soucisse/Shane Firus (IRL)

Nebelhorn Trophy (19-21 Sept, Obertsdorf)
Edward Appleby (GBR)
Ken Fitterer (GBR)
Anastasia Vaipan-Law/Luke Digby (GBR)
Lilah Fear/Lewis Gibson (GBR)

Denis Ten Memorial (3-5 Oct, Nur-Sultan)
Phebe Bekker/James Hernandez (GBR)

Budapest Trophy (11-13 Oct, Budapest)
Kristen Spours (GBR)

Trophee Metrople Nice Cote d'Azur (16-20 Oct, Nice)
Phebe Bekker/James Hernandez (GBR)
Carolane Soucisse/Shane Firus (IRL)

Ondrej Nepela Memorial (25-27 Oct, Bratislava)
Edward Appleby (GBR)
Nina Povey (GBR)
Lilah Fear/Lewis Gibson (GBR)

Tallinn Trophy (12-17 Nov, Tallinn)
Edward Appleby (GBR)
Carolane Soucisse/Shane Firus (IRL)

PGE Warsaw Cup (20-24 Nov, Warsaw)
Connor Bray (GBR)
Anastasia Vaipan-Law/Luke Digby (GBR)

Senior Grand Prix entries
Skate America
Anastasia Vaipan-Law/Luke Digby (GBR, pairs)
Lilah Fear/Lewis Gibson (GBR, ice dance)

NHK Trophy
Anastasia Vaipan-Law/Luke Digby (GBR, pairs)

Finlandia Trophy
Lilah Fear/Lewis Gibson (GBR, ice dance)

Replacement list
Anastasia Vaipan-Law/Luke Digby (GBR) 5th on pairs replacement list
Carolane Soucisse/Shane Firus (IRL) 7th on ice dance replacement list
Phebe Bekker/James Hernandez (GBR) 9th on ice dance replacement list.
Unlike previous years, when anyone in the top ten one the replacement list could be chosen, hosts now need to select replacements in list order. Given this change, it seems unlikely that Ana and Luke will get a second spot or Soucisse/Firus and Bekker/Hernandez will get a GP assignment.

 

[FlossieH]

New combined technical minimums (CTES) for ISU championships

Rather than needing a minimum Technical Elements Score for both the short/rhythym dance and free programmes, skaters now need a minimum combined technical elements score combining their best TES for each programme. This means that skaters who are weaker technically in one programme can still get the technical minimums if they are stronger in the other. This change has had a bit of a mixed impact on British and Irish skaters. Some who would have had the minimums under the older system now need to gain the new minimum. Some who did not have the minimums do meet the combined one.

The CTES required is higher than the previous SP/RD and FP scores added together - which is why some skaters no longer meet the technical minimums.

For clarity, I am going to do a separate post for each discipline for GBR plus a single post for IRL.

 

[FlossieH]

Technical minimums - Men (GBR)

Worlds (104)
Edward Appleby

Euros (86)
Edward Appleby
Ken Fitterer

Freddie Leggott had the Euros mins under the old system but not the new one

Junior worlds (80)
Tao Macrae
Arin Yorke
Lloyd Thomson (gained 4th Oct, JGP Slovenia)
Lucas Fitterer (gained 1st Nov, Volvo Open)

Jedidiah Lincoln had the JW mins under the old system but not the new one.

(Note - I am using Skating scores for this and the subsequent CTES posts. I am not certain whether everyone who is show as having the Junior Worlds minimums is still age eligible for Juniors and do now know where to find that information!)

 

[FlossieH]

Technical minimums - women (GBR)

Worlds (90)
Kristen Spours (did not have the SP under the old system, so has benefitted from the change)

Nina Povey no longer has the technical minimums for Worlds. She would have needed to regain this under the old system anyways as her SP TES which met the minimums was from the 2022-23 season and therefore would not count any more. She needs to gain just over 2 points to meet the new CTES.

Euros (75)
Nina Povey
Kristen Spours

Junior Worlds (72)
Alice Smith (gained 20th Sept)
Leilah Pattern (gained 12 Feb)
Arina Vorbeva (gained 16 March)

Alexa Severn no longer has the technical minimums for Junior Worlds. She would also have needed to regain this under the old system as her scores which met the technical minimums were from the 2022-23 season. Hopefully the change in the compulsory jump for the SP will help her. Not having a 3Lz really hindered her TES last year. That said, I'm not sure whether she has a 3F either. The compulsory Loop from the 2022-23 season suited her much better.

 

[FlossieH]

Technical minimums -pairs (GBR)

There has been a huge jump in these, particularly for senior Worlds.

Worlds (88)
Anastasia Vaipan Law/Luke Digby

Lydia Smart and Harry Mattick would have needed to regain their SP score under the old system anyway.

