British and Irish Figure skating 2021-2022

[CaroLiza_fan]

Very sad news that Sasha & George have ended their ice dance partnership announced by Sasha here:

https://www.instagram.com/p/CcyrxkWrG2j/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

They had a wonderfully successful career as Juniors & Seniors and will be much missed.⛸

I wonder why? Sasha implied she’d look for a new partner so I hope to see her soon. It’s a real shame.

I realise this is, strictly speaking, off-topic for the British thread. But I just read in the splits / partner changes thread that Bruce and Natalie have also split:

https://www.goldenskate.com/forum/posts/2979741

So, I wonder if this is a Waddell family thing.

When Sasha and George split, I commented that I was now worrying about Lilah and Lewis, because the three Fear sisters have a history of making major changes to their sporting careers at the same time.

Now, I don't know if there was anything that prompted these changes to happen. But, there might have been. And it could be that something similar is happening again now, but this time with the Waddell family.

Whatever is going on, I wish all the best for the future to all four skaters.

CaroLiza_fan

 

[La Rhumba]

I realise this is, strictly speaking, off-topic for the British thread. But I just read in the splits / partner changes thread that Bruce and Natalie have also split:

https://www.goldenskate.com/forum/posts/2979741

So, I wonder if this is a Waddell family thing.

When Sasha and George split, I commented that I was now worrying about Lilah and Lewis, because the three Fear sisters have a history of making major changes to their sporting careers at the same time.

Now, I don't know if there was anything that prompted these changes to happen. But, there might have been. And it could be that something similar is happening again now, but this time with the Waddell family.

Whatever is going on, I wish all the best for the future to all four skaters.

CaroLiza_fan

I admit I was shocked to read Bruce & Natalie have ended their partnership, but by all accounts it is Natalie's decision as she wants to concentrate on University. She wouldn't be the first Junior icedancer to do this in Canada, and if Bruce wants to continue, I suggest Emmy Bronsard?

Re the Fear Sisters, there is no chance of LilahandLewis parting ways. They are both focused on the same goal, Milan 2026, and they get on great.

Sasha only broke up with her previous partner before George because she grew too tall for him. Her partner before that, Jack Osman gave up.

As far as I know Georgia (the prettiest sister) has moved to Virginia doing a Post Grad course after Dartmouth.

 

[CaroLiza_fan]

I admit I was shocked to read Bruce & Natalie have ended their partnership, but by all accounts it is Natalie's decision as she wants to concentrate on University. She wouldn't be the first Junior icedancer to do this in Canada, and if Bruce wants to continue, I suggest Emmy Bronsard?

Re the Fear Sisters, there is no chance of LilahandLewis parting ways. They are both focused on the same goal, Milan 2026, and they get on great.

Sasha only broke up with her previous partner before George because she grew too tall for him. Her partner before that, Jack Osman gave up.

As far as I know Georgia (the prettiest sister) has moved to Virginia doing a Post Grad course after Dartmouth.

Thank you for the information. There wasn't anything about the future mentioned in that post that was linked to in the other thread, so I didn't know that was the reason. All the best to her with her studies.

With the way both partnerships had split, I was starting to think that maybe the Waddell family was moving to somewhere far away from their current home in Toronto, and that the girls weren't willing to move with them.

Don't worry, I realised that the prospects of Lilah and Lewis breaking up was more than remote. But, that still doesn't stop you from worrying. Sadly, we're used to good things coming to an unexpected end in this sport.

So, Sasha's height has been an issue for a while. That's a shame, when it's something that can't be helped. Hopefully she will be able to find a new tall partner quickly.

And thank you so much for the update about Georgia. I do wonder from time to time how things are with her. (And I definitely agree with your side comment! ) All the best to her for her studies in America!

CaroLiza_fan

 

[CaroLiza_fan]

Meant to post this a few days ago, but never got the chance.

