Golding Takes To The Stage At Riga Cup

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Elizabeth Golding (14) returns to the ice this week when she makes her season debut at the International Skating Union (ISU) Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating’s Riga Cup in Riga Latvia (4-7 September).

This is the second year the Irish Junior champion takes her place on the circuit which features up and coming global figure skating talent and provides young skaters aged 13 to 19 with the opportunity to compete at a high international level.

2019 marks the 11th anniversary of Ireland’s first participation in the ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating. The series started in 1997 and includes seven events which serve as qualifiers for the ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final in December.

Golding will compete on Thursday 5 September in the short programme and Friday 6 September in the free skating. Her performances will be broadcast live on the ISU’s YouTube channel. The event can also be followed by using the #JGPFigure and #FigureSkating hashtags across various social media platforms.

Event Page: http://www.isuresults.com/events/fsevent03111897.htm

 

2019-2020 Irish Speed Skating Team Announced

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The selection of the Irish National Speed Skating Team Team for the 2019-2020 season has been made by the Board of Directors of the Ice Skating Association of Ireland (ISAI).

The ISAI has selected the following members to compete in International Skating Union (ISU) speed skating events for the 2019-2020 season:

Speed Skating

Tara Donoghue

Short Track Speed Skating

Ava Fradlin-Ryan
Ryan McAnuff
Sean McAnuff
Liam O’Brien

Tara Donoghue continued to make history last season by becoming the first Irish speed skater to participate in the World Junior Speed Skating Championships. She also set a number of new Irish records and personal bests over the course of her competitive assignments.

Ava Fradlin-Ryan is the first female short track speed skater to be named to an Irish national team. She trains under Simon Cho, 2010 Olympic medallist, at the Potomac Speed Skating Club in Maryland, United States of America.

Ryan McAnuff started a degree in medicine at the University of Limerick last year and balanced his studies with training and competition. At the European Short Track Speed Skating Championships in Dordrecht, Netherlands, he smashed his 1500 metres national record by four seconds.

Sean McAnuff joined his brother Ryan at those Europeans and they became the first Irish ice skaters to compete in the same category at an International Skating Union (ISU) Championships. Sean capped off his season by making his World Short Track Speed Skating Championship debut in Sofia, Bulgaria.

Liam O’Brien is selected for the Irish national team for the first time. He currently trains at the Canterbury Olympic Ice Rink in Sydney, Australia with coaches Scott Weekes and Maggie Holland.

You can find out more about our national team members here.

2019-2020 Figure Skating Test Passing Scores

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The Ice Skating Association of Ireland (ISAI) figure skating test passing scores for the 2019-2020 season can be viewed here and will be effective as of 1 September 2019.

ISAI AGM 2019

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The Ice Skating Association of Ireland (ISAI) Annual General Meeting (AGM) will take place on 18 September 2019.

Current members will have received an e-mail with further details on this year’s AGM. Please check your junk mail or spam folders if the e-mail does not appear in your inbox. If you still cannot retrieve the e-mail, please contact us at info@isai.ie to request it to be sent again.

Stakelum Fourth, McAllister Fifth At Tayside Trophy

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The past two days saw Irish figure skaters Sam McAllister and Conor Stakelum compete at the Tayside Trophy in Dundee, United Kingdom.

Stakelum was the first to take to the ice for the Senior Men’s short programme on Day One of the competition in the Scottish city. Skating to “Nightshade” by The Lumineers, he included a triple loop, triple toe loop/triple toe loop combination and a double Axel in his routine. He also executed three Level 4 spins and a Level 4 step sequence to rack up a new Irish record score of 61.54 to put himself in third place.

McAllister skated immediately after Stakelum and performed to “Take Five” by the Dave Brubeck Quartet. He landed a triple Lutz/double toe loop combination, a triple flip and a double Axel. He had two of his spins graded Level 4 and notched up a new personal best of 59.49 to put himself in fourth place.

