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synchro_try_outs_800

The Isle of Wight synchronized skating teams are holding try-outs for new members on Tuesday 30 April and Saturday 4 May with the aim of building the squads for the 2013-14 season. Times and details as advised in the above poster.

Skaters need not be from the Isle of Wight, but must be prepared to travel to the island for practice. The teams currently include members from Gosport and Basingstoke, and in the past have even included skaters from the Midlands, showing what is possible with a lot of dedication and determination.

The teams currently benefit from sponsorship from ferry company Wightlink that helps reduce the cost of group travel to events.

Team members have to pay a monthly subscription that covers training costs and ice time. Costumes, travel and competition costs are extra.

The ISU World Team Trophy on 11 to 14 April is broadcast on the ISU skating channel at http://livemanager.eurovision.edgesuite.net/isu/site/index.html – it is unavailable in Korea and Japan. Catch-up broadcasts are available.

Event schedule and times: www.isuresults.com/events/WTT2013_TimeandPracticeSchedule.pdf

Results: www.isuresults.com/events/wtt-13_teams.htm

worlds2013_catchup

Last night’s short programmes from the 2013 ISU World Synchronized Skating Championships in Boston are available via the ISU Skating Channel. Again, they are restricted by territory, including Europe, but iowskaters was able to play them this morning in the UK. Click on Synchro Worlds 2013 in Playlists to bring up the list of Playlist Videos.

The programmes have now all made it onto YouTube.

The free programme begins at 3.15pm local time (8.15pm in the UK) and the start order is at http://www.isuresults.com/results/wcsys2013/SEG002.HTM. Teams will skate in groups of four between resurfaces.

iowskaters would like to say hello and thank you to the several thousands of synchro skating fans who have visited the site in the past day, particularly yesterday’s almost 1,500 visitors from Mexico. Mexico fielded one of the new teams in the event this year.

Official site: http://2013synchroworlds.com/

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/usfigureskating?ref=nf

Twitter: https://twitter.com/usfigureskating #Synchro2013 (official #tag) and #2013synchroworlds  (unofficial)

Web broadcasts, USA ( subscription): http://web.icenetwork.com/events/detail.jsp?id=68421

Web broadcasts, ISU channel: http://livemanager.eurovision.edgesuite.net/isu/site/index.html

Web broadcasts, Finland: http://areena.yle.fi/tv/1878286 (short) http://areena.yle.fi/tv/1878288 (free)

Web broadcasts, Sweden: http://arenan.yle.fi/tv/1878286 (short) http://arenan.yle.fi/tv/1878288 (free) Apologies, these links may not have been available in Sweden: they are the Swedish side of YLE’s site.

Results: www.isuresults.com/results/wcsys2013/

iowskaters is big in Mexico - visitors on 5 April

iowskaters is big in Mexico – visitors on 5 April

isu_channel

Live coverage of the 2013 ISU World Synchronized Skating Championships in Boston on 5 and 6 April  should be available via the ISU Skating Channel. Coverage of the short will, of course, be at an unholy time for UK viewers: the short starts at 7pm local time on 5 April and the free at 3.15pm on 6 April. Boston is 5 hours behind London, so that should be midnight and 8.15pm in the UK.

Mexico is first to skate, at 7pm (midnight in the UK), and Finland 1 is last to skate, at 10.22pm (03.22am in the UK). The complete time schedule is at www.isuresults.com.

Results and skating orders are at www.isuresults.com/results/wcsys2013/.

The broadcast is territory restricted and is not available in the USA, Canada, France, Japan, Sweden and Finland, all of which presumably have secured broadcasting rights. So iowskaters assumes it will be viewable in the UK.

In the US and US territories, it is possible to watch via subscription to icenetwork.com.Universal Sports provides delayed airing of the event on 11 to 13 April (TV schedule: www.usfigureskating.org).

In Canada, coverage is not until Saturday 13 April at 9pm BST on CBC Television (see schedule).

Finnish coverage is live on the internet on YLE Areena and later on YLE TV2, according to the Finnish skating association (www.stll.fi). The short is from 02.20 to 07.15 local time on Saturday 6 April on YLE Areena at http://areena.yle.fi/tv/1878286, with edited highlights from 14.30 to 15.50 on TV2, and the free programme is from 22.40 on Saturday to 04.30 on Areena at http://areena.yle.fi/tv/1878288, with highlights on Sunday 7 April from 12.05 to 13.00 on TV2. Access to the live broadcasts is probably possible using the YLE Areena app. Sweden has access via the Swedish side of YLE Areena (see links below). Broadcasts may be unavailable outside Finland and Sweden.

iowskaters has so far been unable to find details of broadcasts or web streaming in France or Japan.