Last week, I caught up on watching the second and third series of "DNA Journeys", because the first episode of each series was expiring from ITV Hub last week (and the second episodes are expiring this week, and the third episodes are expiring next week). And I just had to say something about the Torvill and Dean episode (Series 3, Episode 3).

I don't want to give too much away, so as not to spoil it for those that haven't seen it. But there was one part that was quite emotional.

I already knew the story about Chris' parents splitting up when he was very young; how his step-mother moved in just a matter of hours after his mother left; and how his mother got back in touch with him when he was older. And he wanted to use this programme to find out more about his mother's side of the family.

Anyway, one of his ancestors had become a Mormon, and had emigrated to Utah. And a descendent of that guy came over to England to meet Chris. And when they met, Chris got emotional and explained that this was the first time he had met somebody from his mother's side of the family. I found that very emotional too.

You know, it's sad to think that Chris has gone nearly 65 years without knowing an entire side of his family.

All in all it was a very interesting programme, and if you have access to ITV Hub, I would definitely advise you to watch it before it expires on Thursday 26th May.

As for the series itself, I have mixed feelings. I have always been a big fan of the BBC series "Who Do You Think You Are?", and I like the way that "DNA Journey" takes a slightly different format so that it is not just a direct rip-off of it.

Having two friends finding out about their family histories together produces some brilliant moments. For example, Jamie Redknapp and Freddie Flintoff were hilarious in the first episode of Series 2, and I couldn't stop laughing at how they were reacting to the stories. (Somebody give them their own show, please!) Or the unexpected twist in the episode featuring Maureen Lipman and Rula Lenska (Series 3, Episode 2).

However, doing two families per episode is also a drawback. When you take out the adverts, an episode of "DNA Journey" works out at 58 minutes. That is the exact same length as an episode of "Who Do You Think You Are?" But because "Who Do You Think You Are?" only does one family per episode, it is able to go into more detail and tell more stories than "DNA Journey".

In Series 1, Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly's journey was spread out over 2 episodes. The first part was 1h 5m and the second part was 1h 12m. I admit, interesting though it was, it was too long and did drag on.

So, with all this in mind, I think the best format for "DNA Journeys" would be to have journeys that work out at 1h 30m when the adverts are taken out.

But, those are just my thoughts.

Bringing things back on topic, it would be nice to see more skaters explore their family backgounds on either "Who Do You Think You Are?" or "DNA Journeys". Robin Cousins and Karen Barber are still in the public eye, so maybe they could be candidates. Or if we want to go really up to date, what about Lilah and Lewis?

Ultimately, I suppose it all depends on whether any skaters have any interesting stories in their families. Or any skeletons in their cupboards.

I hope some do!

CaroLiza_fan

 

[MCsAngel2]

Meant to post this a few days ago, but never got the chance.

Last week, I caught up on watching the second and third series of "DNA Journeys", because the first episode of each series was expiring from ITV Hub last week (and the second episodes are expiring this week, and the third episodes are expiring next week). And I just had to say something about the Torvill and Dean episode (Series 3, Episode 3).

I don't want to give too much away, so as not to spoil it for those that haven't seen it. But there was one part that was quite emotional.

I already knew the story about Chris' parents splitting up when he was very young; how his step-mother moved in just a matter of hours after his mother left; and how his mother got back in touch with him when he was older. And he wanted to use this programme to find out more about his mother's side of the family.

Anyway, one of his ancestors had become a Mormon, and had emigrated to Utah. And a descendent of that guy came over to England to meet Chris. And when they met, Chris got emotional and explained that this was the first time he had met somebody from his mother's side of the family. I found that very emotional too.

You know, it's sad to think that Chris has gone nearly 65 years without knowing an entire side of his family.

All in all it was a very interesting programme, and if you have access to ITV Hub, I would definitely advise you to watch it before it expires on Thursday 26th May.

