Who Skated Best? Time to Vote for Readers Choice

Every year US Figure Skating and SKATING magazine ask readers to weigh in on which US skaters they thought skated the best during the competitive season. The winner gets the Michelle Kwan Trophy. They give you the option of the top 5 placers at Nationals, the medalists at Junior Worlds, and the top three teams at Synchro Nationals.

It's an interesting exercise, if you don't just vote for your favorite skater, or the winningest skater. I like to look at each skater on more than just their technical merit. Which is why I chose Jeremy Abbot. He nailed Nationals and nailed the choreography of his short program skated to "Lilies of the Valley." And despite tanking at the Olympics, I think he showed that he's capable of powering through disaster on ice. That's a quality I admire in a skater, as much as any technical merit or win.

Who was your favorite? Go on and vote here.

And then watch Jeremy's short program from Nationals. Soooo good.

Figure Skating Grand Prix

The Grand Prix assignments came out last week--but of course I was too wrapped up in another sport's big event (World Cup cough cough) to post about it here. So I'm doing it now.

To see the full Grand Prix assignments, click here.

If you have no idea with the Figure Skating Grand Prix is, you're not alone. It's not well publicized outside of the sport. The Grand Prix series is huge though, because skaters can win a nice chunk of $$ from a pretty big purse ($180,000 for each event, $272,000 for the final!). It's basically a series of six competitions held from Oct.-Dec. the season, followed by a Final event, which this year will be held in Spain, December 11-14. Skaters are invited to each competition based on their performance at ISU events during the previous year, and qualify for the Final based on their performance during the series.

The six competitions are (in chronological order):

• Skate America
• Skate Canada
• Lexus Cup of China
• Rostelecom Cup
• Trophee Bompard
• NHK Trophy 

And they're all capped off by the Grand Prix Final, which will be held in Spain for the first time ever. That is awesome. Wish I could travel there to see it!

If you're dying to know more about it all and see who qualified for what, here's the ISU's primer on the Grand Prix series.

Pregnancy and Athletics

When I read this story today about a runner who competed at track and field nationals in the 800M while 34 weeks pregnant, I literally shouted with joy. Who says you can't keep training and competing while pregnant? If your pregnancy is healthy and you feel good (and your doc says yes), why the heck not? My doctor said I could do anything, as long as I felt good.

The concern many doctors have is not that you'll injure the baby, but that you'll injure yourself. They don't want you twisting because you'll pull a muscle. Your body changes dramatically and you have to compensate your movements (and sleeping habits!).

I skated until the 9th month of pregnancy.  I wasn't doing double axels, or even really jumping at all mostly because I was ungainly and off balance. But I wanted to be on the ice. It helped me stay fit both mentally and physically. Skating is wonderful exercise, and I encourage all preggo skaters to at least get on the ice and do some stroking as often as you're comfortable.

Ice Etiquette

There are spoken rules about one's conduct on the ice - i.e. no horseplay, don't stab someone with your skate blade on purpose, etc. - that adorn highly visible signage at any ice rink. But there are also unspoken rules - which are fancily referred to as Ice Etiquette. Go on over to Skating Inspirations for a great summary of those rules.

I've seen everyone from beginners to Olympians in my day who have had really crappy ice etiquette. I've also had the privilege of skating with some real class acts. I can't say that I've been an angel on the ice myself, in fact I've been both the giver and recipient of some serious 'tude, but coming back to skating as an adult has really altered my perspective of my behavior on the ice - for the better, I think.

It is really frustrating when someone gets in your way, especially when you're attempting something difficult. Sure, there are jerks out there who do it on purpose, but they are an extreme minority. We all pay the same fee to get on the ice, and we all have to share it. 99.9999 percent of the time, if you get in someone's way, it's an accident. It's hard though to keep having to tell yourself that when you need to be "in the zone" so to speak--performing difficult elements in figure skating requires a lot of concentration and energy--and it's easy to be distracted by fellow skaters even if they're not really in your way.

Being older and wiser goes a long way to helping me focus despite instances where other skaters may inadvertently thwart my attempts at freeskating maneuvers. It is no longer the end of the world if I don't get to a jumping pass. There are other things in life. For a younger person (such as I was), that concept may be harder to grasp.

Theater On Ice 2014

So when I said there were five disciplines of figure skating (Men, Ladies, Pairs, Dance, Synchro), I LIED. 

