British Skating News, 2022 and beyond

I’m really pleased about Alex Lapsky - I always thought he’d be a good pair skater and was a little disappointed he went for dance! I remember him having a solid 2a and I think 3s (or he was at least attempting them) in singles.

And yay for new baby pairs!
 
Gris said:

Sophia Bushell - Ice Partner Search

Sophia Bushell hasn't updated his/her biography in at least 6 months, so his/her biography will not be displayed.
www.icepartnersearch.com www.icepartnersearch.com

Sophia Bushell is on IPS (bio updated today).
Click to expand...
Wow. That explains why they were removed from JGP Osaka on the 7th. I'm guessing that Molly & Alessio will now pick up the JGP Yerevan spot that had been assigned to Bushell/Haddad when the initial assignments came out this week.
 
Gris said:
Sophia Bushell is on IPS (bio updated today).
Click to expand...
Oh, that's a bummer, especially for Sophia. They had some errors in both their competitions but that's pretty typical for new junior teams and I thought they had a decent foundation when I saw them in Sheffield a couple of weeks ago.

This is her last season of junior eligibility so unless she can find someone who's ready to compete very quickly they'll be debuting as seniors and I think that transition will much much harder for her than it would have with a good season of junior competitions under her belt.
 
At the August Qualifier in Sheffield, Sarah Knight "was able to catch up with ice dancers Lilah Fear/Lewis Gibson, Phebe Bekker/James Hernandez, and new team Layla Karnes/Liam Carr, to talk about their programs for the 23/24 seasons." (published on Sept. 17, 2023)
anythinggoe.com

Talking the 2023/24 Season with: Fear/Gibson, Bekker/Hernandez, and Karnes/Carr

The annual Sheffield based event 'August Qualifiers' not only serves as a chance to qualify for British Nationals in December, but for many skaters, it's where they debut new programs for the upcoming season. The event took place from August 22nd-25th, with skaters from Basic Novice all the way...
anythinggoe.com
 
Oh, that's disappointing. :( I thought they had improved a lot since last season and they had a solid outing at the JGP last week. At least it sounds like the split was amicable, even if it's a surprise to us. (Neamh's IG post)

I'm wondering who might be a potential new partner for her. Perhaps Elliott Appleby, though I don't know if he's still interested in competing pairs? Or maybe she can be the new candidate for my get Corey Circelli to switch to GB campaign....

In positive junior pairs news, Lucy Hay & Kyle McLeod are now within two points of the tech minimum for junior worlds in the SP and within one point in the LP! Crossing my fingers that they have two more good skates and a kind panel at the Tayside Trophy.
 
Is there any news on Graham? He was also practicing quads early in the off-season - though I know landing them in social media clips is very different to on competition ice, it would be great if they're both going for it this year. But now Graham and Kristen Spours are the only performance squad skaters who haven't made it to an entry list yet this season, and she's been rehabbing a recurrence of her back injury.
 
BIS are releasing provisional lists of qualifiers to the British Championships on Sportity (subject to confirmation....Ciera Turner-Frick who switched to Ireland in the spring is still on the junior women's standings). Performance squad skaters get a bye, though most have also competed at a qualifier.

Senior Women (6 entries)
[bye] Kristen Spours (Swindon)
[bye] Nina Povey (Sheffield) - 151.77, August Qualifier
3. Rebecca Gillespie (Sheffield) - 120.25, August
4. Genevieve Somerville (Sheffield) - 115.07, October Qualifier
5. Arabella Sear-Watkins (Oxford) - 114.69, August
6. Bryony Corrigan (Bradford) - 111.09, August I think the last time she qualified for the British was 2017.