As for the series itself, I have mixed feelings. I have always been a big fan of the BBC series "Who Do You Think You Are?", and I like the way that "DNA Journey" takes a slightly different format so that it is not just a direct rip-off of it.

Having two friends finding out about their family histories together produces some brilliant moments. For example, Jamie Redknapp and Freddie Flintoff were hilarious in the first episode of Series 2, and I couldn't stop laughing at how they were reacting to the stories. (Somebody give them their own show, please!) Or the unexpected twist in the episode featuring Maureen Lipman and Rula Lenska (Series 3, Episode 2).

However, doing two families per episode is also a drawback. When you take out the adverts, an episode of "DNA Journey" works out at 58 minutes. That is the exact same length as an episode of "Who Do You Think You Are?" But because "Who Do You Think You Are?" only does one family per episode, it is able to go into more detail and tell more stories than "DNA Journey".

In Series 1, Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly's journey was spread out over 2 episodes. The first part was 1h 5m and the second part was 1h 12m. I admit, interesting though it was, it was too long and did drag on.

So, with all this in mind, I think the best format for "DNA Journeys" would be to have journeys that work out at 1h 30m when the adverts are taken out.

But, those are just my thoughts.

Bringing things back on topic, it would be nice to see more skaters explore their family backgounds on either "Who Do You Think You Are?" or "DNA Journeys". Robin Cousins and Karen Barber are still in the public eye, so maybe they could be candidates. Or if we want to go really up to date, what about Lilah and Lewis?

Ultimately, I suppose it all depends on whether any skaters have any interesting stories in their families. Or any skeletons in their cupboards.

I hope some do!

CaroLiza_fan

I saw this episode. I was shocked that they had to go back so far (5 or 6 generations?) to find a relative on his mother's side. And I was surprised that he never knew any of his mother's family, not even as a child.

I was quite moved in parts where he talked about it, he clearly feels the lack of family (not sure if he's in contact with any Dean relatives on his dad's side, either). I'm glad he's moved back to the UK where he can be closer to Jayne, although they certainly don't live close together, at all.

Also noticed when they brought up the family trees, that Jayne's mother passed away at the beginning of this year.

 

[CaroLiza_fan]

I saw this episode. I was shocked that they had to go back so far (5 or 6 generations?) to find a relative on his mother's side.

Good point. But, with watching six episodes in a short space of time, I did notice that that was a trend in the whole series. The stories being featured were about people who were very far back, and quite often were not even direct ancestors of the celebrity. Usually they were a sibling of the celebrity's direct ancestor.

I suppose it all depends on what stories the researchers can find. There mightn't have been anyting terribly interesting about the celebrity's direct ancestors, or anything terribly interesting about relatives from more recent generations. There are probably closer relatives out there, but there mightn't have been an interesting story to tie them in for the programme. So, the programme put Chris in contact with descendents of the person who did have an interesting story. But, I hope that if the researchers did find closer relatives, that they put Chris in contact with them too off camera. Because this is a huge part of who he is that is missing.

"Who Do You Think You Are?" doesn't tend to go back as far as "DNA Journey". Most episodes only go back three or four generations at most, as usually the starting point is a family story that the celebrity wants checked out. And generally speaking, it sticks to direct ancestors.

And I was surprised that he never knew any of his mother's family, not even as a child.

That was something I was surprised with too. But, this all happened when he was 6 years old, so maybe it's just a case that he can't remember further back. I know I struggle to remember back to when I was ending my time at primary school around 25 years ago, never mind starting it! Or perhaps the whole thing was so traumatic for one so young that he has subconsciously blanked out any memories of his Mum's relatives.

I was quite moved in parts where he talked about it, he clearly feels the lack of family (not sure if he's in contact with any Dean relatives on his dad's side, either). I'm glad he's moved back to the UK where he can be closer to Jayne, although they certainly don't live close together, at all.

