2014 US ADULT CHAMPIONSHIPS - VIDEOS

I received my digital versions of my three programs today.  They are also on  Ice Network if you have a subscription you can see every program from every skater.

Ladies Bronze IV Free Skate

14 skaters: 1st place (with a fall!)

 Bronze IV Dramatic

9 skaters: 2nd Place

 Bronze IV Light Entertainment

9 skaters: 1st Place 

Back To The Process of LEARNING

If all we did was practice what we knew, we would never get any better.  So they say.
My coach gave me a list of things to work on and today I worked on almost all of them.  Not with much success, but a real effort was made to try and get a feel for where I am going.

Things she wants me to have in my Silver FS program include:

1. A Hydroblade  Hydroblading is a figure skating move in the field in which a skater glides on a deep edge with the body stretched in a very low position, almost horizontal to the ice.
2. A change edge spiral sequence (without putting your foot down)
3. A flying camel spin, which to me is like a waltz jump landing in a camel spin (I know I will be corrected on that!)
4. A change foot sit spin forward to back
5. A split jump
6. Some more complicated footwork using falling leaf, mazurkas, etc
7. Oh yea .. add to that a real Lutz 3 jump combo + a Flip 2 jump combo
8. A change edge spread eagle from outside to inside and *back to outside .. *that's the hard part
9. And.. I kid you not... she said some Axel harness work was coming

Here's what I worked on today:

Special Thanks to my friend Heather for my belated "tossie" from her soon to debut skating accessory online store called redswanusa.com

Until it's debut go to:   https://www.facebook.com/redswanusa

These are Bling Bars for your skate laces at the toe of your boot.

They are silver with hand set Swarovski crystals and they will make my boots look FABULOUS.  No more over-the-boots tights for me!

Moves Practice and Lesson Plan Going Forward

It's always good to move forward ... As tempting as it is to stay at the Bronze level I feel compelled to try and make some progress and move up to Adult Silver and not wait until the end of the year so that I am so rushed to get my programs together.  Coach Berkley agreed and she was happy to hear I wanted to keep trying to move on.

First thing I am working on are the Silver Moves In The Field.

TR 25.11 Adult Silver Moves in the Field Test
Candidates must skate the correct steps and turns on good edges showing good form, continuous flow and strength, and preciseness to their steps.
1. Eight-step mohawk sequence
2. Forward and backward free skating cross strokes 
3. FO-BI three-turns in the field
4. FI-BO three-turns in the field
5. Consecutive outside and inside spirals
6. Forward and backward power change of edge pulls

One element may be retried, if necessary.
(Approximate time for test: 14 minutes)
Judging panel required: Three bronze or higher rank singles/pairs or dance judges who are certified to judge moves in the field tests.

 I feel pretty confident I can tackle these by the next test date at our club in July.  My 3 turns need some work and my power pulls and my 8 step mohawk sequence.

Here's how my first practice (before a lesson on Silver Moves) went:

2014 U.S. Adult Championships - Hyannis MA

I am finally home from Cape Cod and Adult Nationals (AN's as we like to call it).  When I think about how close I came to canceling my trip and not going I am so glad that I talked myself into it.
I can't take all the credit however, my skating friends here and online all convinced me I would regret not going and being there no matter what happened on the ice.

What happened on the ice was a complete miracle to me.  I don't have the video yet of the three events, but here is what happened on paper:

Despite a fall on my first (Flip) jump when my knee "blew" - and a hand down after my Lutz, I still managed to get 1st place.   I really could not believe it when I was told.  I didn't see everyone else skate because I was SO NERVOUS I could hardly keep from throwing up before I skated and afterwards I was exhausted! There were 3 groups of 5 skaters (1 w/d) I was in the final warm up group, but 1st to skate after warm ups.  My coach was really happy with all the 1st place ordinals by 6 of 7 judges.  

2014 U.S. Adult Figure Skating Championships

Adult Bronze Ladies 4

Final Standings

Place	Name	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Maj.	Tie Br.
1.	Diane Rudnick, Lilac City FSC	1	3	1	1	1	1	1	6/1
2.	Sheila Gaillard, Individual Member	9	2	2	2	2	2	2	6/2
3.	Suzie Weaver, Colonial FSC	6	1	3	3	3	9	6	4/3
4.	Melissa Parker, All Year FSC	12	11	4	4	4	3	7	4/4
5.	Johanna Ehrmann, SC of Natick	2	6	5	5	5	4	3	6/5
6.	Sharon Silberman-Hummels, Individual Member	5	7	9	6	6	5	5	5/6
7.	Jane Koehler, University of Delawar...	4	5	6	10	6	11	10	4/6
8.	Terryl Allen, Albuquerque FSC	8	8	7	7	12	10	4	5/8
9.	Erica Rand, North Atlantic FSC	13	13	8	8	9	6	11	4/9
10.	Elizabeth Fukushima, Individual Member	3	10	10	12	8	7	12	5/10	TOM 38
11.	Terry Williams, Penguin FSC	10	4	12	11	10	8	8	5/10	TOM 40
12.	Vicki Busch, Los Angeles FSC	7	9	11	9	11	13	13	5/11
13.	Kymberle McElwee, The Skating Club of S...	11	12	13	13	13	12	9	4/12
14.	Susan Sharon, Richmond FSC	14	14	14	14	14	14	14	7/14
	Nancy Hughes, SC of Central New York									Withdrawn

Panel of Officials for the Free Skating

Function	Name	Hometown
Referee	Gerald Miele	Greenville, RI
Assistant Referee
Accountant	Esther Winslow	Chatham, MA
Judge 1	Janice Anderson	Maple Grove, MN
Judge 2	Roberta Parkinson	McMurray, PA
Judge 3	Kim Downing	Tulsa, OK
Judge 4	Deborah Hagenauer	Allentown, PA
Judge 5	Paula Naughton	Vancover, WA
Judge 6	Terri Levine	San Diego, CA
Judge 7	Alison Arnold	Duxbury, MA
Substitute

Last Updated: Wed, Apr 09, 2014, 06:54PM (Competition local time)

After a day off the ice and some sight seeing around Cape Cod with my hubby and a round of 18 holes of golf at the Par3 course in Hyannis I came back on Friday with my Dramatic Skate and wound up on the podium again!  Beat by "Wonder Woman", Sandra Flanagan who looked amazing.  It's really hard to watch anyone skate when you are waiting your turn and trying to stay warm and focused.  I look forward to watching all the videos when ICENETWORK finishes posting them.