Euros (75)
Anastasia Vaipan-Law/Luke Digby

Lydia and Harry do not have the new CTES for Euros, although they did have the minimums under the old system. They are currently 0.77 points below the CTES, which is tantalisingly close (and probably very frustrating!).

Junior Worlds (63)
Zarah Wood/Alex Lapsky (gained 3 Nov, Tirnavia Ice Cup)

All of our Junior pairs are new this season, with Davison/Caller having split and Lucy Hay retiring. Hopefully at least one pair will be able to get the minimums.

 

[Jumping_Bean]

Worlds (88)
No-one

Anastasia Vaipan Law and Luke Digby would have had the technical minimums under the old system but do not have the new CTES (which is 13 points higher for pairs for senior Worlds!). Lydia Smart and Harry Mattick would have needed to regain their SP score under the old system anyway.

Vaipan-Law Digby do have the Worlds minimums, by just 0.2 points. (34.16 from Warsaw Cup 2023 + 54.04 from Autumn Classic 2023)

 

[FlossieH]

Technical minimums - Ice dance (GBR)

Worlds (94)
Lilah Fear/Lewis Gibson
Phebe Bekker/James Hernandez

Euros (85)
Lilah Fear/Lewis Gibson
Phebe Bekker/James Hernandez

Lewis Carr announced his retirement from ice skating last week, which means the ice dance team of Layla Karnes/Lewis Carr is no more. They would have needed to gain the new CTES anyways as their current best is 0.93 points short.

Junior Worlds (71)
Ashlie Slatter/Atl Ongay-Perez - now split
Molly Hairsine/Alessio Surenkov-Gultchev (gained 11 Sept, JGP Thailand)
Mimi Marler-Davies/Joseph Black (gained 12 Dec, Edusport trophy)

 

[FlossieH]

Vaipan-Law Digby do have the Worlds minimums, by just 0.2 points. (34.16 from Warsaw Cup 2023 + 54.04 from Autumn Classic 2023)

Excellent. When I looked last week it said they didn't. Skating scores were probably still tweaking their new algorithm at that point - it has changed how things are showing, so I should probably have double-checked.

 

[FlossieH]

Does anyone know anything about Daniel Borisov, who is now partnered with Neamh Davison in Junior Pairs?

 

[FlossieH]

Technical minimums - Ireland

Worlds
Carolane Soucisse/Shane Firus (Ice dance)

Euros
Carolane Soucisse/Shane Firus (Ice dance)

Junior Worlds
No-one

 

[CaroLiza_fan]

Firstly, thank you so much for starting this season's thread @FlossieH

Does anyone know anything about Daniel Borisov, who is now partnered with Neamh Davison in Junior Pairs?

Right, I've just done some digging.

Daniel Borisov is American. I am guessing he is from Minnesota, because for most of his career he has represented the Braemar-City Of Lakes club in Edina, Minnesota; and before that he was with the Eden Prairie club in Eden Prairie, Minnesota. (The two clubs are based at rinks that are less than 8 miles away from each other, on the outskirts of Minneapolis). He is new to Pairs; he was still competing in Singles in Autumn 2022.

Rink Results Bio: https://www.rinkresults.com/skater?skater_id=24336
Skating Scores Bio: https://skatingscores.com/usa/men/daniel_borisov/
Stats On Ice Bio: https://www.statsonice.com/skater/danielborisov/

Highlights include:

Silver Medallist (out of 3) in Junior Men at Austin Classic in 2022.
Bronze Medallist (out of 18) in Novice Men at Midwestern Sectionals in 2019.
Bronze Medallist (out of 12) in Intermediate Men at Midwestern Sectionals in 2018.
Bronze Medallist (out of 12) in Intermediate Men at Upper Great Lakes Regionals in 2018.

Neamh and Daniel have already been in action, at the Glacier Falls Summer Classic in Anaheim, California, a couple of weeks ago. They were Bronze Medallists (out of 3) in Junior Pairs. It was a distant third, but to be fair, they are a brand new partnership in their first competition. The winners have had two full seasons together under their belts, while the runners-up have had one full season together.

Skating Scores Bio: https://skatingscores.com/gbr/pairs/neamh_davison_daniel_borisov/

Hope this helps.

CaroLiza_fan

 

[FlossieH]

Thanks @CaroLiza_fan That certainly fits the rumours that she had paired up with someone in the US. I wonder who they are training with now. I'd missed their Glacier Falls entry - for some reason they aren't showing up on the list of active British skaters on skating scores, despite having a profile and result there.

Their score at Glacier Falls is similar to her JGP score last season and higher than Davison and Caller achieved in their first couple of seasons.

 

[FlossieH]

For some reason Molly Hairsine/Alessio Surenkov-Gultchev are now subs for JGP Riga and Mimi Marler Davies and Joseph Black are the GBR ice dance entry. No idea why it's changed, but hope they are okay.

 

[CaroLiza_fan]

These past couple of weeks have been a real roller-coaster of emotions.

