Remember When: Skate America 2019 Pairs Free Program

A year ago today. We were all sitting close together sharing snacks and laughs. A year ago today we were planning to visit some resorts and the pop up FRIENDS anniversary event. A year ago today we visited the M&M store and the World of Hershey's. A year ago today the Free Programs for the competitors happened and we were there to watch. A year ago today Covid wasn't a concern. A year ago today was a lot more fun than it is today as I deal with a mountain of Monday issues.

Yes, another series of posts brought on by a whine is happening. I'd apologize for my privilege of having been able to travel at all in the good times much less the less than good, but I want to validate my feelings on my blog, so I will. I don't expect many -if any- to even read these, maybe if I did my attitude would be different. 

The Pairs competition held some surprises with Team USA (who'd've thought Cain and Le Duc would have SO many issues that night, and that Jessica and Brian would have the start of a stellar season that would be cut short just a few months later when the world came to a screeching halt) and even a year later I'm surprised by the overall outcome of the event. It was a great way to start off the day of competition.

Just like with the last couple of days worth of posts on this subject, I will try to keep to 2 pics of each team. You can view all of my photos from Skate America 2019 in my gallery.

Camille RUEST / Andrew WOLFE - Canada

Remember When: Skate America 2019 Pairs Short

The Ice Sweeps were very Vegas in costume.

Continuing with this weekend of whining - today's blog post will be a series of four so that I don't completely go over kill in one giant blog post. Kudos to anyone who is reading, at this point I'm not doing much with content other than just photo dumping and I do apologize. I should have posted these photos a year ago and I never got around to it (to be fair I didn't finish editing these photos until mid 2020). 

The great thing about Skate America is it's a quick weekend event. Two days of competition bookended with an official practice and an exhibition gala. I had never been to an international event - the only other skating competitions I've been to are US Nationals in 2005, 06, 08, and 18 - so it was a new and very enjoyable experience. The arena was smaller than what I'm used to for events, but the staff were incredibly friendly. The seats were great for spectating. We met some awesome fans (and one not so awesome one, but it ended up being highly entertaining anyway). Made some new friends.

And the skating was amazing. I don't shoot photos for any reason other than for my own enjoyment. I like to challenge myself into getting the right shot. The lighting in the arena worked really well for cameras and of course once the TV lights come on it's perfect.

The first discipline was pairs. It was a small field and not many of the big names were there other than those from the US (which if you're a figure skating fan you know it's the weak link for Team USA). Didn't matter to me as it was still a great event and I found some new pairs to follow. I'll try to keep the photos to 1-2 per pair, but I make no promises. It's like choosing between your children... ya just shouldn't! (As always, click the "read more" to see all the photos under the cut, and check out my gallery for all of my photos from Skate America 2019.)

Zoe JONES / Christopher BOYADJI - GREAT BRITAIN

USFS "Preview" - Championship Pairs Teams

Thanks to Sylvia at Unseen Skaters for the unofficial roster.

Ashley Cain/Timothy LeDuc Short Program / Long Program

Jessica Calalang/Zack Sidhu Short Program / Long Program

Marissa Castelli/Mervin Tran Short Program / Long Program

Winter Deardorff/Max Settlage Short Program / Long Program

Haven Denney/Brandon Frazier Short Program / Long Program

Nica Digerness/Danny Neudecker Short Program / Long Program

Jade Esposito/Rique Newby-Estrella Short Program / Long Program

Caitlin Fields/Ernie Utah Stevens Short Program / Long Program

Tarah Kayne/Danny O’Shea Short Program / Long Program

Chelsea Liu/Brian Johnson Short Program / Long Program

Jessica Pfund/Joshua Santillan Short Program / Long Program

Alexa Scimeca-Knierim/Chris Knierim Short Program / Long Program

Erika Smith/AJ Reiss Short Program / Long Program

Deanna Stellato-Dudek/Nathan Bartholomay Short Program / Long Program

Allison Timlen/Justin Highgate-Brutman Short Program / Long Program

Alexandria Yao/Jacob Simon Short Program / Long Program

30 Days of [Figure] Skating: Day Two

Day Two: Favorite Pairs Program

I think anyone who "grew up with the sport" in the 90s feels a special connection to the iconic pair of Gordeeva & Grinkov, and I was no exception. They were considered perfection personified. Can't really argue with that, though I never saw them skate live. There was a magic quality about them that so few pairs seem to have.

My favorite program, then, is naturally one of theirs. It's their Vocalise Program (also known as the Rodin Number). It's exquisite.

Buntin, Chipeur announce retirements

News broke this week that Canadian pairs skater Craig Buntin and Men's figure skater Vaughn Chipeur have announced their retirements from competitive skating. Craig Buntin, 30, has been on the national and international pairs scene for quite awhile and was on national champion with Valerie Marcoux from 2004-06. In recent years, Buntin skated and competed with Megan Duhamel.

Buntin is enrolled in the MBA program at McGill University, and plans to still be a part of skating though more behind the scenes.

