Australian & New Zealand figure skating news

[Sylvia]

Just realized that @clairecloutier's Anastasia Golubeva/Hektor Giotopoulos Moore article was never posted in this thread (I will cross-post the link in the Pairs discussion thread later). Claire interviewed them before they won their first Sr. Grand Prix medal -- bronze -- at Skate Canada International in Halifax (Oct. 25, 2024):

Golubeva/Giotopoulos Moore: "We're trying to mature our skating" - A divine sport

Australian pairs skaters Anastasia Golubeva and Hector Giotopolous Moore look to improve their connection on ice in their third year as senior pairs skaters.

adivinesport.com

ETA: They did not have to return to Australia for Nationals; their next competition should be 4CC.

 

[Stephanie]

Really nice article on Dwayne Li from Goldenskate: https://www.goldenskate.com/yanhao-li-sets-high-goals-for-junior-worlds/

 

[Wyliefan]

Romy Malcolm is on Ice Partner Search, so I guess she and Kobi Chant split up.

Romy Malcolm - Ice Partner Search

Female from Burnaby, BC, Canada: My goals are to compete at the highest levels possible.

icepartnersearch.com

 

[LoisAGOEs]

Romy Malcolm is on Ice Partner Search, so I guess she and Kobi Chant split up.

Romy Malcolm - Ice Partner Search

Female from Burnaby, BC, Canada: My goals are to compete at the highest levels possible.

icepartnersearch.com

Kobi Chant has announced his retirement

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[Bunny Hop]

Article on the declining number of ice rinks in Australia. I'm actually surprised there are as many as 20.

 

[leilaofpaper]

Article on the declining number of ice rinks in Australia. I'm actually surprised there are as many as 20.

That article isn’t entirely correct in terms of newest ice rink, I’m in Darwin and our ice rink opened about 7 years ago.

 

[Bunny Hop]

That article isn’t entirely correct in terms of newest ice rink, I’m in Darwin and our ice rink opened about 7 years ago.

And Ice Zoo in Sydney is also pretty recent.

There's a list of ice rinks on Wikipedia and there are indeed 20. I confess I'd forogtten about the rink in Newcastle, didn't know there was one in the Blue Mountains and there are more in Queensland and W.A. than I thought. Mind you, the list also includes Canterbury which is currently closed and I'm sceptical will ever re-open.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ice_rinks_in_Australia

 

[leilaofpaper]

And Ice Zoo in Sydney is also pretty recent.

There's a list of ice rinks on Wikipedia and there are indeed 20. I confess I'd forogtten about the rink in Newcastle, didn't know there was one in the Blue Mountains and there are more in Queensland and W.A. than I thought. Mind you, the list also includes Canterbury which is currently closed and I'm sceptical will ever re-open.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ice_rinks_in_Australia

Ah yes I did go to Ice Zoo last month when I visited Sydney, unfortunately I didn’t like it too much.

 

[Aussie Willy]

Who wrote the article didn't really research it properly. Darwin is not mentioned and as @leilaofpaper said it has now been going quite a while. The Darwin rink is the "Coolest place in town" literally.

Ice HQ is the latest rink in Victoria. It opened about 7 or 8 years ago. And O'Brien Icehouse opened in 2010.

With the Bayswater rink, basically the guy who ran it just suddenly closed it and owed over $100K in rent and electricity. He loaded up the zambonis on a truck and told people who turned up that he was taking to get them serviced.

 

[Bunny Hop]

Well, it did say Tasmania is now the only state without a rink, so that does at least indicate Northern Territory has one (yes, I know a Territory rather than a State, but it and the ACT rink are part of the 20).

I still remember turning up for a group class at Prince Alfred Park rink in Sydney one Sunday morning in 1986 to find it had closed permanently.

 

[Aussie Willy]

We will have a temporary rink for about 5 weeks here in June/July. MyState Arena have brought equipment from the guy who had the rinks in North Queensland. They had a trial a few weeks ago and did a good job of the ice. So our skaters will at least be able to get some training done and won't have to go to Melbourne.

 

[Bunny Hop]

That's great news! I haven't seen an update on the Hobart rink situation for some time so was wondering if there had been progress. A temporary rink is at least something.

 

[Bunny Hop]

Well, I admit I wasn't sure it was going to happen, but we might be getting a replacement ice rink in NSW - Canterbury Ice Rink Future