There are actually six (well, arguably there are more but they're not really officially recognized by USFS or ISU). The sixth is a nascent one, at least on the competitive scene: Theater on Ice (or TOI). The idea of it has been around for ages (Ice Follies, Ice Capades, shows in the early 20th century, I could go on...), but it hasn't been a competitive event until the last few years. It was popularized in Europe, where they call it Ballet on Ice. 

Oh how I wish this discipline was legit when I was a kid. I would have be hardcore into TOI, but instead I had to pour my theatrical urges into off-ice theater and cram it into freeskating programs between tricks. Poor me. But lucky me too, because you don't have to be a kid to do it! It's still not super popular, but I daresay it is picking up. And the coolest part I think, is that you don't have to be a superstar skater. TOI lends itself as well to beginners as it does to higher level skaters.

In TOI competition, teams of 8-30 skaters perform a "story" to music. Solo skating is discouraged, and teams are judged on a combo of technical merit and presentation, but with an emphasis on "originality, costuming, artistry and musicality," according to US Figure Skating.

I say all this because this weekend is TOI Nationals, held in Dearborn, Michigan. I'm looking forward to watching some of the performances.

Here's a video of some of last year's competition. It's kind of like synchro, but more dance-y.

And here's a good demonstration video for some of the technical requirements of Theater on Ice.

Going for Gold in the Golden Years

When it comes to figure skating in the media, seemingly clever "punny" headlines are the only way to go, apparently (sigh). Every media personality dreams of writing or delivering a cheeky headline like the one on this news story about an adult skater out of Washington.



Stupid headlines aside, this 71-year-old skater is AMAZING! She looks totally fearless out there on the ice, and has excellent technique for a skater at her level. I'm super impressed, and I sincerely hope I will get to see her at Adult Nationals next year.

And if I had a nickel for every adult skater who told me they started skating because they were bored sitting in the stands while their kids skated (as the woman in the story did), I'd be rich enough to build my own rink. Get out there and skate, skating parents!

Hugging the Judges

Just thought it was worth mentioning that figure skating is not the only sport whose referees display questionable behavior at major world events.

Apparently, a ref was caught on camera "celebrating" with the Nigerian soccer team's goalie at the World Cup this weekend after Nigeria's controversial win over Bosnia Herzegovina. A petition is being circulated calling for the ref's removal from the World Cup.

Hmmm, looks familiar...

Maybe it was completely innocent. It's easy to get caught up in the moment. But the thing is, it's impossible to be completely impartial. I get it. It's an unfortunate reality of competitive sports like these. But for crying out loud, how hard is it to check one's behavior in public? Wait until you get outside and away from the cameras to to enjoy the moment...

Outcome of ISU Congress

Better late than never, I've caught up with the developments that came out of the ISU Congress in Dublin this month.

Here are the most important points:

1. Anonymous judging stays. Sounds like it was close vote though.

2. Ottavio Cinquanta is not resigning. But he's only got two more years max, as the Congress rejected a motion to raise the max age limit of the president, which is 75. Which is how old Cinquanta is now.

3. Freeskating order will continue to be randomized within flights.

The Chicago Tribune published an informative (and biting) round-up of the ISU Congress in Dublin this month. The Trib reporter makes no point of hiding his disdain for the outcome. And I can't say I disagree completely.

Happy Olympic Day!

The Olympic Games, in its modern form, was born June 23, 1894. Therefore the IOC celebrates the Olympic spirit every June 23 with Olympic Day.

This year's theme is "Get Active," and its promotional video, which I'm prohibited from embedding here, shows famous Olympians like Michael Phelps, Usain Bolt and Lindsey Vonn doing sports other than those they are famous for.

That got me thinking, what sports would I pursue if I weren't a skater? I don't think one can call Pilates a sport, so that doesn't count. I did a brief stint as a power-lifter once, and dabbled in soccer and gymnastics as a kid. But I guess if someone told me to go out and try something new, I'd want to try tennis or skiing--two sports I've NEVER tried before. Weird, I know.

Anyway, Happy Olympic Day! I think we should all reflect on the fact that life is about more than justwinning gold medals.

Monday Recap

Skating practice has moved from Tuesday nights to Saturday mornings, thanks to changing schedules at local rinks. Ergo, my Wednesday recap has turned into a Monday one (Sundays are my day off).

