The 2017 British Synchronized Skating Championships take place this weekend, 14 and 15 January, at the National Ice Centre in Nottingham.
In spite of the current lack of an ice rink on the island, the Isle of Wight is fielding teams in the senior (Wight Jewels), advanced novice B (Wight Crystals), juvenile (Wight Sparkles) and elementary (Wight Sequins) events. The teams have instead been training at Gosport and Bracknell rinks, although this naturally limits the amount of ice time available.
The Jewels skate third in the senior short. In the other events, the Crystals skate second, the Sparkles skate fourth, and the Sequins skate fifth.
The IW teams are travelling up Friday, and we hope that the snow and high winds forecast for the country affects neither them nor other teams heading to the championships.
There is no live streaming.
Update, 14 January: Wight Sequins were 4th out of 11 in the elementary event at the British Championships with a score of 14.89. First place went to Icepops, second to Altair and third to Stardust. The Sequins were later awarded Most Entertaining Programme of the Day.
Wight Sparkles were 4th in the juvenile event with 21.86.
Wight Jewels are third after the senior short with 25.58 points. Two falls impacted on the score: Zariba in first on 32.53 and Team Spirit in second on 29.27 both skated cleanly.
Update, 15 January: Wight Crystals were second in the advanced novice B event with a score of 24.46. Altrincham’s Whizz Kids were first on 32.03 points.
Wight Jewels remained third after the free programme in the senior event, scoring 58.43 for a total of 84.01. Zariba were first with a total of 98.33 (65.80 in the free) and Team Spirit were second with a total of 89.03 (59.76 in the free).
According to IW coach Terri Smith, all the teams achieved personal bests. The Jewels improved almost 20 points on their score at Cardiff in November (total at Cardiff was 64.39, so they increased by 19.62 points at the British).
Wight Jewels next compete at the Leon Lurje Trophy in Gothenburg on 27 to 29 January. The IW teams next compete at the Trophy D’Ecosse, Dumfries, on 10 to 12 February.
The IW synchronized skating teams are sponsored by Wightlink. The teams have also benefited from funding from Wight Aid towards ice hire. The Wight Crystals are additionally sponsored by water supplier Wight Crystal.
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