British Skating News, 2022 and beyond

[Belsornia]

...hoping for tech minimums, UK passports and international medals!

Starting a new thread as the new season kicked off this week with the solo dance championships in (where else?) Sheffield. The new national champions:

Senior Women: Amy World (Gosport)
Senior Men: Alessio Surenkov-Gultchev (Basingstoke)
Junior Women: Alena Pang (Sheffield) She outscored all the senior dancers too!
Junior Men: Daniel Kaye (Nottingham)

Full results

I'm glad to see Alana Pang competing in dance. She was such a highlight of the British last season but has an odd jump technique which looks painful and like she'll have a hard time getting triples, so I wondered if she was considering dance. Here's a clip of her FD from a recent simulation - I guess she really likes Tango de Roxanne, since she used it in singles too.

Other British skating news from the last few weeks:

• There's going to be a new Senior B, the Britannia Cup, in Sheffied (of course), 27-28 August - and, if rumour is correct, a GP (!!!!) in the Cup of China slot. Anyone planning to go to either/both? The Tayside Trophy is back in Dundee, 15-16 October.
• BIS published the qualification criteria for the British Championships. For pairs and dance the criteria is existing (and skating at a qualifier / being on the performance squad). Looks like it's back to just Advanced Novice to Senior at the main event this season.
• Picking up on the discussion in the previous thread, Natasha McKay and Nina Povey are both continuing. Natasha was recently in Austria getting choreo from Mark Pillay - her new LP is Burlesque (not my favourite, but I think it's a better fit for her than most who have skated to it). Nina got a training grant from the Sheffield City Trust (as did Billy Wilson French).
• On the subject of BWF, he and Kat DelCamp are currently training in Canada with Carol Lane's group. Not sure if it's a summer camp thing or something longer term, but I'm guessing the former due to Kat's citizenship.
• Billy's former partner, Lucy Hancock is no longer a British skater: she's now skating for Hungary with Ilias Fourati, and training in the US. Though I think she might have got her release before - she was with a German partner for a while, but they never competed.
• Torvill and Dean were part of the Platinum Jubilee celebrations, riding on a bus with other '80s "national treasures". Junior ice dancer Atl Ongay-Perez was also in the pageant, playing the trumpet.

OK, I think that's it.

 

[miffy]

Thank you for all the news!

I don’t think I can make it to the Senior B, but if the GP happens I would definitely try to get away for that!

 

[Belsornia]

I don’t think I can make it to the Senior B, but if the GP happens I would definitely try to get away for that!

See you in Sheffield/Nottingham/wherever there's an arena which isn't in use the weekend of 11-13 November!

 

[morqet]

OK, so now that there's 2 spots for Euros and Worlds AND a GP host pick, I really hope Billy & Kat are thinking about skating as seniors.

 

[Karen-W]

OK, so now that there's 2 spots for Euros and Worlds AND a GP host pick, I really hope Billy & Kat are thinking about skating as seniors.

I know there's only 1 men's spot for Euros and Worlds, but with those GP host spots, I'm hoping the same for Edward Appleby. He's already close to being competitive with Newberry, so it wouldn't be too much of a stretch to think he could win Nationals.

All these skaters must be so excited at the prospect of a home GP!

 

[Sylvia]

Anastasia Vaipan-Law shared her & Luke Digby's clip yesterday: https://www.instagram.com/reel/CfzXTdgM2VH/

Excited for the new season with our brand new short program “Never tear us apart” choreographed by Mark Pillay. We had the best time in Austria creating this program, can’t wait for you all to see it

 

[Belsornia]

OK, so now that there's 2 spots for Euros and Worlds AND a GP host pick, I really hope Billy & Kat are thinking about skating as seniors.

Or Bekker/Hernandez, who are a more experienced team.

I'm excited about Kat and Billy's potential but I want to manage expectations, at least until we've seen them skate together. I've been assuming at a minimum they'll be at a level to be competing with B/H, since the move to the UK is a big investment and personal upheaval for Kat and her family if they weren't confident of getting GB assignments - but really, who knows?

 

[Belsornia]

My favourite British juniors are now my favourite Brasilian dance team: Natalia Pallu-Neves and Jayin Panesar have made a country switch.

Not really a surprise and I think probably the right move for them, though I am sorry to lose them from Team GB. Hope the year away from competition works a miracle on Jayin's twizzles!

 

[azcalder]

...hoping for tech minimums, UK passports and international medals!