Last week, the success of our athletes at the Summer Olympics made me feel proud to be from Northern Ireland. But this week, the riots have made me feel deeply ashamed.

But then yesterday I saw a photo that really warmed the cockles of my heart and restored my pride:

Teddy Weston being the Northern Ireland flagbearer at the World Inclusive Para Skating Championships a month ago.

The flag is bigger than Teddy!

It was her school that posted the photo so, for obvious reasons, that is why I am not linking directly to the post.

But here is what the caption said:

Para Ice Skating Championship Success
Congratulations to Teddy Weston, the only skater to represent NI, who brought home both gold medals and World Para Champion titles that were available in her class from the Para Championships held in Östersund, Sweden, in July. Teddy was also asked to carry the flag at the opening ceremony.
https://inclusiveskating.org/articl...al-world-inclusive-para-skating-championships​

The post also included photos of the two podium ceremonies where she stood on the top step.

I have since found out that Teddy was also our flagbearer at this year's World Inclusive Skating Championships, which were held at the Lee Valley Ice Centre in London back in April.

You know, it is moments like this that make me wish that the Commonwealth Winter Games were revived. Sure, Canada would clean up in everything. But, it would give a lot of athletes that wouldn't otherwise get the opportunity to compete at a Major the opportunity to do so. And as a bonus, they would get to do it under their own flag.

As I always say, taking part is more important than winning.

But, that is irrelevant here because, in these events, Teddy did win!



WELL DONE TEDDY!!!

CaroLiza_fan

P.S. Inclusive Skating takes the age of skaters at the start of the calendar year, not on 1st July like the ISU does. So, whilst Teddy was 12 on 1st January, she has since turned 13.

 

[TallyT]

Teddy is lovely, and so is her story

 

[FlossieH]

Leilah Patten (GBR) and Allie Peterson (IRL) both had respectable showings at the Cranberry Cup.

Leilah was 13th overall out of 24 skaters (10 SP, 14 FP). She had a fall on the 3F in the short and a few under-rotations, downgrades and edge calls in the free. She is currently 11.86 points below the CTES for Worlds, but I think she has the potential to achieve it if she can gain more consistency in the jumps for her JGP event. This was her first international event. She beat Alexa Volkova and Kara Yun (both CAN) in the short and they are both experienced on the JGP circuit.

Allie was 15th overall and 15th in both programmes in her first junior international event. She needs to find almost 20 points more to reach the CTES for Junior Worlds. She is the closest to achieving it from among the Irish junior girls. If she can turn the singles into doubles and some doubles into triples, then she would be in with a chance.

 

[Weetos]

Thanks for the new thread and all the new information!

 

[Weetos]

I am... curious about the JGP men picks. Specifically not having Arin Yorke or Lloyd Thomson listed, especially since Arin apparently has minimums over 2 of them - is it mostly based on the camp they had? Will they have different lists for later events or are the three listed likely to get 2 each (there are 6 spots for men this time right?)

 

[FlossieH]

I am... curious about the JGP men picks. Specifically not having Arin Yorke or Lloyd Thomson listed, especially since Arin apparently has minimums over 2 of them - is it mostly based on the camp they had? Will they have different lists for later events or are the three listed likely to get 2 each (there are 6 spots for men this time right?)

No idea. I don't think we can tell from just the one event's entries. The development squad (not called that any more) has changed this season and the requirements and how many events skaters are allowed has changed. I haven't had time to digest the information enough to make a coherent post about it yet. From my initial skim, I have the impression that they are wanting next generation skaters in their final year of junior eligibility to do senior competitions and get the minimums there for them to stay on the team for the following season. I'm not sure how old either Arin or Lloyd is?

The information about the new performance pathways is here: https://www.iceskating.org.uk/post/performance-pathway-restructure-singles-pairs It's singles and pairs only there - the ice dance one isn't available to the public yet.

 

[Weetos]

No idea. I don't think we can tell from just the one event's entries. The development squad (not called that any more) has changed this season and the requirements and how many events skaters are allowed has changed. I haven't had time to digest the information enough to make a coherent post about it yet. From my initial skim, I have the impression that they are wanting next generation skaters in their final year of junior eligibility to do senior competitions and get the minimums there for them to stay on the team for the following season. I'm not sure how old either Arin or Lloyd is?

The information about the new performance pathways is here: https://www.iceskating.org.uk/post/performance-pathway-restructure-singles-pairs It's singles and pairs only there - the ice dance one isn't available to the public yet.

Arin is the same age as Tao, both 17, while Lloyd is younger, Lucas and Jed are older (I think this is the last year they are junior eligible). Arin placed higher than Lucas in both the March qualifier and nationals last year so I'm surprised he's not listed, I hope it doesnt mean he's injured or anything, he's one of my favourites of the British juniors.

August qualifier is in a couple of weeks so it will be interesting to see who goes to that.