And being an only child wouldn't have helped either (so am I). At least if he had even just one sibling, they could have supported each other and helped each other through it.

I never noticed it at the time, but now that you mention it, Chris didn't talk too much about his relationship with his Dad's side of the family either. But, that might just be because he specifically wanted to find out about his Mum's side, because he knew so little about them. That's happened lots of times in "WDYTYA?" The celebrity already knows quite a bit about one side of their family, so they ask the researchers to look into the other side.

Perhaps it would have been better if the programme had started with Chris sitting down with a relative explaining what his aims were for the journey. That is what usually happens at the start of "WDYTYA?" episodes. But, with doing 2 families in 58 minutes, "DNA Journey" has to get the ball rolling straight away. So, there is no time to bring in relatives.

Of the six episodes made since "DNA Journey" went to the 58 minute format, the only times you saw close relatives was in the Martin Kemp episode. Because he was doing the journey with his son, Roman, there was less for the programme to explore. So there was time to have a family get-together at the start, and for Martin to do a video call with Gary to let him "meet" the new relatives that had been found. (That said, I suspect the family get-together at the start was included to let us meet Martin's daughter, as she became significant later in the programme).

Also noticed when they brought up the family trees, that Jayne's mother passed away at the beginning of this year.

Yes, I noticed that too. I realise that the programme was probably filmed last year, but you would have thought that the producers would have added a slate at the end of the programme paying tribute to her.

Anyway, my thoughts go out to Jayne, and all of her Mum's family and friends.

CaroLiza_fan

 

[La Rhumba]

Meant to post this a few days ago, but never got the chance.

Last week, I caught up on watching the second and third series of "DNA Journeys", because the first episode of each series was expiring from ITV Hub last week (and the second episodes are expiring this week, and the third episodes are expiring next week). And I just had to say something about the Torvill and Dean episode (Series 3, Episode 3).

I don't want to give too much away, so as not to spoil it for those that haven't seen it. But there was one part that was quite emotional.

I already knew the story about Chris' parents splitting up when he was very young; how his step-mother moved in just a matter of hours after his mother left; and how his mother got back in touch with him when he was older. And he wanted to use this programme to find out more about his mother's side of the family.

Anyway, one of his ancestors had become a Mormon, and had emigrated to Utah. And a descendent of that guy came over to England to meet Chris. And when they met, Chris got emotional and explained that this was the first time he had met somebody from his mother's side of the family. I found that very emotional too.

You know, it's sad to think that Chris has gone nearly 65 years without knowing an entire side of his family.

All in all it was a very interesting programme, and if you have access to ITV Hub, I would definitely advise you to watch it before it expires on Thursday 26th May.

As for the series itself, I have mixed feelings. I have always been a big fan of the BBC series "Who Do You Think You Are?", and I like the way that "DNA Journey" takes a slightly different format so that it is not just a direct rip-off of it.

Having two friends finding out about their family histories together produces some brilliant moments. For example, Jamie Redknapp and Freddie Flintoff were hilarious in the first episode of Series 2, and I couldn't stop laughing at how they were reacting to the stories. (Somebody give them their own show, please!) Or the unexpected twist in the episode featuring Maureen Lipman and Rula Lenska (Series 3, Episode 2).

However, doing two families per episode is also a drawback. When you take out the adverts, an episode of "DNA Journey" works out at 58 minutes. That is the exact same length as an episode of "Who Do You Think You Are?" But because "Who Do You Think You Are?" only does one family per episode, it is able to go into more detail and tell more stories than "DNA Journey".

In Series 1, Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly's journey was spread out over 2 episodes. The first part was 1h 5m and the second part was 1h 12m. I admit, interesting though it was, it was too long and did drag on.

So, with all this in mind, I think the best format for "DNA Journeys" would be to have journeys that work out at 1h 30m when the adverts are taken out.

But, those are just my thoughts.