This was my first practice post-show. I'd hoped for ice time earlier this month, but it seems like a lot of rinks either close down or limit their hours during June. As a result, the Saturday session was super crowded. I haaaate super crowded sessions. The output of my practice is halved when there are a million people on the ice. All skaters have to be super vigilant, and those with prima donna tendencies (I'm not excluding myself historically speaking here), tend to turn up the 'tude when other skaters get in their way.

Despite the obstacle (also, it was FREEZING in this particular rink), my first time back on the ice in a few weeks went well. My primary goals this summer are to improve my spins and to get back my double axel, a jump that has vexed me on and off since I was about 12. I attempted a few under the watchful eye of my coach, who provided some much needed input on the way I was approaching it.

My problem--and the problem for many adult skaters and multi-rotation jumps, I'm told--is the snap that needs to happen in the rotation in the air. It's kind of like driving a standard transmission car. You know it's time to shift gears when you feel that subtle surge in the engine. With my double axel, I'm feeling the surge, but I'm not shifting the stick. I made some promising attempts though, and I think I'm close. I used to have it down, but the intervening years of driving automatic transmission cars (i.e. not skating, if you follow my metaphor) have dulled my senses.

Fashion Friday

Apparently Extra host Mario Lopez made a bet with correspondent and former BET 106 & Park host AJ Calloway concerning the results of the Stanley Cup Finals. Rangers fan Calloway promised Kings fan Lopez that if the Kings won, he'd don a figure skating outfit and skate around at Sky Rink.

I'll curb my disdain for the ignorant mockery of the sport of figure skating and just laugh at how silly this guy, who clearly is not a figure skater, looks in a tutu.

Calloway kind of half-a$$ed it though, and kept his jeans on underneath the tutu. Lopez was disappointed.

"Figure skaters don't rock black jeans," he said.

I disagree. (Michael Weiss rocks them. And everything else too.)

Memorabilia

When I was up in Lake Placid this past weekend, the rinks were down. Every year they take the ice down for a few weeks, presumably for maintenance. So bummed that I couldn't skate!

But I always enjoy being in the arenas anyway, ice or no. They're quite literally monuments to figure skating history. I love walking the halls bedecked with priceless photos and plaques and memorabilia of figure skating past and present. There's a palpable Olympic spirit there that I've never felt anywhere else, including in other winter Olympic venues like Salt Lake City and Squaw Valley.

Speaking of figure skating artifacts, I saw this article recently in the Minneapolis Star Tribune, about a guy who has amassed the largest collection of figure skating memorabilia in the world (30,000 pieces!). Now that he's getting on in years, he wants to give it to a museum or archive, and is searching for active takers. It would be a true shame if this impressive collection, which includes everything from photos to Sonja Henie's costumes, disappeared into oblivion after its owner passes. His story is pretty impressive, and worth a read.

I know I've held on to every piece of figure skating memorabilia I've ever come across. I have skating magazines that date back into the 90s, photos of all my favorite skating stars, and I have all my results sheets, medals, competitor's passes and good luck charms. They're all at my parents' house, and I think they're going to make me transfer them to my own house one of these days...I should probably get on that before they decide to chuck it all...

(Don't) Watch and Learn

Olympic Silver Medalist, Canadian Patrick Chan says he still hasn't watched his performances at the Olympics (at least, he hadn't as of the time this article was written last week).

I don't blame him. Both of his Olympic skates in the men's singles competition disappointed him. Yes he won silver, but a regrettable performance is not how you want to remember your Olympic experience. From personal experience as a skater, you almost want to forget that a disastrous performance even happened. And being forced to watch it on replay definitely doesn't help one forget.

At Regionals one year, I pulled a Mao Asada and skated so badly during a short program that I didn't even bother to look at the results. I knew I'd come in dead last, and I wanted to avoid the embarrassment of having it confirmed in ink. And thank goodness it wasn't recorded on video, because even today, a decade or so later, I would refuse to watch it. And I wouldn't learn anything from watching it. I already know why I messed up, and it has everything to do with the mental aspects of skating, and nothing with the physical. My father has a picture of me on the ice during that program displayed in his office. He argues it's a great picture of me, but knowing how badly I skated, I still can't even look at it. I avert my eyes every time I'm in there. It's a stark reminder of my failure to achieve a goal I'd set for myself. Much like Chan, who had his sights set on gold.

