Archive Page 2
The IW synchronized skating teams’ performances at the Biasca Trophy in Switzerland are currently available to view on You Tube.
Wight Jewels: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCQzG2MvDTw
Wight Diamonds: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCZVE0NyaOY
Wight Crystals: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKf3wjbYq2w
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Biasca Trophy: Coach’s report
IW synchronized skating teams struck gold and silver in the Biasca Trophy, held in Switzerland on 22 and 23 March. The Wight Jewels won the junior ISU event, and the Wight Crystals were second at juvenile level. Novice team the Wight Diamonds did well by scoring almost 9 points more than they did in the British championships in January, earning themselves an admirable sixth place.
After landing in Milan, Italy, the skaters and their supporters had a two-hour coach journey over the border to Bellinzona in Switzerland. They arrived late at night and had no idea of the surroundings until they woke the next day to find themselves surrounded by beautiful snow-peaked mountains.
The Island’s premier synchronized skating team, the Wight Jewels, competed across both days, performing their short programme to Bond on Saturday afternoon and their long programme to a medley of Madonna music on Sunday afternoon. The girls went back to the hostel on Saturday evening in a positive mood with a lead of just 0.73 over Black Rose of Hungary, and leaving everything to skate for in their long programme on Sunday.
On Sunday, Black Rose skated first, giving a faultless performance to an Abba medley. The Jewels had to push their game to the max and pulled off an amazing performance to achieve a score of 48.38, which combined with the result of the short programme gave them victory with a lead of 2.01.
The Wight Crystals competed against three different nations: Switzerland, Italy and Hungary. All three teams were much older and looked more experienced in practice, but the Crystals gave their most powerful performance to date with loads of personality, achieving a personal best of 27.64. The 15 girls and 1 boy performed their routine to a medley from Grease for the last time, as next season they will change their music and routine.
Novice team the Wight Diamonds faced a strong field of nine other teams from three different nations. The Diamonds’ line-up has only been in place for a matter of weeks with the arrival of new members and the inability of some experienced members to compete in Switzerland. None the less they scored a season’s best of 32.03 and a creditable sixth place.
“I am overwhelmed with the brilliant performances and results of all three teams; they were a credit to the Island and great ambassadors for Britain,” says coach Terri Smith. “Once again they upped their game and performed out of their skates to bring a remarkable close to their 2008/9 synchro season.
“It was great to give all my teams the opportunity to travel and compete internationally, they all had an amazing experience and hopefully more will follow in the future.”
The IW synchro teams would like to thank Planet Ice and Wightlink ferries for their continuing support and sponsorship.
The Jewels are: Demi Agar, Sarah Close, Isabelle Coeshott (Captain), Sabrina Danzig, Gemma Fishel, Leah Hancott, Naomi Hunter, Nicole Hinton, Charis Jones, Heather MacDonald, Alicia Macintyre, Gemma Marsh, Clare Mennie, Charlotte Mennie, Kate Nutbourne, Zoe Southwell, Emma Wilks and Louisa Wrighton.
The Diamonds are: Demi Agar, Kayleigh Baker, Sarah Close (captain), Tia Daley, Sabrina Danzig, Rachel Dickson, Leah Hancott, Nikita Heathfield, Nicole Hinton, Daisy Jones, Heather MacDonald, Alicia Macintyre, Isabella Parkes, Jemma Southwell, Zoe Southwell, Megan Wood and Louisa Wrighton.
The Crystals are: Kirsty Atter, Mitchell Brown, Charlotte Chapman, Roxanne Collins, Tia Daley, Leah Hancott, Nikita Heathfield, Beth Howarth, Daisy Jones, Ella Newnham, Phoebe Ockendon, Isabella Parkes, Kayleigh Pedley, Jemma Southwell, Zoe Southwell ( Captain) and Louisa Wrighton.
Biasca Trophy website: http://biasca-trophy.skating.ch/
Report provided by IW head coach Terri Smith.
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Synchronized skating team the Wight Jewels have won gold in the Junior ISU category at the Biasco Trophy in Switzerland (21-22 March). In the Juvenile category, the Wight Crystals took silver position. More details when we have reports from the managers and coach.