Bringing things back on topic, it would be nice to see more skaters explore their family backgounds on either "Who Do You Think You Are?" or "DNA Journeys". Robin Cousins and Karen Barber are still in the public eye, so maybe they could be candidates. Or if we want to go really up to date, what about Lilah and Lewis?

Ultimately, I suppose it all depends on whether any skaters have any interesting stories in their families. Or any skeletons in their cupboards.

I hope some do!

CaroLiza_fan

I have to say the BBC show has become somewhat boring the way it's told, and I don't watch it anymore. I liked the variation how ITV presented theirs.i've watched the TorvillandDean episode twice now, and I found it very moving and heartwarming to hear Chris say after meeting his cousin from Utah that he "woke up feeling happy". Jayne was his closest friend all his life, and you could see how much they meant to eachother, and that before DNA Journey she was his "only family". It's ironic that he lived in Colorado for 23 years but never knew he had cousins in Salt Lake, and another coincidence his son Sam goes to University there!

I think the difference between the two shows is that DNA Jorney asks them what they most want to find out. So the programme and researchers concentrate on the most interesting stories in that area. So Jayne's was all about finding another sporting relative from her past, and led her to Wembley. (Though I did love the scene meeting her cousin Jayne in Nottingham who was an ice cub at the rink but didn’t know they were related and who came from a sporting family. That was so sweet. Several of Jayne's cousins are called Jayne, it must be a family name.

For Chris they focused on his Mother's side, incorporating his Father the coal miner with the Union story. But culminating in the epic tale of sailing for a month to America and the wagon trail to Utah as one of Britain's first Mormons. Amazing!

I loved the interaction between J&C in the car and the support they gave eachother.

Highly recommend watching.

@CaroLiza_fan If only general programming would feature Skaters more. It would be great, but the good thing is, at least ITV do get their money's worth out of TorvillandDean, the shows always create interest, comment and ratings..

 

[MCsAngel2]

Yes, I noticed that too. I realise that the programme was probably filmed last year, but you would have thought that the producers would have added a slate at the end of the programme paying tribute to her.

Anyway, my thoughts go out to Jayne, and all of her Mum's family and friends.

CaroLiza_fan

I went back to look at the pictures in Chris' Twitter feed from when he and Jayne were in Nottingham, and you're right, that was in October. But the date of her mother's passing on the family tree was 2022. That's interesting because I would not have thought that would be something that would/could be fixed after filming.

 

[MCsAngel2]

Though I did love the scene meeting her cousin Jayne in Nottingham who was an ice cub at the rink but didn’t know they were related and who came from a sporting family. That was so sweet. Several of Jayne's cousins are called Jayne, it must be a family name.

I know that Jayne has a male Torvill cousin, in Nottingham (well, at the time) who married a woman named Jayne (same spelling). I think in 1983. Imagine how confusing her life must be!

 

[CaroLiza_fan]

I have to say the BBC show has become somewhat boring the way it's told, and I don't watch it anymore. I liked the variation how ITV presented theirs.i've watched the TorvillandDean episode twice now, and I found it very moving and heartwarming to hear Chris say after meeting his cousin from Utah that he "woke up feeling happy". Jayne was his closest friend all his life, and you could see how much they meant to eachother, and that before DNA Journey she was his "only family". It's ironic that he lived in Colorado for 23 years but never knew he had cousins in Salt Lake, and another coincidence his son Sam goes to University there!

That really was an amazing coincidence. Having relatives in the same city that his son was at university in. OK, so it mightn't have been so impressive if he had been at a university in the UK. But, in a different country, not to mention a country as big as America. That was amazing.

One of the things I like about both programmes is that although the programmes are to entertain the viewers, it enables the celebrity to be able to tell their families more about where they came from. And since Sam is based in Utah at the moment, I hope that he and Chris are able to use this newly acquired knowledge as a starting point to explore the story of the American side of the family even more with their new found relatives.

