Back from the British Adult Championships

[NickiT]

I'm back from the British Adult Championships where I skated first thing this morning. I was in the third class to skate and was drawn to skate second in the class which was actually very nice as I'm used to skating last in my class. I went onto the ice for my two minute thirty second warm-up and it went quite well although I found the ice very different to the ice I'm used to skating on.

I was called to skate and got into my starting position right at the far end of the rink and despite feeling immensely nervous I felt quite calm. Anyway my music started and my programme flowed quite well. I actually landed all my jumps on one foot although they weren't as good as they can be. I did a very pleasing sit spin to start with but my parallel (camel) / sit wasn't great. However it did spin and I felt this was better than it not working at all!

I must admit I was relieved when I ended my programme and for the first time ever in my skating career I went and sat in the kiss and cry area and was given the best glass of ice cold water ever, while my marks were read out.

My marks were pleasing and if the totals counted I'd have come third but with the way the placings were calculated I ended up fourth which is a very pleasing, but a little frustrating place to finish. There were nine skaters in my class so all in all I didn't do badly at all.

I hope that all the others who are still up there competing in their dance classes feel happy with how they skate.

Nicki

[skateflo]

Congratulations Nicki! All adult skaters are champions! And so glad to hear your nerves were under control and you just let the music carry you! Am looking forward to other reports.

[Mrs Redboots]

Nicki, I was sorry not to have seen you at all - I don't know why we didn't overlap! I didn't actually see many of the free skaters skate, and the only one from this board I saw was Batikat's Riverside Rhumba.

We finished, as predicted 3rd out of 3, and I have no quarrel with that result. However, it was actually very close. We made a slight mistake, I'm told, in our Rhythm Blues (one of us, and I have no idea which, went totally out of sync with the other in the promenade section, right in front of the judges!). Anyway, the Scottish couple won that, clearly, and our friends came second. The Canasta, however, was far less clear-cut. Our friends won it, with two first places from the judges and one 3rd place. Now, I still think we came 2nd, as we had two 2nd places and a 3rd, and the Scottish couple had a first, a 2nd and a 3rd, but when the placings went up, we were down as 3rd. I don't understand the way these things work.... I am counting that, privately, as a 2nd, and it makes absolutely no difference to the final result so I might just as well! But in Scotland, when it is just us against the Scottish couple, and just compulsory dances, we might well beat them..... then again, perhaps not.... we are very equal. All the same, I'd love to one day be able to get the one point that separates us from our friends - but they improve at about the same speed we do.....

Free dance went okay but, as expected, we were clearly 3rd in that, and expected nothing else. Daughter took some 30-second videos of the event, and a few stills - the videos are interesting and I may post them on my web page; the part of the free dance she took doesn't look in the least like I thought it did (sigh!). The Rhythm Blues looks good - it wasn't the part where we went wrong. The Canasta is okay, but we need to work on getting our extensions matching, which they don't - and the end looks funny, as the music person thought we were doing 3 sequences, and we stopped and the music didn't. The referee had told us 2 sequences, though.....

Official photos will be posted at the end of the week, I'm told, so I'll keep an eye on the site and let you know when.

I personally enjoyed the day, but it was a very long day. I hope they split it next year. And my apologies again to Maxine for not having been able to help, as I'd hoped; I was utterly exhausted. A couple of stiff drinks helped, but not that much....

And we had a simply ghastly drive down the worst motorway in the country in the rain! Ah well, we got home safely at about midnight.

[Mrs Redboots]

I have posted the videos on my website, to see them, please click
Rhythm Blues (http://www.amsmyth.demon.co.uk/Videos/RhythmBlues.avi), Canasta Tango (http://www.amsmyth.demon.co.uk/Videos/Canasta.avi), or Free Dance (http://www.amsmyth.demon.co.uk/Videos/Free%20Dance.avi).

Be warned, the clips are quite large, and there is no sound so you can't see whether we are in time with the music or not (probably not!). What you can see is how crap we skate - extensions don't match, still sticking our bums out, and as for my feet in the last 30 seconds of our Free Dance - well, words fail me! What do I look like???? That's supposed to be a twizzle and a neat flop-back into Husband's arms, not something peculiar on two feet..... Sheesh! I just hope the official photos are better when they come out.

Meanwhile, what about these:
http://www.amsmyth.demon.co.uk/photos/Canasta.JPG
Our Canasta Tango
http://www.amsmyth.demon.co.uk/photos/Spin.JPG
Our infamous Dance Spin....

[NickiT]

Nicki, I was sorry not to have seen you at all - I don't know why we didn't overlap! I didn't actually see many of the free skaters skate, and the only one from this board I saw was Batikat's Riverside Rhumba.


Don't worry about that Annabel. I was skating nice and early and was the second in my class to skate so got it over and done with. I missed all the dance too as Lesley and I left at lunchtime - we too had a ghastly drive back.

Official photos will be posted at the end of the week, I'm told, so I'll keep an eye on the site and let you know when.

