Davis and Smolkin making move to IAM

[SkatersWaltz]

Just saw a FB message from TSL saying that Diana Davis and Gleb Smolin are now training at IAM in Montreal. I can’t find an article other than the post.

 

[4everchan]

oh lord... i'd prefer the other Georgian team there.... but it could be a temporary thing. I have a hard time to believe it's a permanent thing.
The Czech with the Italian Russian (sorry, forgot their names) trained there briefly and returned to their camp before splitting..

 

[Yogi]

Interesting decision from IAM for sure. I guess you can stick a fork in Kazakova/Revia...

 

[el henry]

Well, I never would have seen that coming.

From what little I understand of immigration law (and it is very little) Gleb will lose his green card if he lives outside the US for more than a year, and he must show that he still intends to live in the US. I have no idea if that matters to him.

 

[4everchan]

Well, I never would have seen that coming.

From what little I understand of immigration law (and it is very little) Gleb will lose his green card if he lives outside the US for more than a year, and he must show that he still intends to live in the US. I have no idea if that matters to him.

I don't think it's a permanent switch.... it's the period of time where people go around for choreo and bootcamps.. Didn't the Browns go there for a little while but their training base remained in the USA ?

 

[el henry]

I don't think it's a permanent switch.... it's the period of time where people go around for choreo and bootcamps.. Didn't the Browns go there for a little while but their training base remained in the USA ?

The Browns are "co-coached", so it's not a once a year one-off. Since New York State is on the border (albeit they live at the other end of NYS) , they come up once every three months or so for a few weeks.

It certainly would make more sense to me as a summer visit (Donovan would attend a Benoit camp in the summer). It certainly would be a plus for Diana and Gleb, they need the help and they would benefit from being associated with IAM.

I don't see what IAM gets out of it (other than money)

 

[icewhite]

Since they are not going to start for the US, does Gleb need his US greencard?
I think the move would make sense from several points of view, I can easily believe it.

 

[Weathergal]

oh lord... i'd prefer the other Georgian team there.... but it could be a temporary thing. I have a hard time to believe it's a permanent thing.
The Czech with the Italian Russian (sorry, forgot their names) trained there briefly and returned to their camp before splitting..

Denisa Cimlova and Dario Cirisano

 

[el henry]

Since they are not going to start for the US, does Gleb need his US greencard?
I think the move would make sense from several points of view, I can easily believe it.

I was thinking of the green card issue as related to travel, and not to country representation. While living in the US, Gleb needed a green card to travel (or he could be refused re-entry). If he never intends to live in the US, it is not an issue. That's why I said I didn't know if he cared.

 

[4everchan]

I don't see what IAM gets out of it (other than money)

The Georgian judge

 

[Ivana]

I don't see what IAM gets out of it (other than money)

The Georgian judge

Which is pretty much all they care about, they have shown it time and time again in the last months.

 

[lariko]

The Georgian judge

Not just Georgian, Azeri as well, and a few more.

Now we shall see the next amazing spurt of Davis and Shmolkin advancement in the ranks. Too bad for Mrazkova and Mrazek

 

[4everchan]

Which is pretty much all they care about, they have shown it time and time again in the last months.

I wouldn't go that far. The skaters they have are very well-trained, seem very happy with a good camaraderie, and some programs are quite interesting (more some than some others). I do believe that IAM has a positive impact on the sport. Sure, they like collecting skaters from different nations and that's why i made my joke/comment. But I wouldn't say it's all they care about. It's not fair really.

 

[DancingCactus]

I can't.
I really like the programs IAM put out, they are an integral part of what makes modern ID so high class, but this smells of politicking.

Why else would you take on a team with political baggage like this, no skating skills and frankly no style? Though D/S surely could make do with an IAM glow up.

 

[4everchan]

I can't.

I don't like it either.

I really like the programs IAM put out, they are an integral part of what makes modern ID so high class, but this smells of politicking.

Why else would you take on a team with political baggage like this, no skating skills and frankly no style? Though D/S surely could make do with an IAM glow up.