As a side note, I deliberately used the phrase "new found relative" there now, because every time that a notification came through to somebody on "DNA Journey" about meeting a "new relative", I said "a baby?"

I think the difference between the two shows is that DNA Jorney asks them what they most want to find out. So the programme and researchers concentrate on the most interesting stories in that area. So Jayne's was all about finding another sporting relative from her past, and led her to Wembley.

That was so cool when Jayne got to hold the actual trophy aloft. She was really loving the moment! But it made me think that it is a shame that the Major Championships in figure skating do not give out trophies to the winers as well as medals. Imagine the joy the skaters would have holding a nice trophy aloft while standing on the top of the podium.

As a sportswoman herself, I can understand why Jayne wanted to know if there were any others. But, for me, too much of her parts of the programme were spent on the sport theme. Particularly when they were talking about the boxing club that they support. I would have liked to have heard more about other family members instead.

(Though I did love the scene meeting her cousin Jayne in Nottingham who was an ice cub at the rink but didn’t know they were related and who came from a sporting family. That was so sweet. Several of Jayne's cousins are called Jayne, it must be a family name.

Just a small correction. Jayne's relative in Nottingham pointed out that their names were spelt differently. She had no "y".

It is amazing how the same names do get recycled in families. I can't remember who it was now, but somebody who was on "DNA Journey" had three consecutive generations of direct ancestor called "Thomas". I don't know if all three lives overlapped, but imagine the confusion if they did!

I really hope that Mick Fleetwood decides to do one of these shows sometime, either on his own on "WDYTYA?", or with one of his bandmates on "DNA Journey". Both of his grandmothers are from Ulster, and I suspect that the one on his Dad's side may be related to us. (She was from the next county to us; she had the same surname as me; and there are a lot of name combinations in Mick's family that are also used a lot in my family).

As somebody who loves Fleetwood Mac's music, this would be a dream come true for me.

I went back to look at the pictures in Chris' Twitter feed from when he and Jayne were in Nottingham, and you're right, that was in October. But the date of her mother's passing on the family tree was 2022. That's interesting because I would not have thought that would be something that would/could be fixed after filming.

It was just a graphic, so the full screen version could have been easily changed in post production. (That was why I was surprised that a slate wasn't added in at the end of the programme. We've seen it done many times before for other programmes where somebody involved has died since filming occurred).

I can't remember if they showed us Jayne's family tree in a close-up shot of the tablet. That would have been a bit trickier to amend, unless they just re-shot it with somebody else's hand holding it.

And I am not going to ask if anybody is familiar enough with Jayne's hand to be able to tell if this is what was done!

I know that Jayne has a male Torvill cousin, in Nottingham (well, at the time) who married a woman named Jayne (same spelling). I think in 1983. Imagine how confusing her life must be!

There's a similar situation in my family. I have a cousin called Lisa, and one of our mutual cousins has a wife called Lisa.

Incidentally, the couple I just mentioned have given all their children names starting with the letter "A". They refer to them collectively as "The A Team"!!!

It's cool, but imagine the confusion there must be if a letter arrives where just the initial is used!

CaroLiza_fan

 

[CaroLiza_fan]

Although Swedish company NENT are taking over the figure skating rights in the UK at the start of the 2023-24 season, Eurosport will still have the rights for the coming season. So, depending on how quickly things happen, this may be relevant to us.

Warner Brothers Discovery and British Telecom have now completed their deal to merge British Eurosport and BT Sport. It will be a 50:50 joint venture that will be run by Discovery, and Discovery will have the option to buy out BT's share.

https://wbd.com/bt-group-and-warner...m-sports-joint-venture-for-the-u-and-ireland/
https://www.eurosport.co.uk/all-spo...ure-for-uk-and-ireland_sto8921070/story.shtml

BT Sport customers will gain access to Discovery+ as part of their existing subscriptions. But, it doesn't make clear what this means for existing Eurosport Player or Discovery+ customers. Or what it means for those of us that currently subscribe to both BT Sport and either Eurosport Player or Discovery+.

