Skaters and Jet Lag

[Bennett]

Just wondering if skaters are okay with jet lag. Personally, it takes me at least a week to fully recover from the jet lag when I travel overseas. I tend to get very tired and have difficulty with sleep especially when I fly to the East. But the skaters arrive at the place almost right before the competition and are able to perform well. That looks almost miracle to me.

 

[blue dog]

Just wondering if skaters are okay with jet lag. Personally, it takes me at least a week to fully recover from the jet lag when I travel overseas. I tend to get very tired and have difficulty with sleep especially when I fly to the East. But the skaters arrive at the place almost right before the competition and are able to perform well. That looks almost miracle to me.

I think it depends on the skater. Some skaters can handle it, others cannot. Remember Tonia Kwiatkowski at the 1992 Olympics, where she was barely able to muster a 4th place finish overall.

 

[chuckm]

I think it depends on the skater. Some skaters can handle it, others cannot. Remember Tonia Kwiatkowski at the 1992 Olympics, where she was barely able to muster a 4th place finish overall.

I think you mean TONYA HARDING-GILLOOLY, not Tonia Kwiatkowski.

Tonia Kwiatkowski never made it to the Olympics, although she did finish 6th at 1998 Worlds.

 

[Bennett]

I think it depends on the skater. Some skaters can handle it, others cannot. Remember Tonia Kwiatkowski at the 1992 Olympics, where she was barely able to muster a 4th place finish overall.

I wonder why they don't arrive earlier so that they can get adjust to the time. To get more practice done at home or to avoid crowds etc etc??

 

[feraina]

Good question, I was also thinking about this...

I think younger people in general adapt to jetlag better.

I wonder if it's not partly for financial considerations on the part of USFSA. All the skaters arrived together on Dec. 12 -- they, their coaches, and the USFSA officials are all paid for by USFSA. With the weak dollar in a touristy place, probably their expenses easily run to a few thousand a day.

I also heard that it's quite expensive to rent ice time in Torino. And it's possible that the city might simply not have enough ice rinks/sessions to accommodate all the skaters to have enough practice time over a long period.

At the Olympics, for instance, often skaters would stay home longer to get more practice in, and then fly over just a couple days before their event.

 

[attyfan]

I have noticed that some US skaters schedule their practice time away from the competition site to get away from the media. This may affect their decision as to when to arrive -- they balance jet lag against the effect of constant stalking.

 

[chuckm]

If you read the 'Announcement' for each ISU event, you will see that the ISU pays for the hotel and meals for the athlete---but only for the official day of arrival until the official day of departure. The announcement specifically says that if the skater/team chooses to arrive earlier or stay later, the ISU will not pay for it.

The top echelon skaters who get ice shows and endorsements can afford to pay for the additional up-front time, but not all can. I am sure that Alissa Czisny could not possibly have afforded the extra time in Tokyo at 2007 Worlds.

For some venues, there could be a problem with getting practice ice time if you did arrive early.

 

[julietvalcouer]

I asked my dance pros about jet lag, as they often have no time before a competition to adjust--they have to fly in, compete (often at an ungodly early hour), and fly home. My Smooth pro, Tibor, just shrugged and said you get used to it. I would assume it's the same for skaters--unless you can afford the extra time, you just learn to suck up and deal.

 

[blue dog]

This may sound sick to some people, but in debate (yes, we have national and international tournaments), sometimes if we know we'll be on the east coast for a tournament, or like last year, China (next year it's in London), two weeks before the event, we start holding practices at odd hours so that we get used to competing at an hour when we might be in bed, or otherwise. That way, the adjustment to the time isn't so tough.

I think Melissa and Denis used to do this when they were coached by Linichuk and Karponosov, but I might be wrong.

 

[Bennett]

This may sound sick to some people, but in debate (yes, we have national and international tournaments), sometimes if we know we'll be on the east coast for a tournament, or like last year, China (next year it's in London), two weeks before the event, we start holding practices at odd hours so that we get used to competing at an hour when we might be in bed, or otherwise. That way, the adjustment to the time isn't so tough.

I think Melissa and Denis used to do this when they were coached by Linichuk and Karponosov, but I might be wrong.

Wow. That's a quite logical, rational strategy. At the same time, I feel that it may be a bit difficult for a lot of ppl to actually plan that far

I understand that the money may be involved in their decision to arrive at the last minute. But I feel that the skaters who are well funded from various sources can afford extra one or two days of hotel stay to pay themselves. Although some people may get used to the jet lag better than others, I don't think that they could be their best if they have to skate way past their normal bedtime.

 

[julietvalcouer]

Makes sense to me--I swapped myself over before I went to Australia and saved myself some serious fifteen-hour jet lag.