British Skating News, 2022 and beyond

[Belsornia]

The provisional entry list is out for the British Championships (25-30 November in - of course - Sheffield) even though the final dance qualifier doesn't take place for another few weeks.

BIS have published an updated list today and Bushell/Peña are now in (Hairsine/Surenkov-Gultchev are not).

Bethan Whiteman in senior women and Tallulah Bowers and Alex Knox in junior women are now listed as Q instead of R.

 

[Belsornia]

Also not listed: Molly Hairsine / Alessio Surenkov-Gultchev (Sheffield) which might also be an admin error (by my reading they might be eligible for a bye) but... per social media they're still training though aren't competing, so I wonder if either of them has ties to a small fed and may be contemplating a country swap.

And Hairsine/Surenkov-Gultchev's ISU bio now lists them as representing Bulgaria.

I'm always sorry to lose skaters, but this is likely a good move for them. They're probably capable of getting their tech minimums, at least for Euros, but I think are more likely to get overtaken by the new teams coming up behind them than they are to catch up with Bekker/Hernandez for the second GB spot in the next quad.

The surprisingly large crossover between UK and Bulgarian ice dance continues.

 

[Belsornia]

With no more international competitions before the British Championships next weekend, here's my tally of the current standings towards qualification for championship teams this season.

Ever-helpful BIS have not published a 2025-26 international selection policy, so I'm assuming it's not changed substantively from 2024-25. That is:
Seniors - [best score from a GP or Challenger Series event in 2024-25 or 2025-26] + [best score from any ISU senior international in 2024-25 or 2025-26] + [British Championships 2025-26]
Juniors - [best score from any ISU junior international in 2024-25 or 2025-26] + [second best score from any ISU junior international in 2024-25 or 2025-26] + [British Championships 2025-26]

Short version: All of the junior selections are competitive. Seniors comes down to who has tech minimums.

Long version:

Senior Women
Euros - 2 spots
Olympics - 1 spot
Only Nina Povey has CTES minimum

Worlds - 1 spot
No-one has CTES minimum

Senior Men
Euros - 1 spot
Olympics - probable team even spot

1. Ed Appleby: 404.32 = 216.48 (Nebelhorn Trophy 2024) + 187.84 (European Championships 2025)
2. Lucas Fitterer: 333.19 = 153.24 (Nebelhorn Trophy 2025) + 179.95 (Robin Cousins Cup 2025)

Worlds - 1 spot
Only Ed Appleby has CTES minimum

Senior Pairs
Euros - 2 spots
Olympics - 1 spot
Worlds - 1 spot
Only Ana Vaipan-Law / Luke Digby have CTES minimums

Senior Ice Dance
Euros - 2 spots

1. Lilah Fear / Lewis Gibson: 420.89 = 210.65 (Ondrej Nepela Memorial 2024) + 210.24 (Grand Prix de France 2025)
2. Phebe Bekker / James Hernandez: 362.11 = 181.80 (Golden Spin 2024) + 180.31 (Pavel Roman Memorial 2024)
3. Sophia Bushell / Antonio Peña: 145.20 = 145.20 (Denkova-Staviski Cup 2025)

By withdrawing from Warsaw Cup, Bushell/Peña gave Bekker/Hernandez an insurmuntable lead, so if B/H want to go to Golden Spin they could withdraw and take a zero from the British and should still get the Euros spot without having to make a petition to the selection committee.

Olympics - 2 spots
Only Fear/Gibson and Bekker/Hernandez have CTES minimum and citizenship.

Worlds - 2 spots
Only Fear/Gibson and Bekker/Hernandez have CTES minimum.

Junior Women
Junior Worlds - 1 spot

1. Alice Smith: 301.97 = 153.39 (Volvo Cup 2025) + 148.58 (JGP Riga 2025)
2. Leilah Patten: 279.47 = 141.96 (European Youth Olympic Festival 2025) + 137.51 (Sofia Trophy 2025)
3. Arina Vorobeva: 264.87 = 135.10 (Daugava Open 2025) + 129.77 (Skate Helena 2025)

Unclear if Leilah Patten is competing this season (I guess we'll see when the starting orders/results page goes live) and if she is the British will be her first competition back from injury, so Alice Smith looks pretty safe for a repeat trip to Junior Worlds.

Junior Men
Junior Worlds - 1 spot

1. Lloyd Thomson: 377.27 = 190.56 (JGP Ljubljana 2024) + 186.71 (Tayside Trophy 2024)
2. Edward Solovyov: 353.61 = 179.25 (Tayside Trophy 2025) + 174.36 (JGP Riga 2025)
3. Jack Donovan: 326.02 = 165.99 (Crystal Open 2025) + 160.03 (Tayside Trophy 2025)
4. Tao MacRae: 325.46 = 169.11 (JGP Bangkok 2024) + 156.35 (JGP Abu Dhabi 2025)
5. Arin Yorke: 318.40 = 163.47 (Skate Helena 2025) + 154.93 (Triglav Trophy 2025)

Amazing to have five junior men with minimums! A couple of mega scores from last autumn look likely to swing it for Lloyd Thomson, but the door is not fully closed for Ed Solovyov. Thomson came out on top in their only head-to-head so far this season but there were only a couple of points in it.

Junior Pairs
Junior Worlds - 1 spot

1. Zarah Wood / Alex Lapsky: 251.68 = 128.29 (Tirnavia Ice Cup 2024) + 123.39 (Robin Cousins Cup 2025)
2. Neamh Davison / Daniel Borisov: 243.05 = 128.39 (John Nicks Pairs Challenge 2025) + 114.66 (JGP Ankara 2025)

Close enough that it could come down to the result next weekend, especially as Davison/Borisov are on the upswing this season and Wood/Lapsky have been struggling. Wood/Lapsky are attempting higher base value, Davison/Borisov have slightly stronger components, both pairs are very messy… There's also time for them to get in another B event or two in the new year before the Junior Worlds deadline.

Junior Ice Dance
Junior Worlds - 1 spot

1. Mimi Marler Davies / Joseph Black: 264.22 = 132.51 (Denkova-Staviski Cup 2025) + 131.71 (EduSport Trophy 2024)
2. Ashlie Slatter / Louis Gregory: 253.70 = 128.10 (Bolero Cup 2025) + 125.60 (JGP Abu Dhabi 2025)

I think Slatter/Gregory have the higher ceiling, but he is still very new to dance and Marler Davies / Black's experience (in ice dance and as a team) seems likely to keep them ahead this season. They've been more consistent this season, which should help them, since it's close enough that a splat on a major element could cost them the spot.

 

[miffy]

Thank you for the tally and notes @Belsornia

I saw that Phebe and James said this week that they are planning to compete the 4 weeks in a row which seems extreme but hopefully it will go well for them and at least there is no more continent switching unlike this week