It also says that both sets of channels "will initially retain their separate brands and product propositions in the market before being brought together under a single brand in the future". But, I'm not sure how that will work, given that Eurosport's channels are basic channels, whereas BT Sport's channels are premium channels.

To me, this sounds like Discovery are planning to have a single sports package, rather than having two tiers of sports packages. This is not good. Now that there is football and rugby in the mix, you can bet that if they have a single sports package, it will not be charged at anything near the relatively modest rates that we are currently paying for Eurosport's content.

But, as I say, this will only affect figure skating fans for one season at most. After that, the events currently on Eurosport will switch to NENT's streaming service, Viaplay, for the next 5 seasons. And if the prices Viaplay are charging in other countries are anything to go by, we'll all be rushing to get VPN's so that we can watch the World Feed coverage on the ISU YouTube channel!

CaroLiza_fan

 

[DSQ]

I agree, hope to see Sasha back soon with a new partner. It's not easy to find a good match as she's a tall girl, but hopefully someone is out there with the required skills who is qualified or wants to skate for Britain!

I read that Yorkshire's Peter Beaumont & Ukraine's Nadiia Bashynska will stay in Juniors for one more year after winning their wonderful Bronze medals for Canada at Junior Worlds.

Looking at the GB Junior icedancers, I know Kat & Billy will skate in Junior and I think Phebe & James will stay one more season too before James ages out. They had a fantastic debut season together and can only go on to better things without any Russian couples taking part.

Ashlie & Atl, who are attending the Dance Camp at Oberstdorf, will be moving up to Junior. I'm looking forward to seeing the Junior couples skating the Argentine Tango, one of my favourite Pattern Dances, as part of a Spanish themed Rhythm Dance.

The fact there is no Pattern Dance for the Senior RD is very sad for us lovers of the old Compulsory Dances. I have video tapes full of Waltzes, Tangos, Yankee Polkas, which one day I will put on YouTube but the ISU Dance Committee is making a mistake in my view.
.

So next season we will have three competitive junior teams: Bekker & Hernandez, Delcamp & Wilson-French and Slatter & Ongay-Perez.

Apart from Fear & Gibson who will we have in seniors? As much as I like Hirst & Currie they don’t have the minimums to compete in Worlds or Europeans.

As things stand we have a lot of talent in the pipeline but it’s a shame that it’s likely that we might have to leave our second world and euros spot vacant next year.

 

[Ruthypegs]

So next season we will have three competitive junior teams: Bekker & Hernandez, Delcamp & Wilson-French and Slatter & Ongay-Perez.

Apart from Fear & Gibson who will we have in seniors? As much as I like Hirst & Currie they don’t have the minimums to compete in Worlds or Europeans.

As things stand we have a lot of talent in the pipeline but it’s a shame that it’s likely that we might have to leave our second world and euros spot vacant next year.

And we have two slots for pairs teams, too, don't we? Hope to see Harry/Lydia and Anastasia/Luke competing internationally this year - is this feasible?

I'm hoping that Hirst and Currie will get their minimums - do you think this is feasible in the time frame?

 

[GoneWithTheWind]

I'm hoping that Hirst and Currie will get their minimums - do you think this is feasible in the time frame?

Personally, judging by the scores they've received so far, possibly not?
For the past season, they needed 28 and 44 for Euros mins (33/47 for Worlds), and the best they received was 25.63 and 38.67.
With the new ice dance rules, the mins will probably have to alter, but the heavily-GOE weighted new scale of values in the RD especially are not going to play in favour of a relatively unknown team from a small fed, sadly.

