Adult Nationals 2009: Tuesday

•April 30, 2009 • Leave a Comment

Well, first and foremost, I anticipated finding more time and energy to update my blog through out this competition. Afterall, both my hotel and the Patterson ice rink has free wi-fi available from anywhere.

But as is the norm for most competitors here, the social aspect takes over and takes up much of your time. When I originally had gaps in my schedule-of-events-I-must-see, those were quickly filled with new friends I had to cheer on, dresses to try out, stories to catch up on, etc.

It must go without saying, that the LOC (local organizing committee) rocked. They deserve a much needed vacation and rest after all of their hard work — many of the chairs pulling 12-18+ hour days this week *volunteering.*

TUESDAY:
Tuesday was a practice-only day for all competitors, and as more competitors arrived in Grand Rapids through out the day there were more and more reunions abound.

I LOVE the ice here: very hard, “fast”, “springy” ice — especially for a sand based rink. It’s very cold in the stands, but not as freezing as originally portrayed. Once a competitor, the rink it’s self is chilly, but it’s bearable to be ing a sleeveless dress by end of your warm-up. There’s also a great central lobby here at the Patterson Arena that overlooks both rinks, and is kept very warm.

My practices went well. I enjoyed a silver solo dance practice where I was sharing the ice with some very sweet and very strong Group B skaters. I really enjoyed this since I competed in the other group of Silver Solo Dance. They did play 6-7 versions of both our 14-step and Silver Tango, so it was a great opportunity to get used to the music. For the freeskate practice, they did limit it to 15 skaters which seems to be the appropriate amount. Music was played on a first come first serve basis, and this seemed to work fine for the 30-minute sessions as no one seemed to have any issues getting their music played.

More to come once I have time to finish typing! ;)

Overview: 2009 U.S. Adult Figure Skating National Championships

•April 21, 2009 • Leave a Comment

Well here we are… the 2009 U.S. Adult Figure Skating National Championships, hosted by Greater Grand Rapids FSC, held in Grand Rapids, MI will take place this week April 22-April 25. The competitions hundreds of adult skaters, those competitive skaters age 21 year and older, enter each year.

You can find out additional information about this competition at ggrfsc.org/an09.

Coverage of the competition will be at icenetwork.com. For up-to-date details, check out the event page at http://web.icenetwork.com/events/detail.jsp?id=58288.

The USFS Adult skating committee chair will also be blogging about the competition. Check out Lexi’s blog here, or at http://www.icenetworkincrowd.com/2009-US-Adult-Champs-Blog-Preview/blog/59/72859.html

For those of you unfamilar with the event, any USFS member who is over the age of 21 and meets test requirements can compete. There are events in Men & Ladies Freeskates, Pairs, Couples Dance, Solo Dance, Artistic/Dramatic Interpretive (showcase for adults), and Light/Comedy Interpretive.

With the exception of pairs, couples dance, and solo dance: skaters are divided into five age categories. I = 21-30, II = 31-40, III = 41-50, IV = 51-60, V = 60 through death. ;) There is a Championship round for the Gold level, and the Master level, where the top 4 skaters from each section — regardless of their age class — advance to a final championship round.

If you happen to be a an adult skater reading this and you haven’t competed at Adult Nationals, ENTER NEXT YEAR! Bronze level only allows single jumps, but no axel or flying spin. So if you’re a budding freestyle skater, this would be a competition to enter or work toward entering. If freestyle programs aren’t your thing, you can also enter in solo dance or in interpretive. Skaters are allowed to enter up to 4 events total.

Monday: update on practice and preparation for 2009 U.S. Adult Figure Skating National Championships

•April 21, 2009 • Leave a Comment

For me, it’s been an interesting preparation for this year’s Adult Nationals. I was able to sqweak out just enough endurance to make it through my programs and ice dances in March for the Midwestern Adult Sectionals. Afterwards, I found my programs and dances easier to get through as each week passed.

But, I came down with a sinus infection 3 weeks ago… a sinus infection that’s still lingering on. (I’m on a second round of antibiotics, after relapsing when the first antibiotic finished).