And watching yourself is hard even after a good performance. I've been accused of being my own harshest critic, and I don't deny it. I can pick apart my own performances until they become tattered shreds in my mind. It's generally a good practice to watch film of yourself on a regular basis though. A coach can only do so much, and can't be there 24/7--seeing how you are doing something wrong goes a long way to help yourself on the ice as well. But when it is a mental error rather than a technical problem, watching makes it worse.

But I don't think Patrick Chan needs to watch these particular performances to become a better skater. Instead, he needs to concentrate on what's important to him, and why he might have let pressure get to him. He's not competing this season and is uncertain about his future in the sport, so he has ample time to do so. He's a great skater, and he'll figure it out.

ISU Announces Locations for Big Competitions in 2016-2017

More news out of the Dublin Congress....provisional allotments have been announced for the ISU championship events for the competitive year after next.

Notable allotments in the figure skating world:

1. World Championships will be in Helsinki, Finland.

2. Synchro Worlds will be in Colorado Springs.

3. The Four Continents Championships will be in Gangneug, South Korea, which will be a test site for the 2018 Olympics.

Exciting stuff.

When Ice Dreams Get Weird

Every now and again I have dreams about skating. Most of the dreams I have about the sport are of the stressful variety, wherein I'm supposed to be competing at a major event and I realize as I'm getting on the ice that I haven't practiced, like ever. Some of the dreams are revelatory in nature, in that I discover some new trick to perfecting say, a double axel (which, of course, doesn't work in waking life). And still others are the jolting kind, in which I'm dreaming about skating, and I fall, and wake with a start. Those are not my faves, but fortunately rarely happen.

The dream I had last night is a whole new type of skating-themed nocturnal vision. I dreamed I was in Lake Placid, seated in the far end of the 1932 Rink, watching Prince perform. I'm talking about Prince, the singer. But he wasn't singing, he was skating, and it was one of the LP summer Saturday night shows. And he was quite good. He performed a few numbers in this show, one of which was skated to "Little Red Corvette" and he was wearing gold lame boyshorts, which at a certain point were removed and thrown into the audience.

Needless to say, I woke up a little confused, and with Little Red Corvette in my head. I get the Lake Placid part of it, I was just there this weekend. But the Prince part is confounding. I haven't listened to Prince, nor made reference to him in a while. I'm guessing maybe I heard a snippit of Little Red Corvette before bedtime, it's possible...

At least this skating dream didn't stress me out! And now I know I would pay to see Price on ice...

#tbt Throwback Thursday

A few years back, I stumbled on an awesome little film competition held in Lake Placid every summer. The Lake Placid Film Forum's "Sleepless in Lake Placid" was a 24-hour film competition for students from schools around the Northeast region. These dedicated and talented students would flock to the LP in teams with all manner of fancy schmancy equipment and boundless talent for what was essentially 48 hours straight of filmmaking.

At the end of it, there was a screening at a local theater, and judges and the audience would choose their favorite films. I volunteered as an actress for their projects, and had a LOT of fun doing it. All told, I was part of four films, and each one was fantastic. I even won the award for Best Actress one year! (It's probably the closest I'll ever get to an Oscar, so I gave the Oscar speech I had planned in my head since I was 10.)

As part of the challenge, students were required to add specific elements to their films. For many years, one of those requirements was to film a scene at the Olympic Center. Ahh, the Olympic Center. One of my favorite places on the planet to skate. Many victories and many defeats of mine have played out on the 1980 Rink (now the Herb Brooks Arena), the 1932 Rink, the USA Rink, and the now-defunct Lussi Rink. I have such amazing memories of the place, (as do many, many skaters throughout the last eight decades) so what better place would there be to film?

Well one year my skating chops landed me a role as a skater with the very talented filmmaking team from Marist College. They filmed me skating on the 1932 Rink. The footage came out wonderfully, and the film won the Audience Choice Award. For this week's Throwback, I am replaying this excellent short film, for your viewing pleasure.



Many thanks to filmmakers Ryan Rivard, Mike Caiola, John Angus-O'Sullivan and Nick Sortino for nailing this film, and to their advisor Jeff Bass for invaluable support. They're awesome! Also credit goes to my fab co-stars, Stephen O'Connor, Mat Cantore, Veronica Montes and Hans the Dog.