Senior Men (8 entries)
[bye] Graham Newberry (Romford)
[bye] Ed Appleby (Romford)
3. Ken Fitterer (BIS) - 171.55, March Qualifier
4. Freddie Leggott (Nottingham) - 169.15, August
[bye] Henry Privett-Mendoza (Sheffield) - 166.03, August
6. Joseph Zakipour (Nottingham) - 164.21, August
7. Connor Bray (Lee Valley) - 155.30, October
[bye] Brandon Bailey (Oxford) - 151.28, August

Junior Women (18 entries)
1. Alice Smith (Cambridge) - 134.80, March
[bye] Alexa Severn (Nottingham) - 126.93, August
3. Daria Dalgich (Romford) - 120.89, March Withdrew from JGP Linz and the October Qualifier with an ankle injury.
4. Arina Vorobeva (Nottingham) - 119.40, October
5. Lillian Musgrave (BIS) - 111.25, August
6. Natasha Herbert (Olympia) - 109.47, August
7. Arcadia Ward (Kirkcaldy) - 105.74, August
8. Ava Mae Wilson (Basingstoke) - 105.62, October
9. Freya Hancock (Sheffield) - 103.83, March
10. Alana Pang (Sheffield) - 103.38, August
11. Saskia Zainchkovskaya (Lee Valley) - 99.57, August
12. Holly Tighe (Sheffield) - 98.87, October
13. Emma Lyons (Dundee) - 98.75, August
14. Annalise Jones (Billingham) - 98.41, March
15. Gailie Tsang (Peterborough) - 96.84, October
16. Kim Carter (Coventry) - 96.72, October
17. Sarah Tunnicliffe (East Kilbride) - 95.71, October
18. Caitlin Atkinson (Whitley Bay) - 95.35, October

Junior Men (10 entries)
1. Lloyd Thomson (Auchenharvie) - 168.64, October
2. Arin Yorke (Nottingham) - 151.97, March
3. Jedidiah Lincoln (BIS) - 151.21, March
4. Lucas Fitterer (BIS) - 143.26, October
[bye] Tao MacRae (BIS) - 135.63, October
6. Rene Bektashi-Brown (Altrincham) - 130.47, August
7. Solomon Williamson (Nottingham) - 130.43, August
8. Louis Gregory (Romford) - 123.93, March
9. Luke Woodthorpe-Smith (Nottingham) - 114.07, October With amazing light-up shirt for his FS.
10. Jacob Casey (Oxford) - 104.41, August

All pairs and dance couples who competed at a Qualifer advance; tbc if BIS will look kindly on teams who registered but withdrew after the draw.

Senior Pairs (2 entries)
[bye] Anastasia Vaipan-Law / Luke Digby (Dundee)
[bye] Lydia Smart / Harry Mattick (Oxford)

Junior Pairs (1-2 entries)
1. Lucy Hay / Kyle MacLeod (Dundee) - competing October
?? Zarah Wood / Alex Lapsky (Swindon) Maybe - hopefully - they'll get a bye if the withdrawal was health related.

Advanced Novice Pairs (2 entries)
1. Leah Coley / Jacob Casey (Oxford) - 48.73, August
2. Lily Smythe / Oliver Raikes (Oxford) - 39.22, August

Senior Dance (4-6 entries)
[bye] Lilah Fear / Lewis Gibson (Alexandra Palace) - 210.34, August It's possible that the travel logistics will rule them out of competing if they qualify for the GPF in Beijing.
[bye] Phebe Bekker / James Hernandez (Nottingham) - 175.88, August
3. Layla Karnes / Liam Carr (BIS) - 160.31, August
4. Eleanor Hirst / Anthony Currie (Sheffield) - 113.73, August
5. Charlotte Man / Toby Palmer (Guildford) - 106.54, August
?? Bronwyn Welton / Lasantha Salpadoru (Milton Keynes) - withdrew from August Qualifier

Junior Dance (2 entries)
[bye] Ashlie Slatter / Atl Ongay-Perez (Streatham) - 146.59, August
2. Molly Hairsine / Alessio Surenkov-Gultchev (Sheffield) - 116.90, August Should be added to the Performance Squad as they got the Junior Worlds tech minimums at JGP Gdansk.

Advanced Novice Dance (1 entry) :fragile: at the lack of young teams coming through
1. Mimi Marler Davies / Joseph Black (Alexandra Palace) - 90.32, August
 
Pairs and dance qualifiers are now out too (on Sportity) and no bye for Wood/Lapsky or Welton/Salpadoru. :( It's particularly unfortunate for W/L as they won't be eligible to compete internationally next season. (Less so W/S; hope she can find a more age appropriate partner to continue her skating journey.)