Last Wednesday was the 1-week-to-go-till-my-events mark, and was the first day back on the ice for me. The two weeks previous, I only managed to skate two days due to being so sick. I really probably shouldn’t have skated at all on Wednesday-Friday since I was still having some dizzy spells and I spent more time coughing/hacking/blowing my nose than actually skating. But I took it easy starting with just dances and Senior MIF, building up to jumps on Thursday, partial program runthroughs on Friday, and spins on Saturday & Sunday.

This morning, I’m feeling pretty good. My body physically still is in good shape and I’ll be able to make it through my programs just fine—assuming my airways aren’t clogged from the sinus infection, and that I can breath all tight. ;) All of my elements, even the spins are pretty much where they’ve always been so my training must have stuck it out for me.

I’m finding it’s tough to find enough skating time with my 8:30-5 office job, and part-time coaching… so I’ve been resorting to skating 6:30-7:50 a.m. sessions before work. The nice thing is, that at most there is usually one other skater. Often times I’m alone. It’s GREAT for program run throughs, but I’d rather skate with all the high level freestyle skaters at my rink since it really pushes me to train harder/smarter.

Anyway, at this year’s 2009 Nationals I’ll be competing:
Wednesday: Silver ladies 1 freeskate
Thursday: Silver Solo Dance Group A
Friday: Ladies 1 Aristic/Dramatic Interpretive
.

As much as I’m focused on my own programs, I *CAN NOT WAIT* to get to the rink to catch all of my fellow competitive adult skating friends, and meet several new ones. The US Adult Nationals Figure Skating Championships is such a fun and inspiring event for skaters of all ages and levels. If you haven’t checked out the youtube video of Yvonne’s skate from 2007 Adult Nationals, a competitor in her 80s(!!!), definitely scroll down a couple of posts to check it out.

I think it’s great that this event started with an expected 100 competitors, but well over 400 entries just over 10 years ago. It has consistently drawn several hundred competitors each year, many who keep coming back year after year as life/finances/jobs/vacation/injuries permit. I think it’s unfortunate that only 4 competitors from Indianapolis will be going this year, when I know over two dozen who are capable of going based on their current skating levels. But, I’m working on encouraging them to take part!

Never too old to skate: Video of 81 year old adult nationals competitor, Yvonne Dowlen

•April 2, 2009 • Leave a Comment

I keep ranting and raving about how inspiring the USFS Adult National Figure Skating Championships are. Especially about how there are GREAT skaters, at all levels, all ages, and it’s never too old to start skating.

Here’s a news peice on YouTube, about Yvonne Dowlen of Colorado, who at the age of 81 was still skating strong and competed at the 2007 Adult Nationals where she placed 5th in the Master Junior ladies IV & V event with an IJS score of 23.68.

This video is available on you tube at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=REynXnZAITk, and was published and created by the Daily Herald’s Paul W. Michna.

Kimmie Meissner’s LA Times blog: “You’re asking me… what?”

•March 28, 2009 • Leave a Comment

Here’s the a blog entry from former World Champion Kimmie Meissner, that doesn’t hold back in giving real answers to those oh-so-old questions skaters get asked oh-so-often. ;)

She’s got some blunt attitude, so check it out.

This blog is located at: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/olympics_blog/2009/03/kimmie-meissn-1.html

Here are a few quotes from it:

Kimmie Meissner: You’re asking me … what?

3:10 PM, March 25, 2009

Editor’s note: Kimmie Meissner, winner of the 2006 World Figure Skating Championships, is the Fab Forum’s featured guest blogger today in conjunction with the 2009 world competition, taking place this week at Staples Center. She weighed in on Tuesday by recalling the moment of that 2006 victory.

As the competition begins in L.A., there will be many questions and media coverage. While I sit home wishing I was there, I started to think of all the obvious, silly questions I have been asked. So, I decided to blog about them.

So, are you going to the Olympics?