Sadly, the Sleepless in Lake Placid competition did not receive enough funding to continue this year, but the great friends I've made in participating these last few years decided to have a reunion of sorts this weekend, so I'm typing this from Lake Placid!

Castelli & Tran Teaming Up for Pairs Competition

Not wasting any time following her split from long-time pairs partner Simon Schnapir, Marissa Castelli has hooked up on the ice with Canadian Mervin Tran.

Tran most recently partnered with Natasha Purich, and the duo finished just off the podium at Canadian nationals this year.

I'm assuming Castelli and Tran will represent the US in competition. That will make it three countries that Tran has represented in his career, having skated for a number of years for Japan with a previous partner. Castelli said she was initially nervous about all the paperwork involved in changing a skater's home country, but this ain't Tran's first rodeo...I'm guessing he is no stranger to such bureaucracy!

Can't wait to see them together on the ice.

Charlie White and Tanith Belbin Are Engaged

It's official, both of these extremely attractive ice dancing champions are off the market. 

Congratulations to them both and I hope they make dozens of beautiful and ridiculously talented ice dancing babies!

Koreans Protest Outside ISU Congress

Well, right now the only news to come out of the ongoing ISU Congress in Dublin is that two Korean women are protesting outside the Dublin Convention Center.

They're still upset from the ISU's very recent dismissal of the South Korean Skating Union's complaints about the results of the ladies event in Sochi.

My favorite comment from the trolls on this article:

They would’ve had more support if they protested to re-instate Chad Michael Michaels into the world of male singles figure skating!

I can't exactly outright deny that...

Davis & White Taking Time Off

Can't say that was a surprise! But it is official, Meryl and Charlie are sitting out the upcoming season.

I wouldn't be surprised if they decided to retire soon. They have won everything there is to win (more than once in many cases), and they're essentially unbeatable.

Not that I want them to stop skating,  but there is more to life than skating, and I'm sure they want to get to trying other things.

We'll be seeing them in shows, so they're not leaving the ice for good.

Fashion Friday

Saw this article in the Daily News when I was surfing for some Fashion Friday fodder. It's a well-done slideshow of figure skating fashion through the years, starting with the 1920s.

However the accompanying text of the first slide gives me a little pause:

We can only imagine how hard it is to perform a triple axel in a full-length wool skirt and sweater.

Now, not that I take much of what the Daily News ever does seriously (I spent years in New York being assaulted by their sensationalist headlines on every street corner), but this struck me as egregiously uninformed. There are a few very good reasons that skaters dressed the way they did in the 1920s (and before).

Where do I start? Well, for one thing, no one did triple axels back then. It wasn't until 1978 that a guy did one in competition (Canadian Vern Taylor), and 1988 when a lady finally did (Midori Ito). Skaters in the 1920s were barely doing single axels anyway.

Secondly, there was no such thing as an indoor ice rink. There were no space heaters. Skaters skated outside. In the COLD. Wool and layers were lifesavers.

Which brings me to an auxiliary point, which is that in the 20s, (now-defunct) figures were still the dominating discipline in the sport, not it's flashier sister discipline, freeskating. Not exactly a cardiovascular system-stimulating endeavor. And since fashion tends to fit function first in skating, big wool sweaters and long skirts/pants were ideal for keeping warm while skating. So to avoid shivering that would ruin the precision of figures, heavy outwear was key.

And thirdly, it was a more modest era. Sonja Henie was the first skater to dare to raise her skirts on ice in the 30s.

There have been many times during cold, Northeast winters when I've worn some major, mismatched and bulky layers on the ice, fashion be darned!

New Figure Skating School in Armenia

Along the lines of my post last week about skating in unlikely places, a new $5 million skating school is opening up in Yerevan (that's the capital of Armenia). And two-time Olympic Champ Irina Rodnina was involved, so it certainly has auspicious beginnings.

Hope it takes off!

ISU Dismisses Korean Skating Union Complaints over Sochi Results

So I guess it's official now, the ISU will not entertain any suggestion that the ladies competition in Sochi was rigged. They've rejected all the official complaints from the Korean Skating Union over the results.

The ISU essentially said one complaint was without merit and the other was filed too late after the competition.

