Zawadzki Makes Coaching Change

[Aceon6]

I hope Agnes is happy, wherever she is. Seems to me that the best outcomes arise when happy skaters are with competent coaches.

[arakwafan2006]

I have to say that i am not always on the you should change coaches bandwagon. This case though may be a wise decision. One thing for sure is that i like Agnes. She is a terrific performer! Her interpretation of the music;she gets it. She seems like she completely understands that it’s completely necessary to interpret the music and execute the elements. She picks great music and has a lot of power in the jumps. I like that she is not the stereotypical elegance but more of a sporty elegance. Packaged correctly and she will be tough to beat. Cant wait to see…

[AliasJohnDoe]

And a for Patrick Chan, um, just because he is swoon-worthy and tangentially somewhat relevant to this thread

Only the "Kween" is worthy of a mention in every thread!!!

But Chan's allowed in every other thread.

Relevent or not.

[manleywoman]

David Santee was the interview subject of a manleywoman skatecast a few years ago: http://www.manleywoman.com/episode-10-david-santee/

Thanks Sylvia.

As someone who skates at the Oakton Ice Arena pretty regularly (or used to until I became massively pregnant) I have a lot of familiarity with Santee's coaching style. He is VERY laid back in approach, and very much keeps it positive (as does his brother Jimmie). And he is all about fostering community within his rink, and he doesn't put up with bad behavior on the ice. He's well-loved by his students and beyond for good reason, and frankly i was always puzzled too why Agnes left in the first place considering that when I spoke with her a few months back she was saying how much she missed being in Chicago with her old friends and coach.

Now having said that . . . and remember I'm a huge fan of Santee and the Oakton rink on many levels . . . I'll be interested to see how this works out. Oakton doesn't produce a lot of Regional/Sectional/National competitors regularly, because while I think the coaching is high quality and strong, it's consistently just a hair shy of spectacular. Which is not to say that it couldn't evolve: keep in mind it's where Santee himself trained, and he certainly didn't do too badly in his amatuer days. It's also one of the two rinks where Oleg Vassiliev would being his students when in Chicago, and the staff of coaches there are all very very dedicated to their students and are always working to make themselves better coaches.

(I wish they played better music during the sessions though. )

[Iceman]

Not that Agnes' fate will be that of other skaters who left Tom, but I can't think of one skater who has who improved their competitive record . Look at Abbott, a steady decline till he didn't even make the world team this year. Also if Santee coached her for seven years and Tom only three seasons, isn't Santee at least partially responsible for a significant percentage of the shortcomings of her skating?

[Jenna]

YES.

[The Fly On The Wall]

Another one bites the dust...

I'm super-happy Agnes is getting from under him. Geez, who does Tom Z. have left? Farris is gone, Rachael is gone, Agnes is gone, Alexe is gone...who's left?

Brain fart...where did Alexe go?

[OrioleBeagle]

Brain fart...where did Alexe go?

Yuka Sato and Jason Dunjeon near Detroit.

[madm]

Brain fart...where did Alexe go?

Alexe is in Detroit working with Yuko and Jason.

[Jenna]

Alexe is in Detroit working with Yuko and Jason.

Alexe is a talented girl. If she could ever get back into this condition, she could be a force. Hopefully Sato and Dungjen can take her there.

[tlk]

[RD]

Alexe is a talented girl. If she could ever get back into this condition, she could be a force. Hopefully Sato and Dungjen can take her there.

Man, I've basically given up on Gilles at this point. She's had so many chances. It just doesn't seem to be in the cards.

[museksk8r]

Not that Agnes' fate will be that of other skaters who left Tom, but I can't think of one skater who has who improved their competitive record . Look at Abbott, a steady decline till he didn't even make the world team this year.

Uh, your theory doesn't make sense to me. Abbott achieved arguably the best skates of his entire career under the tutelage of Sato and Dungjen at the 2010 US Nationals. He also achieved his best Worlds result, 5th, under Yuka and Jason. He was 11th at Worlds twice under Tom. Tom lead him to 1 Grand Prix victory (2008 Cup of China) as did Yuka and Jason (2009 Skate Canada). Both camps lead him to a senior National title; again, the most memorable being with Yuka and Jason. Are you making your conclusion based on the fact that Abbott had his international career highlight victory under Tom's wing (at the 2008-2009 Grand Prix Final)? That was ONE competition. I've only seen improvement in Jeremy since he joined forces with Yuka and Jason. So he had (for him) a disappointing season in the last year largely due to boot problems; it doesn't have to be the end of the world for his skating career.

[jjane45]

I went to Oakton Ice Arena's website hoping to find out more about the group classes Santee teaches. There is a story about Santee's dedication and expertise, generally a nice read except on the first page it had: "...His student glides back to the boards conspicuously, wondering about what this man is going to tell her about the single axel she just executed. The sarcastic yet distinguished man interjects "Hey sausage, good job! You really made it to the target that time. Let's move on to a single salchow." As he utters this instruction to progress further, the football whizzes from his hand in a perfect spiral toward his student. She catches it, accompanied with a touch down celebration dance, and bounds back to the center of the ice to continue her lesson..." Um?

[centerpt1]

Uh, your theory doesn't make sense to me. Abbott achieved arguably the best skates of his entire career under the tutelage of Sato and Dungjen at the 2010 US Nationals. .

Totally agree, 2010 Nationals was his best.

(Not to mention his show skating has improved even more dramatically under Y & J. )

2010-2011 was not a great season for him, but he still medaled at all his international events.

Maybe he's just nearing the end of his career...or not. I guess we'll see.

Happy Agnes has left Tom. Just wish she'd been one of the girls going to Y & J- I think she has more potential than Alexe and Becky. Though I do wish Alexe and Becky well.

[Indra486]

Pleasantly surprised. To think a while ago, I was wondering how Tom Z was able to maintain his students' loyalty, especially when skaters, like Alexe (before she left) , were rapidly declining in ranks.

[stjeaskategym]

Uh, your theory doesn't make sense to me. Abbott achieved arguably the best skates of his entire career under the tutelage of Sato and Dungjen at the 2010 US Nationals. He also achieved his best Worlds result, 5th, under Yuka and Jason. He was 11th at Worlds twice under Tom. Tom lead him to 1 Grand Prix victory (2008 Cup of China) as did Yuka and Jason (2009 Skate Canada). Both camps lead him to a senior National title; again, the most memorable being with Yuka and Jason. Are you making your conclusion based on the fact that Abbott had his international career highlight victory under Tom's wing (at the 2008-2009 Grand Prix Final)? That was ONE competition. I've only seen improvement in Jeremy since he joined forces with Yuka and Jason. So he had (for him) a disappointing season in the last year largely due to boot problems; it doesn't have to be the end of the world for his skating career.

I agree, Jeremy has been doing more than fine, and even if his results hadn't been good, that doesn't mean he definitely would have fared better had he stayed with Tom. Jeremy has been happy with Yuka and Jason, and that's all that really matters. I think sometimes fans expect these coaches to be miracle workers and blame/credit them for too much sometimes.

[victoriaheidi]

Happy Agnes has left Tom. Just wish she'd been one of the girls going to Y & J- I think she has more potential than Alexe and Becky. Though I do wish Alexe and Becky well.

Look, I like Y/J and I think they've done a great job with Alissa. But why must everyone act as though they are miracle workers? She's only been back "on" for one season.

[Coco]

Pardon the dumb question, but will she be training @ the same rink as before? Won't that be awkward?

[The Fly On The Wall]

Pardon the dumb question, but will she be training @ the same rink as before? Won't that be awkward?

Not a dumb question in my eyes...I wondered the same thing.