However.... :cheer2: :cheer2: :cheer2: 5 more dance teams! Mostly young skaters moving over from solo dance. I guess they must have registered for the October Qualifer and BIS couldn't get enough officials to run the competition so progressed them all to the championships - unfortunately not the first time that's happened.

  • Lou Koch / Alexander Bucholdt (Junior) - Partnership announced in August. I'm happy to be wrong in my judgement that they would likely skate for France! He was fourth last year with Olivia Jenkinson, she was previously on the JGP for France with Ivan Melnyk. Training at Villard de Lans so I'm hoping they bring some voids to Sheff.
  • Isabel Harrison / Harvey Dicks (AdvNov) - She was 16th in Junior women at the Solo Dance Championship in July, he qualified in AdvNov but didn't compete. She's been on IPS but looks like she found a partner close to home; they both represented Sheffield in solo too.
  • Lily Chandler / Connor Furness (AdvNov) - She was 5th in AdvNov girls solo, he won Intermediate boys. From Cardiff - dance coaches David and Lucine Phillips relocated there when the old Bracknell rink closed.
  • Annabel Mann / Jack Hammond (AdvNov) - She's the Intermediate girls solo champion, he was second in Intermediate boys. Representing Oxford.
  • Eve Dexter / Maxime Fouquet (Basic Novice) - She was fifth in Basic Novice girls, he won Basic Novice boys (field of one...). Representing Slough.
 
A great weekend for Dundee pairs all round with Lucy Hay and Kyle McLeod getting both the tech minimums for Junior Worlds at the Tayside Trophy. :cheer2:

I think this means they’ll be the first British pair at Junior Worlds since Chloe Curtin and Steven Adcock in 2016, and only the second since 2011.
 
The provisional entry list for the British Championships - i.e. after qualified skaters have registered for the event - is now on Sportity and Graham Newberry is out (Elliot Thompson in). No news on what’s up on his social media or the Team Newberry IG but if he’s injured it seems like something serious. :(

Without Graham there aren’t senior men with the tech minimums for Worlds. Ed Appleby has the SP and should be able to get the FS but will need a cleaner programme than he’s managed so far. Ken Fitterer beat Ed at the Tayside Trophy last weekend and has the FS but will probably need his 3ax to get the SP.

Also out of the British, fourth qualifier in junior women Arina Vorobeva. Maybe an eligibility issue? But that’s just me speculating.
 
Graham Newberry and his dad/coach Christian have relocated from Romford to Alabama, USA.
www.instagram.com

Graham Newberry on Instagram: "Super excited to announce my dad @christiannewberry and I will be moving back to the United States! We have lived in London for over 9 years now and I am thankful for the time I have spent here. But it is time to move o

358 likes, 30 comments - graham.newberry on October 31, 2023: "Super excited to announce my dad @christiannewberry and I will be moving back to the United State..."
www.instagram.com www.instagram.com

In the comments Graham confirms that he is recovering from injury and plans to return to competition.


In other recent(-ish) news, Sasha Fear did a podcast interview and said that while academics are her priority now she'd still be up for returning to competition if she found the right partner - but didn't sound optimistic that there's someone out there with the right height/passport/skills combination for her. The discussion of her skating career is about 10 mins in if "girlboss" podcasts also aren't for you.
www.instagram.com

The Second Shift on Instagram: "Today’s episode of The Second Shift Podcast features the incredibly talented ice dancer, former Second Shift intern, and new author, Sasha Fear. In her new book, ‘Plate to Podium.’ Sasha gives us a sneak peek into top-

12 likes, 2 comments - thesecond_shift on October 18, 2023: "Today’s episode of The Second Shift Podcast features the incredibly talented ice dancer, former..."
www.instagram.com www.instagram.com
 
Not that I am condoning Windsor's public outburst for a second, but it must be tough to experience three failed pair partnerships in a row and have someone with enough political clout like Duhamel to target your expenses and funding.

For a conversation that should have been said in private and in person, neither party comes out looking particularly good.
 
Last edited:
Less good news is that that also appear to be working with (ugh) Morozov. I knew he and John were at the same rink but hadn’t realised they are coaching together now.

:lol: at Layla’s “Team GB” jacket in that pic. Looking forward to seeing them in Sheffield in a few weeks - when hopefully she can collect a proper one now they’ve made the performance squad.
 