The Russian judge at the center of the alleged controversy offered a statement of her behavior - she was seen hugging and congratulating gold medalist Adelina Sotnikova before the awards ceremony - saying  (as per the NBCSports article I read):

“After the end of the Event I walked in the arena and had to stop at the mixed zone because the flower ceremony was going to start and the hall way was blocked by TV crews, ceremony stuff, skaters, and a lot of other people. Adelina Sotnikova was there. She was very excited and she was hugging everybody around whom she knew. This can be seen on the mentioned YouTube piece- that she ran to several people whom she knew. But this YouTube piece shows only 3-4 persons. In reality there were much more. For example, she was whipping of happiness on the shoulder of the Russian Assistant Team 5 leader for more than a minute before she approached me and this episode was shown a lot on TV including the closing ceremony video but was not shown on the mentioned YouTube piece. And as I said the skater was so excited that she was running to everybody whom she knew. She also approached me and embraced me. Of course, I congratulated her with her performance.” 

If you ask me, the judge shouldn't even have been down there, let alone let the girl hug her (though seriously, that doesn't look like a reluctant hug to me). Judges and skaters should not be mingling anywhere. Whether or not there was some rigging, the situation destroys the credibility of the sport.

#tbt Throwback Thursday

It has been 30 years since British ice dancers Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean won Olympic Gold in Sarajevo. Their thrilling Bolero remains one of the most iconic routines in skating history. I can watch it over and over again, and get goosebumps each time without fail.

Surfing my FB feed today, a skating friend posted this short film "Mass Bolero," a tribute to the Olympic gold medalists by the people of the city of Nottingham, where they're from. People from all walks of life in Nottingham joined in, with a step-for-step recreation of Bolero (on land). I'm fairly certain the entire town participated. I'm also pretty sure one of the scenes was shot at Hogwarts. Behold the amazingness:

Did you see the Torvill and Dean cameo? And since it's Throwback Thursday, here is the video from the original Bolero in 1984, that earned them a history-making 12 6.0s (across the board for presentation). Phenomenal doesn't even begin to describe it. We truly have yet to see its equal in figure skating since then.

A new fun fact I just picked up about this routine...Torvill and Dean were told that the 17-minute-long Bolero could only be cut down so much, so the music was about 18 seconds longer than Olympic regulation. But they totally ripped the system, not placing their skates on the ice for the first 18 seconds (only when blades hit the ice did the judges start the official count back then). Genius! 

Wednesday Recap

Well, there really isn't much to report about last night's practice, because it didn't actually happen. I drove to the rink all set to enjoy the confidence buzz that always follows a successful performance, only to find it shuttered and locked up tight. Don't know why, but I suspect the weather (flash floods all over the region) or a refrigeration malfunction complemented by gross humidity. The rink website said practice was on as usual, but I suspect they don't update their website much, if at all.

Alas, my first practice post-show will have to wait. In the meantime, I can dwell on some of the things about my skating that I noticed need work, based on the video of my performance. Here they are, in no particular order:

1. Make movements bigger.
Much like stage acting (in contrast to film acting), projection is important on ice. Big, purposeful movements are essential, so that every last person in the stands (and more importantly, the judges) gets what you're trying to do. Otherwise, your performance looks flat, slow and uninspired. Not that I think my performance this weekend was all that bad, but I can definitely see parts of my presentation that can be "bigger." Longer extensions, bigger arms, bigger smiles!

2. Skate faster.
One of the comments my husband made about my performance (in addition to a slew of accolades, of course, honey!) was that it seemed like I was skating slower than usual. I don't think I was, but I can see how it might appear that way. It relates to my previous point about making movements bigger. When you're all alone out there on the ice and you're not projecting enough, your speed doesn't translate well. Even the best skaters in world competitions seem to be skating slower, and cameras tend to two-dimensionalize, which makes it worse. That said, everyone's skating can always benefit from a little more speed.

3. Jump higher.
While it feels like I'm jumping high, I'm not really jumping that high. If I want to start nailing triples again, I gotta seek more altitude. Supplemental strength training helps a lot with this, but sadly I'm low on free time. Gotta improvise...maybe I'll strap the baby to my back instead of pushing her in the stroller as I go about my daily business...

4. Spin longer.
Spins always feel way more spinny than they look. Like what feels like eight revolutions is only actually two. Gotta work on increasing revolutions and refining position. And need to seriously work on my flexibility.