2014 U.S. Adult Figure Skating Championships

Adult Bronze Dramatic Skate 4

Final Standings

Place	Name	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Maj.	Tie Br.
1.	Sandra Flanagan, Starz Of Houston FSC	3	2	1	1	3	1	3	4/2
2.	Diane Rudnick, Lilac City FSC	1	5	3	2	2	3	4	5/3
3.	Brian Hemenway, St. Moritz ISC	2	4	6	5	1	4	1	5/4	TOM 12
4.	Vicki Busch, Los Angeles FSC	4	1	2	4	4	7	5	5/4	TOM 15
5.	Thom Mullins, Body Zone FSC	6	7	4	3	5	2	2	4/4
6.	Melissa Parker, All Year FSC	5	6	5	7	6	6	6	6/6
7.	Karen Watson, Richmond FSC	7	3	7	6	7	5	7	7/7
8.	Cindy Mullarkey, Bay Country FSC	9	9	9	8	8	8	8	4/8
9.	Elizabeth Fukushima, Individual Member	8	8	8	9	9	9	9	7/9
	Ben Daidone, All Year FSC									Withdrawn

Panel of Officials for the Showcase

Function	Name	Hometown
Referee	Alexander Enzmann	Stow, MA
Assistant Referee
Accountant	Suzanne Schlecht	Fond du Lac, WI
Judge 1	Richard Kern	Peoria, IL
Judge 2	Eric Hampton	Marquette, MI
Judge 3	Roberta Parkinson	McMurray, PA
Judge 4	Susan Miller	Havertown, PA
Judge 5	Judith Reiner	Arlington, VA
Judge 6	Joyce Komperda	Menomonee Falls, WI
Judge 7	Terri Levine	San Diego, CA
Substitute

Last Updated: Fri, Apr 11, 2014, 02:08PM (Competition local time)

On Saturday I had my final skate in Light Entertainment.   Again, shocked beyond belief to take the Gold and get 1st place.  As you will see both Light Entertainment and Dramatic categories both now include both genders.   This year they changed the rules and put these two categories under the "Showcase" guidelines which do not have separate mens/ladies categories.  Personally I don't like it, nor do I like the "showcase" guidelines that allow us to use props on the ice.  To me it's too theatrical and takes away from the skating... but that's just me.   There were some really wild and fabulous costumes and themes in both categories. 

2014 U.S. Adult Figure Skating Championships

Adult Bronze Light Entertainment Skate 4

Final Standings

Place	Name	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Maj.	Tie Br.
1.	Diane Rudnick, Lilac City FSC	5	2	1	1	1	7	2	5/2	TOM 7
2.	Thom Mullins, Body Zone FSC	3	1	3	2	2	2	1	5/2	TOM 8
3.	Brian Hemenway, St. Moritz ISC	4	3	2	3	3	3	5	5/3
4.	Sandra Flanagan, Starz Of Houston FSC	1	4	7	4	4	6	8	4/4
5.	Sharon Silberman-Hummels, Individual Member	2	8	6	6	5	5	4	4/5	TOM 16
6.	Johanna Ehrmann, SC of Natick	6	5	4	5	7	3	9	4/5	TOM 17
7.	Cindy Mullarkey, Bay Country FSC	8	6	5	7	6	1	6	5/6
8.	Cheryl Croll, Individual Member	7	7	9	9	9	8	3	4/8	TOM 25
9.	Elizabeth Fukushima, Individual Member	9	9	8	8	8	9	7	4/8	TOM 31

Panel of Officials for the Showcase

Function	Name	Hometown
Referee	Lisa Erle*	Dublin, CA
Assistant Referee
Accountant	Suzanne Schlecht	Fond du Lac, WI
Judge 1	Debbie Griffin	Colorado Springs, CO
Judge 2	Anne Marie Murphy	Sunfish Lake, MN
Judge 3	Susan Miller	Havertown, PA
Judge 4	Kim Downing	Tulsa, OK
Judge 5	Roberta Parkinson	McMurray, PA
Judge 6	Judith Reiner	Arlington, VA
Judge 7	Paula Naughton	Vancover, WA
Substitute

Last Updated: Sat, Apr 12, 2014, 11:34AM (Competition local time)

Haven't Posted All Week

Sorry everyone.  I have had a terrible week.  After being off the ice for 22 days following Sectionals … I got back on the ice Monday and could barely skate forward and backwards.  I kid you not.

Tuesday was slightly better but I had such a lack of stamina and weak ankle .. sore this and that .. that I nearly threw in the towel for Nationals.  I skipped skating altogether on Wednesday and played golf …
That relaxed me and I returned to the ice Friday and skated both a public session alone and had a lesson with my choreographer on a freestyle session.

My stamina is gone (what little I had worked up to before Sectionals), but practice was good and I even forced myself to run my technical program with the jumps as they were choreographed.

So my next post will probably be after I get back from Nationals or maybe during nationals…

Wish I knew how to tweet!

Ta ta for now!