Buntin stated in his press release, "Training, sacrificing, creating, performing and sharing the spotlight with my partners and coaches has meant more to me than anyone could imagine...I am so grateful to have had figure skating in my life and so proud to have represented such an incredible country."

In a statement released today, Vaughn Chipeur is the latest skater to announce his retirement from competitive skating. Chipeur, 25, is a two time Canadian national silver medalist as well as 2010 Olympian. Chipeur was 12th at the 2009 World Championships and 23rd at the Vancouver Winter Games.

Chipeur stated that he will tour through the summer before joining a cruise ship's ice skating cast.

"I want to wish him well in his professional career," Scott Davis, his coach, said, "and will miss those high flying triple axels on a daily basis."

Sale & Pelletier Call It Quits

After months of speculation and rumor, the truth is finally out: the love story is over, Jamie Sale & David Pelletier's marriage is at an end. The duo have been seperated for eighteen months, according to their statement to the press earlier this week, and the announcement seems to be no more than a formality. This was the first marriage for Sale, and Pelletier's second (his first ended in divorce and it was soon public knowledge that he had entered a relationship with Sale).

The partnership was magic on the ice, but at times rocky off. Depending on if you are team Sale or team Pelletier it seems the story changes as to who is the one most to blame. Still, the pair is splitting amicably enough that they will continue skating together as well as sharing custody of their son Jesse (born in 2007).

As a fan of this pair I am deeply saddened by the turn of events. Having had to endure the long wait for the rumors to be proved true or denied, on one hand I'm relieved, but I was hoping for a better outcome. Now rumors abound as to who strayed from the marriage and with what other skaters. I say leave them be! Who cares! Me, personally, I'm hoping that through skating together they rekindle something, for the sake of their family. I'm one of those diehard dreamers who believes the fairytale.

It's another reminder that the era is over, I suppose.

Photo (C) Associated Press, 2002.

Pair's Short - Numbers Drawn

Pairs, come out with your blades a-blazin'!
http://www.vancouver2010.com/olympic-figure-skating/schedule-and-results/pairs-short-program_fsx020201Tu.html

1 SHEN Xue / ZHAO Hongbo CHN
2 SERGEJEVA Maria / GLEBOV Ilja EST
3 SULEJ Joanna / CHRUSCINSKI Mateusz POL
4 DENNEY Caydee / BARRETT Jeremy USA
5 HAUSCH Maylin / WENDE Daniel GER
6 JAMES Vanessa / BONHEUR Yannick FRA
7 BAZAROVA Vera / LARIONOV Yuri RUS
8 EVORA Amanda / LADWIG Mark USA
9 LANGLOIS Anabelle / HAY Cody CAN
10 KOSTENKO Ekaterina / TALAN Roman UKR
11 DELLA MONICA Nicole / KOCON Yannick ITA
12 KEMP Stacey / KING David GBR
13 MORAND Anais / DORSAZ Antoine SUI
14 MUKHORTOVA Maria / TRANKOV Maxim RUS
15 VOLOSOZHAR Tatiana / MOROZOV Stanislav UKR
16 KAVAGUTI Yuko / SMIRNOV Alexander RUS
17 DUBE Jessica / DAVISON Bryce CAN
18 PANG Qing / TONG Jian CHN
19 ZHANG Dan / ZHANG Hao CHN
20 SAVCHENKO Aliona / SZOLKOWY Robin GER

The right pairs are going to Vancouver.

I was so happy to see reputation judging get thrown out the window during the pairs competition in Spokane. While it was devastating to see Keauna & Rockne falter as much as they did, and Brooke and Ben not make it onto the big podium (still don't get teh whole pewter medal thing, but I digress), it was fantastic to watch Caydee & Jeremy and Amanda and Mark skate like never before and grab first and second.

Caydee and Jeremy have fast tracked their careers to the point where they're now the new "It" team. I've seem Jeremy skate and struggle with other partners for a few years at nationals, but this time it's working. Caydee is MAGIC out there and she brings out a different skater in him. With time they'll settle down and -I believe- will become one of the US golden pairs. I really do have faith. I know that Keauna and Rockne have been given a similar prediction, and -perhaps- they still will, but for now the stars are a little team from Florida.

Also from Florida - Amanda and Mark - it took 8 years of dedication, hard work, and heart, but they finally made it. My friend runs a great fan site for them and I just know she was insane there in spokane watching them skate that amazing long program and then waiting to find out if they'd hold onto second.

Ultimately I believe the right decision was made to go with the top two teams for teh Olympic team. Realistically, the US does not have a chance at a podium finish, and while we do want the highest placements possible, it's also about achieving dreams. Amanda and Mark and Caydee and Jeremy's stories make for great television, which is the only way pairs figure skating wins in the US this year. I know NBC put all of their eggs in Keauna and Rockne's basket, but they're just going to have to deal with the changes... roll with the punches... and all that jazz.

Good night from the land of the midnight... well... snow...