Starting a new thread as the new season kicked off this week with the solo dance championships in (where else?) Sheffield. The new national champions:

Senior Women: Amy World (Gosport)
Senior Men: Alessio Surenkov-Gultchev (Basingstoke)
Junior Women: Alena Pang (Sheffield) She outscored all the senior dancers too!
Junior Men: Daniel Kaye (Nottingham)

Full results

I'm glad to see Alana Pang competing in dance. She was such a highlight of the British last season but has an odd jump technique which looks painful and like she'll have a hard time getting triples, so I wondered if she was considering dance. Here's a clip of her FD from a recent simulation - I guess she really likes Tango de Roxanne, since she used it in singles too.

Other British skating news from the last few weeks:

• There's going to be a new Senior B, the Britannia Cup, in Sheffied (of course), 27-28 August - and, if rumour is correct, a GP (!!!!) in the Cup of China slot. Anyone planning to go to either/both? The Tayside Trophy is back in Dundee, 15-16 October.
• BIS published the qualification criteria for the British Championships. For pairs and dance the criteria is existing (and skating at a qualifier / being on the performance squad). Looks like it's back to just Advanced Novice to Senior at the main event this season.
• Picking up on the discussion in the previous thread, Natasha McKay and Nina Povey are both continuing. Natasha was recently in Austria getting choreo from Mark Pillay - her new LP is Burlesque (not my favourite, but I think it's a better fit for her than most who have skated to it). Nina got a training grant from the Sheffield City Trust (as did Billy Wilson French).
• On the subject of BWF, he and Kat DelCamp are currently training in Canada with Carol Lane's group. Not sure if it's a summer camp thing or something longer term, but I'm guessing the former due to Kat's citizenship.
• Billy's former partner, Lucy Hancock is no longer a British skater: she's now skating for Hungary with Ilias Fourati, and training in the US. Though I think she might have got her release before - she was with a German partner for a while, but they never competed.
• Torvill and Dean were part of the Platinum Jubilee celebrations, riding on a bus with other '80s "national treasures". Junior ice dancer Atl Ongay-Perez was also in the pageant, playing the trumpet.

OK, I think that's it.

It may be a camp. Emily Phillips & Luke Anderson (UK team who competed at the Dallas Classic) told me they were heading to Canada to work with Carol Lane for two weeks.

 

[Sylvia]

Other British skating news from the last few weeks:

• On the subject of BWF, he and Kat DelCamp are currently training in Canada with Carol Lane's group. Not sure if it's a summer camp thing or something longer term, but I'm guessing the former due to Kat's citizenship.

Re-posting @victorskid's link here from the Canadian Ice Dance news thread: https://twitter.com/cjlanecoach/status/1548726304228384774
Carol Lane tweeted 4 photos on July 17 along with this message: "I.D.E. Summer! A warm welcome to new members Katarina Del Camp & Billy Wilson-French, who will be representing the UK,& Emily Phillips & Luke Anderson, joining us for 10 days. Enjoyed Dress Like Piper Day, two Performance Days,& everyone surviving cardio sessions. GO I.D.E!"

ETA:

Kat and Billy training clip posted on July 9: https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cfy8-Idq5zI/

Ice-Dance.com's Dallas Classic report is linked in ther U.S. Dance news thread: https://www.fsuniverse.net/forum/th...ason-news-updates.108446/page-28#post-6275895

Excerpt re. GBR's Junior team:

Emily Phillips & Luke Anderson represent the National Ice Skating Association of UK. They were in Texas working with Pierre Panayi, who coached Emily’s mother when she skated as Lucine Chakmajian for Great Britain. After the Dallas Classic, the team headed north to Scarborough, Ontario Canada for a two week session with Carol Lane before heading back to Cardiff, Wales to train with her parents, Lucine and David Phillips.

4 RD photos, starting here: https://photos2.ice-dance.com/2022-23/22DC/Junior/RD/22DC-JrRD-6629.JPG
5 FD photos, starting here: https://photos2.ice-dance.com/2022-23/22DC/Junior/FD/22DC-JrFD-4259.JPG

 

[Belsornia]

GP skater Grand Prix assignments:

Skate Canada: Lilah Fear / Lewis Gibson
MK John Wilson Trophy GP Sheffield : Natasha McKay, Graham Newberry, Anastasia Vaipan-Law / Luke Digby, Lilah Fear / Lewis Gibson, TBD - Men (presumably Ed Appleby)


I wasn't expecting BIS to use all the host spots but I'm a bit disappointed how many were returned - and annoyed on Kristen Spours behalf. As the only British woman who has the new tech minimums for Worlds I think she should have got a spot outright, but not even a TBD for her and Nina Povey.

Pairs - Smart/Mattick are still developing as a pair but the whole discipline is in a rebuilding phase so I don't think they're massively worse than some of the other teams on the GP this year - worth a TBD conditional at showing progress at a couple of early season events, I'd have thought, especially with the second spot at Worlds. I really like them and want to see them do well and get to big events, so I could be biased!

