Synchronized Skating Season 2018-2019

@sharsk8s I think Skyliners also has a better feeding system. Yes, Hayden has a lot of youth teams, but Skyliners (based on the 24+ member photos of each line) seem to have promising young skaters train and learn the programs of the higher lines. That must make them stronger and more ready to fit into a higher line when the time comes.

With all the amazing Junior teams in the Northern Chicago area and Fond Du Lac (who get skaters from Chicago) I'm surprised there's no Senior team there. Even sending skaters to Skyliners Senior and Collegiate teams you think there'd be a good skater base. Crystallettes has a lot of high schoolers on their roster with only a few college/adults (mostly alum who were on the team in high school) on their roster, so you think a team in Chicago could use the same model.
 
I agree. I think it might have something to do with many of the girls leaving the area for college and going to schools on the north east. I know a majority of the haydenettes and even many of the lexettes are from outside teams and not fed from their own organization while skyliners junior very rarely take kids who did not go through the skyliners feeding system (which gives them a distinct style). I wouldn't be surprised if a senior team was started somewhere in the chicago area but I wonder for which organization. I am interested to see how many outsiders will be heading to skyliners this season as I know they have a bunch of spots opening on their junior team and possibly some on the senior level as I recognize some girls from their first seasons (like 6-8 years ago) so they must be getting old. Also wonder how starlights junior will hold out after they loose some of their older skaters.
 
The final ISU competition of the season has finished, as have all of the national qualifying competitions with the exception of Finland (Marigold IceUnity and Team Unique are still in the running for FIN2)

Current presumed list for Worlds (note that Sweden declined their spot and will not be sending Team Unity SWE):

Team Australia - Team Unity AUS
Team Austria - Sweet Mozart
Team Belgium - Team Phoenix
Team Canada 1 - Nova
Team Canada 2 - NEXXICE
Team Croatia - Zagreb Snowflakes
Team Czech Republic - Olympia
Team Finland 1 - Helsinki Rockettes
Team Finland 2 -
Team France - Les Zoulous
Team Germany - Team Berlin 1
Team Great Britain - Icicles
Team Hungary - Team Passion
Team Italy - Hot Shivers
Team Japan - Jingu Ice Messengers
Team Latvia - Team Amber
Team Netherlands - Team Illumination
Team Russia 1 - Paradise
Team Russia 2 - Tatarstan
Team Switzerland - Starlight Team
Team Turkey - Team Vizyon
Team USA 1 - Haydenettes
Team USA 2 - Skyliners
 
Entry list for Junior Worlds:

Team Australia - Iceskateers Elite
Team Canada 1 - Les Supremes
Team Canada 2 - NEXXICE
Team Croatia - Zagreb Snowflakes
Team Czech Republic - Team Darlings
Team Finland 1 - Dream Edges
Team Finland 2 - Team Fintastic
Team France - Team Jeanne d’Arc
Team Germany - Team Berlin
Team Great Britain - Icicles
Team Hungary - Team Magic
Team Italy - Hot Shivers
Team Netherlands - Team Illuminettes
Team Poland - Ice Fire
Team Russia 1 - Junost
Team Russia 2 - Crystal Ice
Team Spain - Team Mirum
Team Sweden 1 - Team Spirit
Team Sweden 2 - Team Seaside
Team Switzerland - Cool Dreams
Team Turkey - Golden Roses
Team USA 1 - Skyliners
Team USA 2 - Starlights
 
Junior Worlds begins this week with practices Mon-Thurs, and short programs on Friday. I've posted links to results and live streaming here. Good luck to all the teams!
 
Yeah, Russian teams synchro scores have been really sketchy in the last 3-4 seasons. It's not that I don't think they shouldn't be in contention - I think they are very good and could legitimately win a WC when they're on. But I feel they're being gifted a lot of wins they don't necessarily deserve.
Worlds when Team Paradise only had 15 skaters was the most egregious given all the sloppiness. Usually they're competitive for the title as far as holds, cleanliness, skating skills, shape, etc. but that year they weren't even competitive - probably because they had to change stuff last minute to 15 skaters. But that's not an excuse nor should it have gotten them the gold.

I do think it's gotten better in the last season or so where they're competitive for the title but not winning all the time, but I don't follow Juniors enough to know if that happened here.
 
Willin said:
Yeah, Russian teams synchro scores have been really sketchy in the last 3-4 seasons. It's not that I don't think they shouldn't be in contention - I think they are very good and could legitimately win a WC when they're on. But I feel they're being gifted a lot of wins they don't necessarily deserve.
Worlds when Team Paradise only had 15 skaters was the most egregious given all the sloppiness. Usually they're competitive for the title as far as holds, cleanliness, skating skills, shape, etc. but that year they weren't even competitive - probably because they had to change stuff last minute to 15 skaters. But that's not an excuse nor should it have gotten them the gold.