Maybe that's one of the reasons... show that even with a middle of the pack team, they can bring them up nearer to the top. Shows how great they are as a school Succeeding where others have failed is a huge feat.

 

[icewhite]

It's not like IAM only has top teams. They take on so many teams. I don't get why everyone acts like this is a terrible team. I think people really have their prejudices because of Eteri. No doubt Eteri is a super influencial person and that has helped her daughter a lot. Still, Diana Davis is not an abomination of an ice dancer, and Gleb Smolkin is pretty good. They have certain qualities and they are still rather young. There are many people in figure skating who have been helped a lot by connections... especially today it seems like about a quarter of top skaters has parents who are in some way in the scene... and some have certainly been helped a lot by being someone's daughter or niece or godnephew or whatever.
I think everyone who has gotten to know me a bit knows I'm far from being an Eteri fan. I also think it's super unfair that some people have no chance of getting released so easily, but these two did. But sometimes the negativity towards this team does not seem justified in comparison to other teams with certain connections and not outstanding skills.
Really, IAM has not really been the incorporation of moral high ground itself these past months. It's not like their reputation is tarnished by taking on the daughter of somebody at this point, at least from my point of view there are other behaviours I find way worse.

 

[Jumping_Bean]

especially today it seems like about a quarter of top skaters has parents who are in some way in the scene... and some have certainly been helped a lot by being someone's daughter or niece or godnephew or whatever.

This! Figure skating is for many reasons a sport where nepotism thrives - for better or for worse. Diana is not the first "nepo baby" and she won't be the last. Even Davis/Smolkin's current coaching team have their own nepo baby team - Tkachenko/Kiliakov.

And D/S as a team certainly don't stick out like a sore thumb if you look at some current or former IAM teams. Stronger male partner, with good lifts - That could easily be used to describe Chock/Bates or Fear/Gibson or even Carreira/Ponomarenko (another nepo baby, by the way).

The morality of IAM can and should be questioned - But not because they are willing to train D/S.

 

[Ivana]

I wouldn't go that far. The skaters they have are very well-trained, seem very happy with a good camaraderie, and some programs are quite interesting (more some than some others). I do believe that IAM has a positive impact on the sport. Sure, they like collecting skaters from different nations and that's why i made my joke/comment. But I wouldn't say it's all they care about. It's not fair really.

Well, I would go that far. I believe when IAM was grounded their intentions were good, but once it started to grow, their original intentions and moral principles were somehow thrown outside of the window. Now it's just business, from business point of view recruiting Davis/Smolkin is a great aquisition for them.

 

[DancingCactus]

Well if you are a nepo baby, you should be prepared to be treated like a nepo baby. unless you can back it up with skills. Of course I'm prejudiced because I despise Eteri and everything her school stands for. They way she treats her students, especially the girls, as expendable, to be thrown away after ruining their bodies as soon as the next one comes up. Even though she has a young daughter who is also a skater, she doesn't show a shred of compassion for the other girls, who often are far more talented.

But I also think that they D/S look super trashy, their choreo this year (and before) was bad and especially their free dance was just horrible. And their placement at worlds compared to way better teams was a joke.

 

[Jumping_Bean]

Well if you are a nepo baby, you should be prepared to be treated like a nepo baby

This is very victim-blamey, I'm sorry.

These people are not at fault for being born to influential coaches, or rich families (like Lilah Fear for example), they are not at fault for the actions of their parents and they are not at fault for how they are scored. When Diana was born and started skating, Eteri was still years out from even being a notable coach, much less anywhere near the influential figure she is today.

Also, it simply isn't true that not having the "skills to back it up" makes you a target - example: CPom (as much as I love them, they were not always as strong as they are today) - while having the skills saves you from being a target - examples: Anabelle Morozov, or even Ilia Malinin (not so much here, but I've seen some things on other social media sites).
(And I'm definitely not a fan of Tutberidze's methods, or Morozov's behaviour, or, in fact, of Davis/Smolkin's skating.)

Of course, it is important to talk about scoring discrepancies, and how coaches, countries and familial connections play their role in them, but that is not done by villainising people who didn't choose this and haven't themselves done anything wrong (as far as I am aware).