Vanessa James & Morgan Cipres

[aftershocks]

I didn’t realize that Vanessa James has skated for 3 different countries and she could have skated for 2 more as well. She was born in Canada. Her father is from Bermuda and she lived there as a youngster before her family moved to the U.S. (Virginia) where she trained and competed in singles. Her father’s Bermudan background enabled Vanessa to hold British citizenship and compete for Britain. She’s the 2006 British National Champion and the 2007 British silver medalist in ladies singles.

Vanessa later switched to pairs and tried out with a British skater before moving to France to team up with Yannick Bonheur. James and Bonheur began their partnership in 2008 and were fairly successful winning the French National pairs championship in 2009-2010. They placed 7th at 2010 Europeans, 12th at 2010 Worlds, and 14th at 2010 Olympics. After that season, James and Bonheur ended their partnership and Vanessa began training with a new French partner (Maximin Coia) in May 2010 – they had plans to compete for France and train in Germany with Ingo Steuer, but Coia suddenly decided to end his amateur career. Apparently determined to continue skating, Vanessa found yet a new partner, Morgan Cipres. She began training with Cipres in September 2010.

James & Cipres were 2nd at 2011-2012 French Nationals. They placed 6th at Europeans ahead of their French teammates, and 15th at Worlds in Nice (Wiki source is inaccurate -- J/C placed 16th after fp, and were in 13th after the sp). I thought they competed well at their first Worlds together, especially since this is their first full season competing as partners.

James with former partner, Bonheur 2009 Worlds:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Stb_540Jjp4&feature=related

James/Cipres 2011 TEB fp
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1wa5k0Ih68&feature=fvsr

James/ Cipres 2011 TEB sp
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7IV5wrXEQw

James/ Cipres 2012 Worlds fp
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILq1mUyz3QU

[PashaFan]

Did not get to see them at the Worlds this year (BAD EUROSPORT COVERAGE !).
But I'm a real fan of them. She is an amazing talent.
I hope they stay together & find good form in the future.
Her Olympic free skate in 2010 with her former partner was a real highlight for me.

[briancoogaert]

They really need to work on lift.
I think they are both amazing skaters : Morgan and Vanessa are good single skaters.
They look good together. I hope they'll continue.

[aftershocks]

Yes, I agree, James & Cipres need to improve takeoff, strength and security on their lifts and improve their spins, speed and unison. Otherwise, they are very strong skaters with good lines and good jumping ability. I think they were a bit short-changed in the marks at Worlds for the sp (particularly since they were skating in their home country). Also, they could have received a few more points for what they did well in the fp. The home crowd didn't even seem to help them out much when they made a couple of costly mistakes in the fp with a mis-timed throw and a flubbed takedown on a lift.

Vanessa seems to be pretty consistent on the landings of throw jumps but she and Morgan need to adjust more to each other, particularly since Morgan hasn't skated pairs before. Also they will need to develop a throw 3-twist, since they currently are doing a throw 2-twist. Vanessa used to perform a throw 3-twist with her former partner, Bonheur. Vanessa's current situation with Morgan reminds me somewhat of Jessica Dube & Sebastien Wolfe (as like Vanessa, Jessica has more experience as a pairs skater, and is a little older than her partner).

Surely if Vanessa and Morgan hadn't made the costly errors in Nice, they should have at least maintained the 13th place they achieved in the sp. I definitely think J/C can be a better pair than at least 3 of the teams that moved ahead of them after the fp. More work together, more interesting music and choreo will be beneficial.

[Pratfall]

They did some work with Richard Gauthier last summer , and wonder if they will do the same this year ?:)