Any idea what the website address is? I know it's not Ice Photo this time but when we enquired they seemed very disorganised and kept telling everyone to come back later.

Nicki

[max]

I personally enjoyed the day, but it was a very long day. I hope they split it next year. And my apologies again to Maxine for not having been able to help, as I'd hoped; I was utterly exhausted. A couple of stiff drinks helped, but not that much....
================================================== =======

No problems, Annabel. I'm glad you had a good day. Please give our thanks to Robert for him help on the marking and checking desk.

I am afraid that I didn't see you skate. In fact I only saw John MacKay and Donna and Andrew from IceSheffield where I made a determined effort of coming out of the results room to watch.

I hope that all the adult skaters and their spectators had an enjoyable day as we, at iceSheffield, put a lot of effort into trying to make it special. Shame, time didn't permit presentations on the ice.

Well I, now have to put in place everything for our Opens which is for 4 days next week!!

[skaternum]

Congrats to all you guys. Annabel, it sounds like you & Robert are really improving, so don't be so hard on yourself. Remember that good ol' days when it would have been straight 3's across the board? You've come a long way! (And you look nice and trim too.)

[Mrs Redboots]

No problems, Annabel. I'm glad you had a good day. Please give our thanks to Robert for him help on the marking and checking desk. Will do.

I am afraid that I didn't see you skate. In fact I only saw John MacKay and Donna and Andrew from IceSheffield where I made a determined effort of coming out of the results room to watch.I saw all of them, too! First time I've seen Andrew in competition, and he was every bit as good as I expected he'd be.

I hope that all the adult skaters and their spectators had an enjoyable day as we, at iceSheffield, put a lot of effort into trying to make it special. Shame, time didn't permit presentations on the ice. It was great; I have one or two minor quibbles which I'll send via Laura Hallam at NISA; I think they were them rather than you, if you see what I mean.

Well I, now have to put in place everything for our Opens which is for 4 days next week!!Good luck, and have fun. Organising events is very hard work. I loved the flower-girls, by the way - what were their uniforms, or is that the local baby synchro team? But - kiss-and-cry for adults? Mostly we just want to hide our faces..... on the other hand, a glass of water as we got off the ice was just what we needed.

Nicki, the photographers' website is http//www.louvainwoodmass.co.ukand he said to give him today to drive home, tomorrow to get his head on, and Wednesday to get the photos up - he hopes to "go live" on Thursday, and definitely by the weekend. He said.

[batikat]

Well I finally made it back at 2am on Monday morning. I do hope they split it to 2 days next year - it's crazy having it go on so late when people have to drive back and be ready to do stuff on a Monday morning. It also meant that I was unable to stay to see the presentations and by the time the poor synchro team came on there can't have been anyone left to watch it.

I thought Ice Sheffield did a great job making the rink look so attractive with flowers and the 'Kiss & Cry' area was a neat touch - if a little scary and whoever had the idea of a nice cold glass of water after, has my grateful appreciation. It was a long day for everyone, so thanks to all the volunteers who organised and ran it.

The organisation from NISA's side was pretty lacking though, as out of 7 skaters from my rink, 5 of us never did receive any official confirmation or timetables etc.

As for my skating - well I didn't have very high expectations as they had changed the age split on the dance so that instead of being in a 35- 50 age group I was now in a 21-49 group which meant we were up against skaters who had learned as teens or young adults which makes a big difference. I was disappointed to come last again in the compulsories and didnt' feel I had skated as badly as I was marked. Some of the younger skaters appeared to have timing errors and some strange interpretations of a ronde step but probably their smoother and more powerful overall skating ability won out.

The tunes we were given for the riverside Rhumba were awful too - very hard to discern and hear the beat through them.

So, last of 9 after the compulsories was not the best of positions. However as last year my Free dance (well, it was an OD last year) went much better. I didn't skate it as well as I have done - my back spiral went too much on the toe, my drag/turn thing was a bit uncontrolled and I almost fell off my edge coming out of my spin (never done that before so not sure what happened to it). Anyway I placed 5th in that but possibly if the age groups had been as last year ,then I might well have come first or second in it, so I wasnt' too disappointed with that. I was slightly miffed to note that the judge who had marked me most harshly in the compulsories actually did not look up from his marking sheet for the first 5 seconds or so of my free dance programme (It starts facing them so I could see this) - I guess he wasnt' expecting very much. :cry: However in the end he actually gave me good marks for it (He had me third!!!) :)

Sadly it was only enough to raise me up one place overall so I ended up 8th out of 9 overall (beating the only man in the group!).

At least my ankle held out - thanks to lots of bubble wrap cushioning the bruised area - though it was still pretty sore.

Aside from the skating it was a good weekend - nice to meet up with the other adult skaters including some I'd met at a skate camp last summer , and I even managed to get to an exhibition I wanted to see in a Sheffield gallery so worth going even if I didnt' get a medal this time.

edited to alter comment on results based on an inaccurate reading of them!!

