Nottingham Icicles are the team chosen by the National Ice Skating Association for the junior synchronized skating world championships in Helsinki, on 7 to 9 March, with Wight Jewels named as reserve.

This season the Icicles built what proved to be an unassailable lead in qualification points, based on performance at the British championships in November and ISU internationals this season. Even though the gap ultimately proved unclosable, the Jewels gave it their all, skating through severe sickness at the French Cup in Rouen last weekend in one last attempt to score sufficient points.

Along with other junior worlds regulars, such as Team Braemar of the USA, the Jewels will unfortunately be sitting this one out. Reserves simply don’t go unless there is a disaster.

Nottingham Icicles last represented the UK in a junior world event at the Junior World Challenge Cup in Neuchatel in March 2009. That year the Wight Jewels in fact qualified for the JWCC by winning the 2008/09 British championships (scoring 69.82 against Nottingham’s 61.70), but gave up their place to Nottingham on the grounds that the newly formed Jewels didn’t have sufficient international experience (the team had only just been formed out of novice team Wight Diamonds). At the 2009 JWCC in Neuchatel, the Icicles scored 73.51, achieving 18th place. Their form this year gives hope for a much higher placing.

Icicles, however, will have a tough job getting their British championships score to hold up at the worlds, having fallen short of this value at the Mozart Cup in Salzburg in January. Here at iowskaters.com, we wish them all the best in the attempt: the Jewels have only once managed to better their British championships score at a world championship event.

NISA link: www.iceskating.org.uk/node/5903

Official website: www.jsynchroworlds2013.com

Facebook event: www.facebook.com/events/152884378191785/