Dance - sad to only have one entry given the British tradition in the discipline, but there's no indication Sasha Fear has a new partner yet and if the promising juniors weren't tempted to move up early there weren't really other options. Unfortunately the other senior teams would be massively out of their depth at a GP, and likewise the non Newberry/Appleby senior men.

 

[miffy]

I was a bit surprised too how many host spots were not used. I guess they might have given Karly a spot, and maybe PJ, and of course Zoe and Chris, if they hadn’t all retired this year - talk about bad timing!

ETA: so excited for the skaters that did get assigned, especially those making their GP debut!

 

[litenkyckling]

It may be a camp. Emily Phillips & Luke Anderson (UK team who competed at the Dallas Classic) told me they were heading to Canada to work with Carol Lane for two weeks.

Is this the same Emily that used to skate with Jayin?

 

[Belsornia]

I was a bit surprised too how many host spots were not used. I guess they might have given Karly a spot, and maybe PJ, and of course Zoe and Chris, if they hadn’t all retired this year - talk about bad timing!

I was half expecting Zoe to drag Chris back for one last last hurrah.

ETA: so excited for the skaters that did get assigned, especially those making their GP debut!

Very exciting for British skating, British skating fans and the skaters who are getting to compete!

Is this the same Emily that used to skate with Jayin?

Yes, British Advance Novice Champions four seasons ago. It looks like it's quite competitive for the JGP assignments this year so hopefully the teams who don't get one will have a chance at a junior B.

More good news for British skating (figure and speed)

https://twitter.com/x/status/1551555608746369024

 

[Sylvia]

Saw this IFS article on Mark Hanretty linked on the HanrettySkateCamps IG profile page: https://ifsmagazine.com/mark-hanretty-the-man-behind-the-mic/

 

[Orm Irian]

The YouTube algorithm just led me to this: Graham Newberry's new SP, filmed by The Ice Capture.

I like it!

 

[Gris]

Billy Wilson French - Ice Partner Search

Billy Wilson French hasn't updated his/her biography in at least 6 months, so his/her biography will not be displayed.

icepartnersearch.com

Billy Wilson-French is on IPS now (bio last updated on Aug. 6) so I wonder if he and DelCamp are still skating together.

 

[miffy]

Billy Wilson French - Ice Partner Search

Billy Wilson French hasn't updated his/her biography in at least 6 months, so his/her biography will not be displayed.

icepartnersearch.com

Billy Wilson-French is on IPS now (bio last updated on Aug. 6) so I wonder if he and DelCamp are still skating together.

That’s so disappointing There’s nothing on their Instagram.

I was looking forward to seeing how they did against Phebe and James, and obviously there are 2 spots for Junior Worlds thanks to them. I had thought Junior Dance could be the most competitive event at Nationals this year. I’m still looking forward to it though, it will be interesting to see how Ash & Atl do in Juniors.

 

[litenkyckling]

That’s so disappointing There’s nothing on their Instagram.

I was looking forward to seeing how they did against Phebe and James, and obviously there are 2 spots for Junior Worlds thanks to them. I had thought Junior Dance could be the most competitive event at Nationals this year. I’m still looking forward to it though, it will be interesting to see how Ash & Atl do in Juniors.

I'd love to see them get a shot at junior worlds straight away - with them being so young they have time to build a really solid reputation in juniors.

 

[Belsornia]

That's disappointing news. I was excited about their potential as a team - and they had got a lot of hype for a team who had never competed so I don't think I was the only one. Interesting that Billy now lists Carol Lane as his coach.

Unless there are any new teams we don't know about yet, it looks like the second spot at junior worlds will be between Slatter/Ongay-Perez and Bushell/Lapsky. I thought that (excepting the pattern) B/L were reasonably solid technically last season, especially given it was his first year in dance, so I'm looking forward to seeing if they've maintained that trajectory at the JGP in a couple of weeks - hope they have better packaging this year though. And S/O-P are already listed as reserves, so they should get at least one and probably two JGPs now DelCamp/Wilson French appear to be done.

 

[Belsornia]

Unsurprisinly, Ed Appleby got the remaining host spot at GP Sheffield.

Not new news, but a round out of the GB JGP assignments so far:

• JGP Courchevel: Connor Bray, Lowenna Prigg, Sophia Bushell / Alex Lapsky
• JGP Czech Skate: Lucy Hay / Kyle McLeod, Phebe Bekker / James Hernandez
• JGP Riga Cup: Connor Bray, Arabella Sear-Watkins, Ashlie Slatter / Atl Ongay-Perez

Three spots for men, one for women, two pairs and three dance teams across the remaining four events. I guess the substitutes lists tell us who they are likely to be.

Entries for next week's Qualifier.