Ahead of the British Championships, here's my take on likely qualification for the GB championship teams this season.

BIS published updated qualification criteria in September. The main change is that they're now giving extra weight to events which count for ISU PBs (GPs/GPF, Challenger Series, JGPs/JGPF). The drafting isn't totally clear, but it seems the ranking criteria is:

Euros/Worlds: (best score at a GP/GPF/CS in 2022-23 or 2023-24 seasons) + (best score at any ISU senior international 2022-23 or 2023-24 seasons) + (British Championships 2023) + (selection committee discretion)

Junior Worlds/YOG: (best score at a JGP/JGPF in 2023-23 or 2023-24 seasons) + (best score at any ISU junior international in 2022-23 or 2023-24 seasons) + (British Championships 2023) + (selection committee discretion)

In theory this should favour skaters with a longer record of success who've therefore been selected/qualified for these events. In practice it means that, even if Smart/Mattick - who ran Vaipan-Law/Digby surprisingly close in Warsaw last week - beat VL/D by 50 points at the British Championships, there's practically no chance they'll be selected for Worlds, because their Nebelhorn disaster has to be counted. It also gives Henry Privett-Mendoza a headstart on the other second tier men for the Euros reserve spot, as he's the only one who's done a Challenger.

Skaters who qualify for the GPF automatically get on the Euros and Worlds teams, so congrats to Fear/Gibson. Skaters who qualify for the JGPF (i.e. no-one) can sub their JGPF score for the British Championships.

Euros and YOG teams will be decided at the end of the British next Sunday, Junior Worlds selection meeting is on 15 January, Worlds on 5 February.

Senior Women: Kristen Spours is marginally ahead of Nina Povey, so it will come down to the British Championships. But Nina's discovered consistency while Kristen has been injured and her home rink has been closed, so my gut says this is Nina's year.

Senior Men: Graham Newberry still leads the criteria thanks to his generous score at the Britannia Cup last summer, but he's also been injured and won't be at the British. Ed Appleby's been scoring well this season so I think he should be safe for Euros even if Graham petitions - though amazingly we have seven men with Euros minimums so there are plenty of options for the reserve spot if all the men are menning next week. Graham is currently the only man with Worlds minimums (Ed has the SP and Ken Fitterer has the LP).

Senior Pairs: Vaipan-Law/Digby well in front, but Smart/Mattick also have minimums if needed.

Senior Ice Dance: Easy - three spots at Euros: three teams with minimums, two spots at Worlds: two teams with minimums.

Junior Women: Very close between Arabella Sear-Watkins and Alexa Severn. Hopefully Arabella (skating senior domestically) will give the selection criteria some work by finally having a decent skate at the British.

Junior Men: Ed Appleby is well ahead but if he chooses to focus on seniors in the second half of the season, Jedidiah Lincoln, Tao MacRae and Arin Yorke all have junior worlds minimums. Only Tao and Arin are age eligible for the YOG spot.

Junior Pairs: We finally have a junior pair team with minimums! :cheer2: Very glad Hay/MacLead stuck together through their rough spell last season.

Junior Ice Dance: Two teams for two spots at Junior Worlds. Slatter/Ongay-Perez will go to YOG as the only age eligible team.


Showing my workings....

Senior Women [1 entry at Euros and Worlds]
1. Kristen Spours 324.47 = 147.78 (Ice Challenge 2022) + 176.69 (EduSport Trophy 2023)
2. Nina Povey 322.98 = 156.92 (Ondrej Nepela Memorial 2022) + 166.06 (EduSport Trophy 2023)

Senior Men [1 entry at Euros and Worlds]
1. Graham Newberry 394.06 = 182.99 (Budapest Trophy 2022) + 211.07 (Britannia Cup 2022) [not competing at British Championships]
2. Edward Appleby 388.66 = 202.68 (Warsaw Cup 2023) + 185.98 (Tayside Trophy 2023) [needs Worlds FS minimum]
3. Henry Privett-Mendoza 302.58 = 143.06 (Ondrej Nepela Memorial 2023) + 159.52 (Bellu Memorial 2023) [needs Worlds SP and FS minimums]
4. Ken Fitterer 191.00 = 0 (no GP/CS) + 191.00 (Tayside Trophy 2023) [needs Worlds SP minimum]
5. Freddie Leggott 168.07 = 0 (no GP/CS) + 168.07 (Tayside Trophy 2023) [needs Worlds SP and FS minimums]
6. Brandon Bailey 164.13 = 0 (no GP/CS) + 164.13 (Britannia Cup 2022) [needs Worlds SP and FS minimums]
7. Joseph Zakipour 149.58 = 0 (no GP/CS) + 149.58 (Bellu Memorial 2023) [needs Worlds SP and FS minimums]