I do think it's gotten better in the last season or so where they're competitive for the title but not winning all the time, but I don't follow Juniors enough to know if that happened here.
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I feel like judges reward the Russian style over other teams’ approaches, which I disagree with. I appreciate the solo skills and interpretation of the Russians, but I also love the clean, strong Finnish style. One is not better than the other in general, but the judges seem to think otherwise :(
 
Official website for 2019 Synchro Worlds (April 11-13 in Helsinki): https://www.helsinki2019.fi/en/

ISU event page: https://www.isu.org/events/eventdetail/11213/-/isu-world-synchronized-skating-championships
Entries & Schedules: http://www.isuresults.com/events/fsevent03111670.htm
No. Name Nation
1 TEAM UNITY AUS 1
2 TEAM SWEET MOZART AUT 2
3 TEAM PHOENIX BEL 3
4 TEAM NEXXICE CAN 4
5 TEAM NOVA SENIOR CAN 4
TEAM LES SUPREMES CAN 4 S
6 TEAM ICE PEARL CHN 5
7 TEAM ZAGREB SNOWFLAKES CRO 6
8 TEAM OLYMPIA CZE 7
9 TEAM HELSINKI ROCKETTES FIN 8
10 TEAM MARIGOLD ICE UNITY FIN 8
TEAM UNIQUE FIN 8 S
11 TEAM ZOULOUS FRA 9
12 TEAM BERLIN 1 GER 10
13 TEAM ICICLES SENIOR GBR 11
14 TEAM PASSION HUN 12
15 TEAM HOT SHIVERS ITA 13
16 TEAM JINGU ICE MESSENGERS JPN 14
17 TEAM AMBER LAT 15
18 TEAM ILLUMINATION NED 16
19 TEAM PARADISE RUS 17
20 TEAM TATARSTAN RUS 17
21 TEAM STARLIGHT SUI 18
22 TEAM VIZYON TUR 19
23 TEAM HAYDENETTES USA 20
24 TEAM SKYLINERS USA
 
I think Canada could do extremely well at Worlds. Nexxice always has phenomenal skating skills and superior edge quality in the no hold. I like how they are skating last in the short as I think those superior skating skills will really stand out after having seen the rest of the teams prior to them. One of my favourite things about Nexxice is their precise execution. It's exactly what I want to see in synchronized skating. Every movement matches. In their short, the extension and the matching quality of the spiral positions in the moves element is amazing and I like how in their preparation for the intersection, as the 2 groups circle around each other, it precisely matches the build in the music. Very cleverly choreographed to set that element preparation to that point in the music. I like the expressiveness to their artistic wheel in the free. It adds nicely to the interpretation and mood of the program. The transitional section after the wheel is neat where the 2 lines glide past each other to match the rise and fall in the music.

The team I'm really excited about though is Nova Canada. After defeating the defending World Champions at the Mozart Cup as pretty much an unknown team, I can't wait to see how Nova Canada does at Worlds this weekend. What an exciting team with excellent programs. In their short, I really like how the music builds throughout with the tempo constantly increasing. It's a dynamic and convincing program. You have to be a fantastic skater to be able to perform the intersection and the twizzles at the fastest points in the music at the end of the program. I also like how they use their whole bodies to express the character of the music and highlight original transitional moves using different levels, particularly into the travelling wheel and prior to the intersection. I hope their components in the short aren't impacted by skating early or by not having an established reputation at Worlds. I think they are going to shock the world here with how incredible they are.

Their Halo free program is my favourite of the season. It's the program I watch over and over again. I absolutely love the trendsetting lifts that are used not only to highlight their artistic elements (wheel, block, and circle) and their creative element (stunning!), but they are also used as unique, transitional choreography. I don't think I've seen a Canadian team approach the back to back intersection with the speed that they do, performing turns all the way through without hesitation. The transitional section that connects the artistic block to the pair element is really cool. The arm movements and body lean express the feeling of the music beautifully in such a nuanced way. I hope they have an excellent starting order in the free program to potentially bring down the house with this program.
 
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This won't be a surprise given my post upthread, but I think you could make a very solid case that Nova should be a few places higher, 4th at the very worst in my opinion and certainly ahead of a team falling on their no hold. I get that it's human nature to feel you shouldn't be giving out last group GOE and PCS early on in an event, but if you skate that exact program 10 spots later, I bet that you would see many more +4's and components firmly in the 9's. Kudos to the American judge for giving them components that put them among the other podium contenders. I'll be hoping he's drawn on the panel again tomorrow. It would have been nice if the Canadian judge had been drawn for the short, but at least she will get to do the long program tomorrow.
 
Never been a fan of them before but tartarstan impressed me, thought they should have been in 1st. They had the same balletic quality as the other russian team but looked cleaner and faster imo.
 
skysk8r said:
Never been a fan of them before but tartarstan impressed me, thought they should have been in 1st. They had the same balletic quality as the other russian team but looked cleaner and faster imo.
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I think they were held down due to being “Russia 2”, they should have had a small SP medal...
 
skysk8r said:
Never been a fan of them before but tartarstan impressed me, thought they should have been in 1st. They had the same balletic quality as the other russian team but looked cleaner and faster imo.
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I was very impressed with Tatarstan. They were in my top 3 with Marigold and Icexxice. I also liked Haydenettes a lot, and that was unexpected.
 
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