And for the Britannia Cup, running consecutively at IceSheffield - very GB heavy. (Competition thread in the KnC forum)

Two new GB dance teams in the Britannia Cup entry list:

• Molly Hairsine / Alessio Surenkov-Gultchev in juniors. He was 4th in juniors at the British last year with Vasilisa Ahramenka, and I think she is new to partnered dance. A pretty new partnership, I think, since he was competing solo dance in early July.
• Mimi Marler Davies / Joseph Black in advanced novice. They are from London and AFAIK also new to dance.

You gain one, you lose another: Luke Anderson is on IPS, so he and Emily Phillips must have split too. Let's not send any teams to Carol Lane's summer camp next year!

 

[Sylvia]

BIS is accepting volunteer applications for the Grand Prix in Sheffield until Friday 26th August at 5pm:

Volunteer for the ISU Grand Prix - Sheffield 2022

Play a part in one of the biggest figure skating events to ever come to the UK!

www.iceskating.org.uk

ETA:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1559822051585687552

 

[Belsornia]

Smart/Mattick are now being coached by Jones/Boyadji.

Anyone know about Tao MacRae? He was at the Qualifier this week in a special category of Junior Men Visitor so I’m guessing an international skater hoping to switch to the UK but not cleared yet.

 

[Sylvia]

Anyone know about Tao MacRae?

I think I saw a pic of Michal Brezina (coaching in Irvine, CA) with Tao MacRae at the British Qualifier in the Kiss & Cry on social media? MacRae was invited to compete in the Novice Men's event at the U.S. Novice & Junior Challenge Skate in September 2021 (which means he was considered one of the top Novices in the U.S. at the time) - results: https://ijs.usfigureskating.org/leaderboard/results/2021/30181/CAT002SEG004.html

ETA from the 2021-22 U.S. Men's news thread:

Team D envelope ("Placements 1st–2nd in the novice singles sectional rankings in the 2021 U.S. Figure Skating Championship Series"):
...
Tao MacRae [P-1]

Just checked last season's U.S. Championship Series qualifying competition thread and he was 15th in the Novice Men's CS final standings.

 

[Belsornia]

Thanks - I thought you might be the one who knew.

I think I saw a pic of Michal Brezina (coaching in Irvine, CA) with Tao MacRae at the British Qualifier in the Kiss & Cry on social media?

That explains why his club was listed as GPI.

 

[Belsornia]

BIS have released the entry list for the final qualifier. I was worried that Charlotte Hodgkinson and Elliot Appleby had split, so glad to see them listed in junior pairs.

Also, another new junior dance team, Olivia Jenkinson and Alexander Buchholdt. She was second in advanced novice at the British Championships in the 2019-20 season (and passed monitoring for the JGP last year before her previous partner decided to retire). He was third in intermediate novice in 2018-19.

And wheeee for Bekker/Hernandez’s great skate and excellent score in the RD at JGP Ostrava!

 

[Karen-W]

BIS have released the entry list for the final qualifier. I was worried that Charlotte Hodgkinson and Elliot Appleby had split, so glad to see them listed in junior pairs.

It's a bit of a shame that the October qualifier is the same week as the POL2 JGP - it would be nice if they were sent to that, so that all three of the British junior pairs teams received a JGP assignment this year.

 

[litenkyckling]

And wheeee for Bekker/Hernandez’s great skate and excellent score in the RD at JGP Ostrava!

That RD score would’ve had them in 2nd place at JWC22 and in the lead at last weeks JGP. Incredible! They really are so well matched

 

[Belsornia]

That RD score would’ve had them in 2nd place at JWC22 and in the lead at last weeks JGP. Incredible! They really are so well matched

Well, there was more variance in the scoring all round in Ostrava than Courchevel - but a fabulous performance, and still room for improvement as the season progresses!

I was sad when Emily Brown retired, but I agree that James and Phebe are well matched, in a way we don't often get in British ice dance. Phebe is such a talent and I'm impressed by what a strong skater James has become in the last year or so. I think he's really benefited from the extra time in juniors.

 

[miffy]

Well, there was more variance in the scoring all round in Ostrava than Courchevel - but a fabulous performance, and still room for improvement as the season progresses!

I was sad when Emily Brown retired, but I agree that James and Phebe are well matched, in a way we don't often get in British ice dance. Phebe is such a talent and I'm impressed by what a strong skater James has become in the last year or so. I think he's really benefited from the extra time in juniors.

I agree, it’s great to see them doing well on the JGP, and I think for experience and also in terms of reputation they will really benefit from this year. It’s really exciting to see strong British Juniors, I know we had Edward last year and now Phebe and James.

At the same time I’m a little sad about the second spot at Euros and Worlds! I guess there’s always next year, but who knows if other teams might be in the running by then.