Hard to believe we are just two weeks away from the premiere of Season 2 of This Week in Skating! It’s so exciting that the podcast is 1 years old and that we are kicking off our sophomore season on May 22!
To celebrate our first season, Daphne thought it would be fun to have what we call a “mailbox” or a Q&A episode where we answer your questions about ourselves, skating and podcasting. We got a lot of questions from you, listeners, and it was a lot of fun to record that podcast! So make sure you check that episode, which is out today.
Also, this past week, we had a mid-week episode out with Jirina Ribbens, executive director of Ice Theatre of New York to talk about their Home Season performances and the other projects that the company is producing. As a matter of fact, as this blog comes out, Ice Theatre of New York has its benefit gala tonight where they will be honoring Jason Brown and Rohene Ward.
Also happening this evening, Daphne and I actually are recording an interview with someone we have been wanting to get on the podcast for a bit. So stay tuned for that episode next week!
But of course, just because we aren’t doing our usual weekly episodes at the moment – doesn’t mean the news in the skating world stops. Below is a recap of some of the news that came down this week. Just think of it as our show notes!
Don’t forget we still have our giveaway going on! Leave us a review on Apple Podcasts by May 21 to enter to win a This Week in Skating mug. Make sure you check out the end of this blog for the details!
Have an Ice Week!
Gina and Daphne
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Event Recap
Thailand Open Figure Skating took place in Bangkok, May 2-4. It preceded by an International Coaches Seminar in Singles/Pairs supported by ISU Development, April 26-29, led by Olga Ganicheva & Aleksey Letov with assistance from their students Jimmy Ma, Emily Chan/Spencer Howe & Misha Mitrofanov.
The 2023 U.S. Figure Skating Governing Council took place May 3-6 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
General Skating News
The entry list for this season’s Irish Figure Skating Championships is now online. The championships will take place June 17-18. Interesting to note – Carolane Soucisse/Shane Firus, who have previously competed for Canada, are listed to compete.
Deutschen Eislauf-Union published a press release about their 2023-2024 national team lists on May 5, 2023. https://eislauf-union.de/de/media1/news/937-bundeskaderlisten-f%C3%BCr-die-saison-2023-2024-ver%C3%B6ffentlicht.
In an updated version, Tim Dieck’s name is no longer listed in the “Ice Dance EK” section: https://www.eislauf-union.de/files/users/903/Bundeskaderliste2023-2024_Homepage_BK-1.pdf
Barbora Kuciánová and Martin Bidař debuted as a new pair for the Czech Republic at the show in Ostrava May 6. They have been skating together for less than two months & will be coached by Petr Bidař & Bruno Marcotte. https://czechskating.org/clanek/1093/cesko-ma-novou-sportovni-dvojici
U.S. Figure Skating is scheduled to announce the location of Skate America on May 10.
Recent Articles & Interviews:
Olympian Piper Gilles opens up about her frightening experience with ovarian cancer with the Globe and Mail. https://theglobeandmail.com/sports/article-this-isnt-a-poor-me-story-piper-gilles-opens-up-about-her-frightening/
Piper’s social media post about her cancer diagnosis: https://www.instagram.com/p/Cr9CEdvA4NX/
Lynn Rutherford did a Q&A with Rohene Ward: https://dvora.substack.com/p/holding-an-edge
Kat Cornetta talked with Gabriella Izzo about her switch to pairs: https://www.bostonglobe.com/2023/05/03/sports/gabbie-izzo-figure-skating/
Maia and Alex Shibutani’s new children’s book, “Amazing: Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders Who Inspire Us All”, is out. The Shibutanis have been doing book signings and TV appearances for the book.
Segment – Social Media Updates:
Korea’s Hyejin Cho and Steven Adcock announced the end of their partnership. Hyejin announced she is looking for a new partner to continue skating pairs: https://instagram.com/p/Cr6EdDOgc3f/
Steven Adcock has made the difficult decision to retire from competitive skating due to dealing with a difficult back injury.
Denisa Cimlová and Dario Cirisano are a new ice dance team. Cirisano posted on Instagram that they are working at the Ice Academy of Montreal.
Japan’s Azusa Tanaka shared the same photo posted by Shingo Nishiyama announcing their ice dance partnership on her new Instagram account. They will be training at the Ice Academy of Montreal.
Russia’s Aleksandra Boikova and Dmitrii Kozlovskii have switched coaches from Tamara Moskvina’s group to Eteri Tutberidze’s group.
Program News
WASA (World Arena Skating Academy) announced that USA’s junior pair team Olivia Flores & Luke Wang will skate to “The Force Theme” & “Rey’s Theme” Star Wars cover by Samuel Kim Music for their free skate. Choreography by Drew Meekins with music arrangement by Hugo Chouinard and Luke Wang.
Hannah Lim and Ye Quan will skate to Prince for their 2023-2024 Rhythm Dance.
Canada’s Nadiia Bashynska and Peter Beaumont will skate to INXS’s Never Tear Us Apart and Duran Duran’s The Wild Boys for their 2023-2024 Rhythm Dance
Japan’s Wakaba Higuchi to skate to Fix You/Paradise for her 2023-2024 free skate
Team USA’s Beck Strommer will skate to “The Night We Met” for his short program. Program choreographed by Drew Meekins and Beck Strommer
Segment – Upcoming Events for the Week:
Stars on Ice Canada is underway!
Contests:
This Week in Skating Coffee Mug
Over the next month, we are holding a contest for our first This Week in Skating swag – a coffee mug! All you have to do is visit Apple Podcasts & leave us a written review by May 20!
We will announce the winner on our May 22nd episode.
Where they can find us (socials & website)
- You can find us at www.thisweekinskating.com
- We’re on all the socials including Twitter (@thiswkinskating), Facebook (facebook.com/thisweekinskating) and Instagram (@thisweekinskating)
- We’d love your feedback or questions and you can reach out to us on social media or email us at thisweekinskating@gmail.com.