 

[Ruthypegs]

Personally, judging by the scores they've received so far, possibly not?
For the past season, they needed 28 and 44 for Euros mins (33/47 for Worlds), and the best they received was 25.63 and 38.67.
With the new ice dance rules, the mins will probably have to alter, but the heavily-GOE weighted new scale of values in the RD especially are not going to play in favour of a relatively unknown team from a small fed, sadly.

Hi @GoneWithTheWind - thanks for taking the time to explain. So they're a few points off Euros minimums (quite a few off Worlds). Fingers crossed, they can make up the shortfall in the time frame... and before some of the junior teams progress to seniors....

 

[GoneWithTheWind]

Hi @GoneWithTheWind - thanks for taking the time to explain. So they're a few points off Euros minimums (quite a few off Worlds). Fingers crossed, they can make up the shortfall in the time frame... and before some of the junior teams progress to seniors....

It would be lovely to see them get the Euros mins, I hope they can get a couple more of their levels more consistently, especially on the twizzles, to give them a better chance. I hope the federations assigns them to some senior Bs to give them the chance to earn the mins.

 

[DSQ]

And we have two slots for pairs teams, too, don't we? Hope to see Harry/Lydia and Anastasia/Luke competing internationally this year - is this feasible?

I'm hoping that Hirst and Currie will get their minimums - do you think this is feasible in the time frame?

Vapain-Law & Digby will definitely be competing next season but Smart & Mattick have the same problem as Hirst & Currie that they haven’t got the minimums yet. However I think they really haven’t competed as much. Looking at Mattick’s experience I expect that they will eventually get there.

 

[Ruthypegs]

Vapain-Law & Digby will definitely be competing next season but Smart & Mattick have the same problem as Hirst & Currie that they haven’t got the minimums yet. However I think they really haven’t competed as much. Looking at Mattick’s experience I expect that they will eventually get there.

I really hope so - I'm looking forward to seeing this team, and would love to see both these pairs teams competing internationally. (BTW, I think I saw Vaipan-Law and Digby practising off-ice lifts at IceSheffield last week, but maybe not, as I think they skate out of Dundee)

 

[CaroLiza_fan]

Not really on topic, but did anybody see the figure skating story that Sky News has been running since last night? I saw it this morning, and thought that it might be worth sharing here. It is about a 7 year old Ukrainian figure skater who is now living in Bristol after fleeing the war.

Here is the video:

https://news.sky.com/video/ukrainian-boy-returns-to-ice-skating-12615723

And here is the accompanying story:

https://news.sky.com/story/ukraine-...-skating-coach-to-continue-his-dream-12615459

As we all know, figure skating is expensive. And it is an awful lot more expensive in England than back home. But, he is hoping to be able to get a coach and start training again.

From what I saw in the video, he looks pretty good!

So, I hope it all works out for him.

CaroLiza_fan

 

[La Rhumba]

Not really on topic, but did anybody see the figure skating story that Sky News has been running since last night? I saw it this morning, and thought that it might be worth sharing here. It is about a 7 year old Ukrainian figure skater who is now living in Bristol after fleeing the war.

Here is the video:

https://news.sky.com/video/ukrainian-boy-returns-to-ice-skating-12615723

And here is the accompanying story:

https://news.sky.com/story/ukraine-...-skating-coach-to-continue-his-dream-12615459

As we all know, figure skating is expensive. And it is an awful lot more expensive in England than back home. But, he is hoping to be able to get a coach and start training again.

From what I saw in the video, he looks pretty good!

So, I hope it all works out for him.

CaroLiza_fan

Thanks for posting this @CaroLiza_fan Welcome to Gorsha and his Mother, but welcome to the world of young non wealthy figure skaters in Britain. Someone tell that reporter they all get up at 5am to go training and only have a coach if and when they can afford it. But at least Gorsha's story shone a light on Skating in Britain.


Moving on to the Irish Nationals, usually held in Lee Valley during their Open week, but the rink is being renovated. So they will be held at Ice Dundee this weekend, home of Conor Stakelum. Good Luck all. ☘☘☘