Official site: http://2013synchroworlds.com/

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/usfigureskating?ref=nf

Twitter: https://twitter.com/usfigureskating #Synchro2013

Web broadcasts, USA ( subscription): http://web.icenetwork.com/events/detail.jsp?id=68421

Web broadcasts, ISU channel: http://livemanager.eurovision.edgesuite.net/isu/site/index.html

Web broadcasts, Finland: http://areena.yle.fi/tv/1878286 (short) http://areena.yle.fi/tv/1878288 (free)

Web broadcasts, Sweden: http://arenan.yle.fi/tv/1878286 (short) http://arenan.yle.fi/tv/1878288 (free)

Results: www.isuresults.com/results/wcsys2013/

Wight Crystals, gold medallists basic novice, Trophy D'Ecosse. Photo copyright David Paterson www.eventfotos.co.uk

Wight Crystals, gold medallists basic novice, Trophy D’Ecosse. Photo copyright David Paterson http://www.eventfotos.co.uk

The Isle of Wight County Press covers the IW synchro teams’ achievements at the Trophy D’Ecosse, Dumfries, in its edition of 28 March 2013.

The report is available online.

Link: http://www.iwcp.co.uk/news/sport/synchro-stars-golden-again-48823.aspx (PDF archive: iwcp_28_03_2013)

The 2013 ISU World Synchronized Skating Championships gets under way in Boston, USA, next week, from 3 to 6 April, The first two days are practice days, so the competition proper starts on 5 April with the short programme, followed by the free programme on 6 April.

Team competing include: Australia – Nova, Canada 1 – Nexxice, Canada 2 – Les Supremes, Croatia – Zagreb Snowflakes, Czech Republic – Olympia, Finland 1 – Team Unique, Finland 2 – Marigold IceUnity, France – Les Zoulous, Germany – Team Berlin 1, Hungary – Team Passion, Italy – Hot Shivers, Japan – Jingu Ice Messengers Grace, Mexico – Merging Edge, Russia 1 – Paradise, Russia 2 – Tartarstan, South Africa – Team Sun Things, Sweden 1 – Team Surprise, Sweden  2 – Team Boomerang, USA 1 – Haydenettes, USA 2 – Miami University.

There is no British entry. IW synchro skaters will no doubt be supporting Sweden’s Team Surprise, coached by Andrea Dohany, who has also helped develop the Wight Jewels so much this past season.

The event is sold out. In the US and US territories only it is possible to watch via subscription to icenetwork.com.

Official site: http://2013synchroworlds.com/

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/usfigureskating?ref=nf

Twitter: https://twitter.com/usfigureskating #Synchro2013

Live coverage (US only): http://web.icenetwork.com/events/detail.jsp?id=68421

With the end of an era approaching in Isle of Wight synchronized skating, iowskaters has been trawling through the  vaults to look at how far the discipline has progressed. The clip presented here shows Isle of Wight synchronized skating team Wight Diamonds competing in their first British championships, held on 22 January 2006 in Nottingham. The team competed at intermediate level.

The Diamonds had by now swelled to 16 skaters: Sarah England, Phoena Wilmott Bayer, Kate Nutborne, Emma Wilks, Georgina Bourne, Katie Brannan, Emily Adams, Kate England, Gemma Marsh, Nicole Hinton, Ellie Taylor, Yelena Brown, Sabrina Danzig, Sarah Close, Gemma Fishel and Isabelle Coeshott. But Gemma Marsh would not skate at this event, suffering a scaphoid fracture just weeks beforehand.

The team skated well to take fifth place. They finished ahead of the Gosport All Stars, who had beaten the Diamonds at Lee Valley just two months earlier. Lee Valley’s Eclipse were first, Bracknell’s Fusion second, Moray Dolphins third and Aberdeen’s Snow Leopards were fourth.

The routine, music and dresses had changed in the space of two months. The Diamonds skated to a medley from Grease, which to this day still sees use by an IW synchro team: the Sparkles. As do the same striking purple and black outfits.

The British Synchronized Skating Championships for the 2005/6 season had few entries: three adult teams, four juvenile teams and six intermediate teams. Of those, three were from Lee Valley – a reminder that once upon a time everything in UK synchro revolved around this east London club.

Wight Diamonds

The Wight Diamonds, January 2006. Coach Terri Smith (nee Fleming) is pictured left

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