[Michigansk8er]

My marks were pleasing and if the totals counted I'd have come third but with the way the placings were calculated I ended up fourth which is a very pleasing, but a little frustrating place to finish.
Nicki

I hear you on that one, since I've been in the very same place before. Wouldn't it be nice if the totals counted? My year this is how it went with the first six:

1 = 11
2 = 26
3 = 38
4 = 25 (me)
5 = 37
6 = 35

Anyhow, congrats on your skate. You did GREAT!!!!! :D

Do you get pewter medals? We do........it's nice to get a medal, but it's kind of a strange one to get.

[Mrs Redboots]

No, we don't get pewter medals - if you place 4th, you're just dead unlucky. But the placings were strange - in one dance, we had 2 2nd places and a 3rd, our friends had 2 1sts and a 3rd (one judge had us ahead of them :D ), and the third couple had a 1st, a 2nd and a 3rd. Now, I would have thought that put us in 2nd place, but apparently not.... oh well....

[max]

If you want to take a closer look at the marking system! You will find it all on line now at www.icesheffieldskatingacademy.co.uk/adultchamps.index.htm.
This should have happened on Sunday but for some reason the lan line wasn't working properly. However, we nipped in yesterday and managed to get it all loaded up.

We did the kiss'n'cry area because we would expect it to be there for the elite championships and we follow exactly the same rider within iceSheffield for both events. Sheffield International Venues provide all the flowers, kiss'n'cry and all the posters and banners, we are very lucky!!

[Mrs Redboots]

The link isn't coming up, I'm afraid. Could you repost it?

By the way, please don't think I'm complaining about the result, or want to query it or anything - I'm not. It's just weird..... and as it makes not a scrap of difference to the overall result, it's just out of intellectual curiosity.

[Mrs Redboots]

Results are up here (http://www.icesheffieldskatingacademy.co.uk/) - click on the link on the home page. Thank you for such a swift update!

[max]

I didn't think you were complaining Annabel, I was disappointed that we couldn't get them up on the day as planned. I know that people that can't be at the championships like to see them asap.

Its also interesting out of the hustle and bustle of the event, to look at the marks.

[NickiT]

Thanks for the link to the results. It's always nice to be able to see why you placed where you did!

Nicki

[jwrnsktr]

I would just like to use this forum to once again tell Nicki how proud I am of her and her courage in competing. I think coming in fourth is VERY HUGE and I hope that Nicki is giving herself a huge pat on the back. Kudos to all who compete and it is true - all adult skaters are winners! :bow:

[Mrs Redboots]

Yes, having had a few moments to look at the results in detail, we see that, while we had 2 2nd places in the Canasta Tango, the two judges each had us ahead of a different couple! That explains it.... :??

It was also good to see where various friends had finished - yes, Nicki, well done indeed on your 4th place - who I hadn't been able to see skate.

[Michigansk8er]

I would just like to use this forum to once again tell Nicki how proud I am of her and her courage in competing. I think coming in fourth is VERY HUGE and I hope that Nicki is giving herself a huge pat on the back. Kudos to all who compete and it is true - all adult skaters are winners! :bow:

Absolutely!!!!!!

[Mrs Redboots]

Some photos are up, but not yet all. Nicki, yours are, and John's interpretive but not his free skate yet:

http://www.lwphotography.co.uk/and follow the links.
I expect more and more will go up each day until he has the whole lot up.

Having said that, the podium shots are available, and mine (Podiums nos 22 and 23) are incredibly flattering, especially no 23. The combination of the way I'm standing and the sash on my costume make me look as though I have a waist. Which I don't.....

[Mrs Redboots]

There are now more photos up of the couples dance at the British Adult Championships:

http://www.louvainwoodmass.co.uk/skating/comps/b-adult-04/index.htm

Some are really nice photos, others show how badly I really skate.....

[Justine_R]

To all the adult skaters, I think you did great!, well done:)
You're all champions :)

[Mrs Redboots]

Finally the Solo Dance photos are up! I think that is now everything.

[skaternum]

Annabel,
You guys look good! I love the freedance costumes. (That's what they are, right?) I can tell just from looking at the pictures that you guys have made some real progress in the last couple of years.
skaternum

[flo]

Congrats to all!
Mrs. Redboots - time to soak in the tub with some of your wonderful soaps!

[Beccapoo2003]

Thanks to all for the reports! It's so great to have 3 Adult Nationals now. We're on our way to having a real World's competition someday soon. :D
ADULTS ROCK!!!!!! :bow: :bow:
Becca from Alabama

[Mrs Redboots]

Annabel,
You guys look good! I love the freedance costumes. (That's what they are, right?) I can tell just from looking at the pictures that you guys have made some real progress in the last couple of years.
skaternumThanks - yes, we have made progress, but there's a long, long way to go! I need to learn to keep my chin up more. And yes, the "Scottish dance" costumes are for our free dance.....