Got my work cut out for me. Gonna be a busy summer on the ice!

Unrest Leading Up to ISU Annual Congress

I read a sobering piece in the Trib this morning (from yesterday) that asserts the sport of figure skating is at an all time low, and that it's all ISU President Ottavio Cinquanta's fault.

To quote the article:

Never has that sport’s appeal been weaker – in terms of ongoing talent and appeal – in North America than it is now. Figure skating also is all but dead in most of Europe and, with the retirement of Yuna Kim, likely to become insignificant again in South Korea, from which the ISU recently has been getting some $2 million a year in rights fees.

A grim scenario for the sport, which in the early 1990s was at an all-time high in both interest and talent. Cinquanta took over the ISU in 1994, and network interest went from $22.5 million then to zilch today. Want to watch figure skating these days? Pay to watch on icenetwork.com. Ask a layperson who is at the top of the sport right now, and they'll have no idea (well maybe with the exception of Meryl Davis, but that's thanks to DWTS, not thanks to the popularity of figure skating).

I don't claim to know enough about ISU politics or the precise details of what the organization has done with regard to its governance of figure skating in the last 20 years to make any sort of comments on its leadership. So I'll refrain from bashing Cinquanta, the former speed skater who is up for re-election in 2016.

But I do know that there is a palpable dissatisfaction in and around the figure skating world. I'm not talking just about endorsement deals or network interest. I'm talking about skaters and coaches becoming disenchanted with the competitive system, and the proliferation of rigid technical requirements that have basically squashed the life out of the sport. Something has to change...

That's why I'm going to pay particular attention to any news that comes out of the upcoming annual ISU congress in Dublin, which starts June 9. To make things even more interesting, there's a change.org petition circulating that calls for Cinquanta's resignation, and there are lingering questions about the results of the ladies competition in Sochi hanging over the ISU's head.

I'll post updates as I get wind of them!

Big Dreams for Big Rinks

As I've said a few times before, I grew up skating in a region where there were no less than five skating rinks within a 20 mile radius. I never actually did the measurements, but I may even be underestimating that figure. Finding ice time to train was never a problem.

Rinks are abundant in the United States, especially the Northeast. And apparently, they are about to get a lot more abundant, with green-light announcements left and right for the construction of multiple-rink mega-facilities like this proposed four-rink complex in Tampa, Florida.

And every skater in NYC is buzzing about the Kingsbridge National Ice Center, a privately funded ~750,000 square-foot complex which will have, count them, NINE rinks.

Funnily enough, even with an abundance the rinks and ice time up here, we usually still have to fight with hockey leagues for ice time. Imagine how much easier it would be to not have to do that when you have nine freaking rinks to choose from?

At the same time, does the world really need a nine-rink facility? Is it really the best use of space, especially in the Bronx? I don't know the answer to this, and I have no alternate suggestions. And I sincerely hope it serves the community well--it certainly looks like it will. I just know that rinks need a lot of upkeep to stay in good, safe condition for figure skaters.

The Big Show

Well, I skated in the show last night. And all I can say is...

NAILED IT.


It's not going to win an Olympic gold medal, but I stayed on my feet and enjoyed every second. So, nailed it. The music, in case you're wondering, is Shirley Bassey's version of "Big Spender." My synchro team skated to it two seasons ago when I was red-shirted w/ pregnancy. I was so bummed I didn't get to skate to it then, I made it my routine this time around.

I was super nervous going in, because it has been about 8 years since I performed solo on the ice in front of people. So nervous beforehand in fact, that when I was getting ready, I forgot I had a huge glob of of ivory foundation in my hand and slicked back my hair. So I had a big, chunky blond highlight in the back of my head. Not ideal, but at least it didn't get on my outfit.

Also, so nervous that I forgot to warm up my death drop and it ended up looking more like I was doing the dying giraffe during the routine. Maybe that should be my signature move?

But whatever it was I got it out of my system before the performance. It was a big boost that my family was in the crowd, and my little lady was sitting quietly watching (sitting still is not her thing right now). That and my coach was wearing a giant lady fat suit from performing in the group number that went before me. I told him he has to wear the fat suit every time I perform from now on...it really helped, seriously. I'll go into the role of sports psychology in figure skating in another post...One could write a novel about it.

What's next? A summer of practicing and perhaps another show in the fall!