Competition website: http://biasca-trophy.skating.ch
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Website hiccups
The IW Figure Skaters website has been temporarily unavailable for a few days as a result of a change in our domain name provider, resulting from the previous provider shutting down its web hosting and domain name services. The site is now available again on its official URL of www.iowfigureskaters.co.uk
Note that the website is run as a WordPress hosted blog and can also be accessed directly at http://iowskaters.wordpress.com
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The Wight Crystals synchronized skating team won gold in the juvenile competition at the British Synchronized Skating Championships and National Opens held in Sheffield on 8 February 2009.
A manual version of the IJS was implemented, and our correspondent tells us that the event overran excessively, with teams still competing at 10pm.
The official results are at: http://www.johnds.org/synchro_09/
Novice team the Wight Diamonds and junior team and British champions the Wight Jewels were not at the Sheffield event because the championships for their levels were held at the British Ice Figure and Synchronized Skating Championships in Nottingham in January. Novice and junior level competitions were held at Sheffield, but in the capacity of open competitions, not championships – an arrangement that may cause confusion.
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Robert Paxton: a profile
Robert Paxton has achieved a notable first for an IW skater, being the first skater from the Island to compete in the European championships, along with partner Erica Risseeuw. Robert and Erica’s top-ten finishing position is a remarkable achievement for a couple skating together internationally for the first time.
Robert started skating at the age of nine years with his sister on the Isle of Wight and was coached by Katie Rothwell. In 1997 at the age of 14 years he won the British novice championship for men.
After several years of training on the Isle of Wight and Basingstoke, in 2000 Robert moved to Canada to train at the world famous Mariposa Skating Centre under Doug Leigh. He continued skating singles and in 2004 decided he wanted to change to pairs skating.
He has had three previous partners and competed in Canadian nationals at novice, junior and senior levels, winning medals at novice and junior level. However, it was always his desire to return to skate for Great Britain.
In April 2008 Robert tried out with Erica Risseeuw, a singles skater from Alberta, and two months later they teamed up. Both Erica and Robert had to complete exams so could not start skating together until July when Erica moved to Ontario. They knew they had a lot of work to do to get them to a good competive standard and did their first competition after five weeks. After 10 weeks together they came to Sheffield for the IJS event. They returned to Canada to continue training and prepared for the British Championships in Nottingham.
Robert and Erica were selected by NISA to take part in the European Championships in Helsinki as Great Britain’s second couple in the pairs competition. They were in 10th position after the short programme and after the free skate were delighted to be 7th overall.
Robert and Erica are coached by Lee Barkell, the coach of the current men’s world champion.
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IW skater Robert Paxton and partner Erica Risseeuw achieved a top 10 placing in the pairs competition at the European Championships in Helsinki today, finishing seventh overall. They overtook fellow Team GB members and British champions Stacey Kemp and David King, who finished in 11th place overall.
Robert is the first IW skater to compete at the European championships, and a top 10 placing for the pair is an incredible achievement. Our congratulations to Robert and Erica.
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Coverage of the European Figure Skating Championships in Helsinki begins on Eurosport on 20 January. Keep an eye on IW skater Robert Paxton, who competes in the pairs with partner Erica Risseeuw as part of Team GB.
Official website: www.stll.fi/european_championships_2009/in_english/
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A touching gesture brought together members of the Isle of Wight teams with the help of the NISA TV broadcast of the British Ice Figure & Synchronized Skating Championships.
One key member of the IW synchronized skating teams couldn’t be at the championships – Janet Marsh, one of the team managers, who is in hospital being treated for leukaemia. Thanks to her subscription to NISA TV and a mobile broadband connection, however, Janet was able to watch the IW teams compete – and the Jewels take the junior title.
Waiting for their marks after the long programme, members of the Jewels turned to face part of the arena that, apart from the NISA TV camera, was empty and waved to her.
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Wight Jewels on Youtube
The Wight Jewels’ winning long programme at the 2009 British Ice Figure & Synchronized Skating Championships is currently available on Youtube
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