I have been asked this question since I began skating at the age of 6. Of course everyone wants to go to the Olympics! What kind of question is that?! Do we know if we are going? It’s called qualifying people. Would you ask a 6- year-old football player if they are going to the Super Bowl? More recently I’ve been asked how Beijing was. That was the summer Olympics. Figure skating is a winter sport, there is ice involved, which qualifies it for the winter games.

Is the ice slippery?

Ha ha, what? Did you really just ask that?

Do you fall? Does it hurt when you fall?

Do you really want to see the hematomas on the side of my hip? Try launching yourself a couple feet off the ground, rotating a couple times in the air and then trying to land on a 3/4-inch piece of steel on one foot, on a surface that is very, very slippery, that would be the ice. Ouch!

Do you like to skate?

As innocent as this question may seem, do you really believe that I would have spent the last 13 years of my life practicing at a cold, dark, mold-filled, Zamboni-fumed ice rink on a daily basis,

living off of rabbit food and water, as my nonexistent social life flourishes? Of course I love it! Who wouldn’t? Lol

You can read the rest of the blog at: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/olympics_blog/2009/03/kimmie-meissn-1.html

You-Tube link to TV interviews with Yu-Na Kim and claims a few competitors are deliberately in her way at practice…

•March 25, 2009 • 4 Comments

Aaron’s blog, “Axel, Loops, and Spins” has a post worth checking out at: http://loopaxles.blogspot.com/2009/03/worlds.html

There, he has an embedded YouTube video of a TV interview (with English subtitles), where Ya-Na Kim is claiming that competitors are deliberately interrupting her warm-ups and practices, and there’s video to go along with it.

There are also others out there at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ts0SAc03I7o
same video but different translation

and

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q6bk9ig_ss0
(rather over the top/dramatic)

Without a doubt such actions can be dangerous, this really isn’t all that uncommon.

At least, if so, then when in the past decade did our elite skaters become so courteous to one another?

Close-calls are not uncommon anyway in practices and warm-ups, especially with the speeds and nerves of these competitors.

But if it’s deliberate, that’s a whole nother story…

Kids, don’t start this at ‘home.’

2009 Figure Skating World Championships: my predictions

•March 25, 2009 • Leave a Comment

Ah yes, the World Championships are upon us. In Los Angeles. I’d have gone if I, A) had massive vacation days which I don’t as a first-year employee, B) had the money, and C) knew well in advance that icenetwork isn’t showing on-demand, much less live, video of the event. :>/


Not to mention, the year prior to the Olympics is always a thrilling year. Don’t forget: individual skater’s placements here determine the number of individuals in each discipline they can send to the Olympics. In order to secure 3 spots for an olympic team for each discipline, the top two placements from each countries individuals/teams must not equal greater that 13 when combined.

By the way: who’s bright idea was it to schedule the Worlds during the height of NCAA March Madness basketball? I understand that NCAA-men’s basketball rules the sports TV networks in America through the month of March… and that Worlds always takes place in March… but it would be nice if we could have pushed it back 1-2 weeks into April. But oh wait. This is wishful thinking. Of course. Silly Selfish American. The rest of the world isn’t concerned with NCAA basketball, and that would take even more time away for preparation for Olympic programs. I must be thankful for my 9-11 p.m. (EDT) live NBC local coverage of the Ladies Freeskate, and finagle someone to tape all of those 11 p.m./Midnight to 2 a.m. live feeds on the Oxygen network.

Anyway: since I’m a skating dork-of-a-fan and like to make and post my predictions here they are. (Although, no one really cares, they do bring a scarily impressive jump in visits to my blog. So please, stop by and comment with your own predictions: I’d love to hear what you’re predicting!). I came to these predictions by a combination of: ISU-season personal best scores, results in pressure-events this season, last year’s world’s placement, icenetwork.com world rankings, personal preference of difficulty/presentation of programs, influence of the L.A. crowd, and gut-feeling. :)

(By the way, you can get the live results from ISU at: http://www.isuresults.com/results/wc2009/)

ICE DANCE:

The competition in the top 6 is going to be intense and close! I really can’t wait to see how this turns out.

