2010 US Nationals - Men's Novice Championships

[Kim to the Max]

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Did anyone see Nathan Chan skate tonight? I am slightly in awe that he is only 10 years old...

[RachelSk8er]

I just saw his short, haven't watched long yet. But this kid is amazing. Except he's so young! They seem to have moved him up the past few years since he medaled at juvenile and intermediate at JNs, and now novice. What is he going to do, hang out in novice for another 2-3 years? I can't see an 11 yr old boy (even for as good as he is) in junior. And he'll surely run into issues in a few years when he hits puberty.

[Isk8NYC]

The higher-level skaters at the rink were watching the Novice events on Ice Network yesterday in the lobby, lol. It was so cool; I wish we could have had the rink put it on the big screen TVs instead of ESPN skiing.

[ibreakhearts66]

I don't know that he'll really run into issues when he hits puberty. I mean, he will certainly have to readjust a little bit, but boys don't seem to be affected by puberty at ALL in the same ways as girls. What I see at my rink is the jumps go for a tiny bit and then reappear much better than before. Boys grow stronger so puberty seems to help more than it hurts.

I'm also wondering what he's going to do, though. He doesn't have the jump content for Junior, from what we've seen.

Does anyone know...is he the youngest Novice champion in the history of the sport?

[RachelSk8er]

The kids sitting in first for novice dance are also really young--only 11 and 12! I need to catch their compulsories on ice network after work. I'm amazed that such a young team can skate pre-gold dances with the maturity they require and place above couples so much older and more experienced than they are. Some of the skaters in novice dance are as old as 20 (the team @ my rink is 18 and 20 yrs old).

[sk8ergalgal]

I am not at all surprised at Nathan Chan being in novice men at ten years old. Nathan seriously needs to meet Nam Nguyen. Nam is a Canadian male skater who at 8 years old won the juvenile nationals title, the following year at 9 won the pre-novice nationals, and at 10 years old the novice title. This season he competed at the junior level and finished an amazing 3rd at nationals. You need to see this guy skate.. he will probably be off to a junior grand prix event next season at 12 years old!!

Here is a link to his junior men's long program for this season:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7JImceUalg

[A.H.Black]

I've been watching Nathan since he was three. I remember he could spin well even than. I think he was really mad at himself for missing those two first jumps.

When he grows there will certainly be issues but only time will tell how serious those issues will be. I still remember Todd Eldredge being teeny when he was winning novice titles. I remember one picture where the two skaters on the lower levels towered over him on the top step.

Nathan still has a ways to go. He is only doing salchow and toe. He certainly has the work ethic. I am encouraged that his coach seems to be trying to keep his programs and training at age appropriate levels.

Edited to add - Nathan has a website - http://nathan_chen.webs.com/ He has been a grant recipient of the Michael Weiss foundation for the past couple of years.

[Schmeck]

I am not at all surprised at Nathan Chan being in novice men at ten years old. Nathan seriously needs to meet Nam Nguyen. Nam is a Canadian male skater who at 8 years old won the juvenile nationals title, the following year at 9 won the pre-novice nationals, and at 10 years old the novice title. This season he competed at the junior level and finished an amazing 3rd at nationals. You need to see this guy skate.. he will probably be off to a junior grand prix event next season at 12 years old!!

Here is a link to his junior men's long program for this season:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7JImceUalg (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7JImceUalg)

Isn't there a lower age limit for the junior events as well as the senior ones?

[A.H.Black]

Nice local story about Nathan. I guess he went home in between competition and the Gala tomorrow. http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=148&sid=9436198