Senior Pairs [2 entries at Euros, 1 entry at Worlds]
1. Anastasia Vaipan-Law / Luke Digby 324.16 = 159.82 (Autumn Classic International 2023) + 164.34 (Warsaw Cup 2023)
2. Lydia Smart / Harry Mattick 265.51 = 113.66 (Nebelhorn Trophy 2023) + 151.85 (Warsaw Cup 2023)

Senior Ice Dance [3 entries at Euros, 2 entries at Worlds]
1. Lilah Fear / Lewis Gibson 429.92 = 215.19 (NHK Trophy 2023) + 214.73 (World Championships 2023) [already met criteria for Europeans and Worlds teams by qualifying for GPF]
2. Phebe Bekker / James Hernandez 339.28 = 162.22 (Ondrej Nepela Memorial 2023) + 177.06 (Swiss Ice Skating Open 20223)
3. Layla Karnes / Liam Carr 290.31 = 149.97 (Warsaw Cup 2023) + 140.34 (Pavel Roman Memoria 2023) [need Worlds RD and FD minimums]

Junior Women [1 entry at Junior Worlds]
1. Arabella Sear-Watkins 240.69 = 115.34 (JGP Riga 2022) + 125.35 (Crystal Skate 2022) [skating senior at British Championships]
2. Alexa Severn 237.64 = 116.36 (JGP Solidarity Cup 2022) + 121.28 (Europa Cup Skate Helena 2023)

Junior Men [1 entry at Junior Worlds, 1 entry at YOG]
1. Edward Appleby 375.71 = 186.19 (JGP Linz 2023) + 189.52 (Volvo Open 2023) [skating senior at British Championships] [not YOG age eligible]
2. Jedidiah Lincoln 307.68 = 153.89 (JGP Yerevan 2023) + 153.79 (Swiss Ice Skating Open 2023) [not YOG age eligible]
3. Tao MacRae 300.05 = 149.74 (JGP Osaka 2023) + 150.31 (Tayside Trophy 2023)
4. Arin Yorke 281.42 = 137.15 (JGP Istanbul 2023) + 144.27 (Tayside Trophy 2022)

Junior Pairs [1 entry at Junior Worlds]
1. Lucy Hay / Kyle MacLeod 236.89 = 113.93 (JGP Gdansk 2023) + 122.96 (Tayside Trophy 2023)

Junior Ice Dance [2 entries at Junior Worlds, 1 entry at YOG]
1. Ashlie Slatter / Atl Ongay-Perez 284.69 = 144.69 (JGP Budapest 2023) + 140.00 (JGP Linz 2023)
2. Molly Hairsine / Alessio Surenkov-Gultchev 244.22 = 127.94 (JGP Gdansk 2023) + 116.28 (JGP Yerevan 2023) [not YOG age eligible]
 
Thank you @Belsornia :40beers: very helpful! So very little actually gets decided next week :lol:

Are Lilah and Lewis going? I couldn’t find a working entry list, and it seems a lot of travelling and competing to do in 3 weeks with the GPF so close.
 
miffy said:
Thank you @Belsornia :40beers: very helpful! So very little actually gets decided next week :lol:
Click to expand...
I guess in most events we either have few enough competitors or clear enough leaders that the British Championships is mostly for the glory of the title. :lol: It's just Kristen v. Nina really.
miffy said:
Are Lilah and Lewis going? I couldn’t find a working entry list, and it seems a lot of travelling and competing to do in 3 weeks with the GPF so close.
Click to expand...
Here's the start orders/results page. Yeah, I'm kind of surprised they aren't staying to train in Asia but if they are planning to withdraw they hadn't told the BIS social media person or Robin Cousins yesterday. But who could resist another trip to glorious Sheffield!
 
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