1. Jana KHOKHLOVA / Sergei NOVITSKI

2. Meryl DAVIS / Charlie WHITE

3. Tessa VIRTUE / Scott MOIR

4. Tanith BELBIN / Ben AGOSTO

6. Federica FAIELLA / Massimo SCALI

7. Nathalie PECHALAT / Fabian BOURZAT

8. Sinead KERR / John KERR

PAIRS:

Given some of the inconsistencies of these teams this season I would expect the top 6 be quite close… I think those that I have predicted 7th-10th could easily move near the medals if they put together two great skates and those above them falter.

2. Qing PANG / Jian TONG (it’d be nice if the nerves didn’t take over yet again)

MEN:

Quads? Or Quality? Which will it be?

1. Patrick Chan

2. Evan Lysacek

3. Brian Joubert

4. Jeremy Abbott

LADIES:

So. Who will it be this year? If more than one of the top three skate two programs clean, then it’s a toss up between the three of them.  If neither of those three skate clean, I believe any of the top 10-11 could rise onto the podium with two clean programs. I can’t wait!

7. Rachael FLATT **Just sqweaking out that combined position for 3 entries in the 2010 Olympics.

13. Sara Meier
14.
Amelie LACOSTE

15. Jenna McCorkell

16. Anette Dytrt

17. Julia Sebestyen

18. Elena Glebova

Also, predictions for the countries to receive 3 entries for the 2010 Olympics:

Ice Dance: RUS, USA

Pairs: RUS, CAN, CHN

Men: USA, FRA, CAN

Ladies: Canada, Japan, USA

Big names coming back to Skating!?!

•March 18, 2009 • Leave a Comment

Scott Hamilton not only stepped back into the spotlight on Celebrity Apprentice this winter, but he announced today he will be returning to the ice for the first time since being diagnosed with a brain tumor in 2004. Press Release here.

Michelle Kwan will be commentating for NBC at the 2009 World Championships, and possibly for the 2010 Olympics if all goes well. Story here.

Oh, speaking of Michelle Kwan, she says she may be back for a 2010 Olympics attempt. Scroll down to the bottom of this Jan. 2009 L.A. Times article.

Oh, and Sasha Cohen may attempt a comeback for the 2010 Olympics. Chicago Tribune Feb. 2009 article here.

Can’t forget about Evegeni Plushenko as well, who also plans to be in Vancouver for 2010 Olympics.

That goes for Shen & Zhoa, as well. Article from china.org.

What’s Irina Slutskaya and Alexei Yagudin up to these days, anyway? ;)   Who’s next to come out of the wood work? (Eh, from behind the rink boards?)

I say, bring it! If you can still skate well enough to score the points to beat the current crop of your national competitors, then you deserve to be on the team. Period.

Plushenko should have an easy time of making the team, as talent/strength of Russian mens skating has declined over the past 8 years. Shen & Zhoa may have a tougher time given the scores these past few seasons of Zhang & Zhang and Pang & Tong.

And what about Sasha & Michelle? Well. We might only have 2 Olympic spots next year… I think the half of the hardcore skating fan base might blow a gasket if Sasha and Michelle took those two spots… but. May the best total scores win the Olympic spots, regardless of who it is. :) Besides… I wonder if the strategy will change for the likes of Alissa, Rachael, Mirai, Caroline, Ashley, Kimmi, Emily, and others now that it appears Sasha and Michelle may come back. Perhaps that 95% effort will turn to 100% and we’ll see an amazing set of programs from these top competitors — and an unforgettable U.S. Nationals.

2009 Adult Midwestern Sectionals recap…

•March 5, 2009 • Leave a Comment

All of the Championship events were such a highlight for me this year at 2009 Adult Midwestern Sectional Championships. The talent at Mids this year was really something. I can’t wait to watch the Pacific & Eastern sectional videos on icenetwork.com to compare. I enjoyed nearly all the skates in that event, so the list is too long to list here. :)

(Non-qualifying results can be found here for the D.B. N. American Invitational events.)

My favorite 6 moments from the competition:

  • *June’s Nutcracker interpretive was just awesome–she just stayed in character the entire time her skates were on the ice.
  • *Bryan Smith’s bronze men freeskate. I met him out on the outdoor Millenium Park ice rink in downtown Chicago some Saturday in December, and we chatted for a bit then. I had read his Men’s Health article since then about taking up the sport, and knowing his back story made it extra fun to watch his skate since it was his first competition ever.
  • *Noelle’s Fourteen Step dance, where she continued her third pattern after they cut off the music (shades of Rodina & Zaitsev). The announcement said 3 patterns, so naturally she set out to do 3 patterns and I believe she stayed on time without the music. She won the event, afterall. I was the second out, and I clarified with Peg that we were in fact doing 2 patterns. Who knew?
  • *Stacy B.’s Championship Gold freeskate. I recall last year the skated a very, very, very rough program… so to see her come back and place second without any double-jump attempts was so refreshing. And gave me hope for when I move up to Gold. :)
  • *Watching Erica H.’s performances… she’s such an elegant skater.
  • *Elizabeth running up after she found out she run, yelling “I got the bowl! I got the bowl!” I didn’t get it, since I didn’t realize the Championship sectionals winners got bowls. She already has a plate from Silver I ladies nationals in 2007… guess she needs some silverware or glasses now. ;)

As for me, I did all right. I somehow made it (rather easily) through my Silver I ladies FS for a solid all first ordinals win. My presentation looked better on the DVD than it felt, which is encouraging. But I only began making it through my program (twice, at that) the week before the competition… and I’m still struggling to come close to finishing this 2:10 program. Overall, I can’t complain really: I didn’t skate for 6 months, and a year prior also didn’t skate for 6 months. I need to get my rear in gear for this program, since I’d like to test my Adult Gold Free Skate test this summer and that’s a 2:40 program.

Interpretive was sloppy and I earned second, though I feel I should have been third.

Solo dance was a very strong pool of adult dances. I pulled a surprising win in the Silver Tango solo dance, considering I’ve managed about 18 patterns total since 2001, and my timing was severely rushed three days prior before someone pointed it out to me. I also pulled third place out of seven in the fourteen step (rushing my swings, ug). Adult Nationals will be super interesting with 17-20+ competitors in each level.

Overall, it was a total blast as Adult Sectionals & Nationals tend to be. Nice job to Wyandotte FSC for a well organized LOC and cheerful volunteers. (The event was held in conjunction with their annual D.B. North American Invitational)

I wish a lot more adult skaters were motivated to attend — once skaters realize how fun, supportive, and inspiring the USFS Adult Sectionals and Nationals are, they tend to turn into frequent competitors at these events. It’s just getting them to attend that’s the difficult part, and understandably so.

Seven weeks until the 2009 U.S. Adult Figure Skating National Championships!

I/WSA FSC update: Indy Challenge, Skate Indy, and summer skating school WILL occur for 2009! Good news. :)

•March 1, 2009 • Leave a Comment

Good news on the I/WSA & I/WSA FSC front:

Our downtown Indianapolis rink received yet another extension through October 2009. (In fact, the “buyers” (have they even paid yet?) seem quite past-due starting their construction… where I would be surprised if we close in the next few years. Peirod.)

As a result:

Skate Indy 2009 will take place Saturday, June 27 & 28. Stay tuned for the announcement in March at http://www.iwsafsc.org/. Levels are basic skills through Juvenile, and there are a whole slew of events (including test track, team compulsory moves, interpretive, and others!).

Indy Challenge 2009 will take place July 31-August 2, (pending our sanction application).  Details about this elite Pairs (and occasionally a few ice dance events) will be posted at http://www.iwsafsc.org/ as they are available.

I/WSA’s regular skating summer school will take place this summer June-August. Watch for details as they are available at: http://www.iwsa.org/figure.html.