The following day the competitors turned up for the free skating. Stakelum debuted another new programme, this time to “The Sound of Silence” by Disturbed. He attempted five triple jumps during his four-minute free and received Level 4 for all three of his spins. He was awarded a score of 100.12 to give him a final total of 161.66 and fourth place.

McAllister also unveiled a new routine to the “Pirates of the Caribbean” film soundtrack. He tried five triple jumps as well as two double Axels. He earned 95.33 points for the free which gave him an overall score of 154.82 and fifth place.

You can see detailed results for the Tayside Trophy here.

2019-2020 Irish Figure Skating Team Announced

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The selection of the Irish Figure Skating National Team for the 2019-2020 season has been made by the Board of Directors of the Ice Skating Association of Ireland (ISAI).

The following ISAI members have been chosen to represent Ireland on the international stage at International Skating Union (ISU) events:

Senior Men – Sam McAllister

Senior Men – Conor Stakelum

Junior Ladies – Elizabeth Golding

Advanced Novice Ladies – Sophia Tkacheva

Sam McAllister won his first Senior National title in April this year in his first full season as a senior competitor. From Ballymoney, Northern Ireland, he is coached by Margaret O’Neill in Nottingham and Sheffield, England.

Conor Stakelum is a five-time Senior National champion. A native of Dublin, he trains in Dundee, Scotland with Simon and Debi Briggs. He finished 33rd at this year’s European Figure Skating Championships in Minsk, Belarus.

Elizabeth Golding picked up her first Junior Ladies title at the Irish Figure Skating Championships in April. She is coached in Moscow, Russia by Alexandra Chistiakova.

Sophia Tkacheva has been selected for the first time as a member of the Irish National Team. From Gorey, County Wexford, this year she claimed Irish Championships silver at Advanced Novice level.

Sam McAllister Closes Out Season At Skate Victoria

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Newly crowned Irish champion Sam McAllister put a line under his season this weekend when he competed at Skate Victoria in Sofia, Bulgaria.  Read more

Member Workshop

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A two hour members workshop will be held from 14.00hrs at the Premier Inn London Stratford Hotel, London on Sunday, 31 March. The workshop will cover membership of the Ice Skating Association of Ireland, rules and regulations, competitions and national team selection. Please contact info@isai.ie for further details.

Sean McAnuff 38th At World Short Track

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Ireland’s Sean McAnuff has finished in 38th place overall at the World Short Track Speed Skating Championships this weekend in Sofia, Bulgaria.

On the first of three days of racing, McAnuff participated in the qualifying rounds. In the 1500 metres quarterfinals, he lined up in Heat 4 and came home in fifth in a time of  2:23.770. Next up were the 500 metres preliminaries where he finished third in Heat 5 with a time of 43.333 and advanced to the heats. He posted a quicker time of 43.277 in Heat 2 to end up in fifth. The 1000 metres preliminaries ended up being his final race of the opening day and he placed fourth in Heat 1 in a time of 1:31:968.

There were two ranking finals for McAnuff on the second day of competition inside the Arena Armeec. In Heat 3 of the 1500 metres, he crossed the line in first place in a time of 2:37.283. He backed that result up by coming second in Heat 6 of the 500 metres where he clocked 43.440.

The final race of McAnuff’s maiden World Championships appearance was the 1000 metres ranking final on the last day of competition. He placed fourth in Heat 4 with a time of 1:32.266. This gave him an overall classification of 38th for the event.

“I had a great weekend of racing against the best in the world,” McAnuff. “I am looking forward to next season already and will be working hard in preparation over the coming months.”

Full results for the World Short Track Speed Skating Championships are here.

Tara Donoghue Caps Season With National Records

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Tara Donoghue participated this weekend in her final competition of the season at the Viking Race 2019 in Heerenveen, Netherlands.

Donoghue began the first day of the event by posting a time of 43.29 in the 500 metres to finish in 11th place for the distance. She followed that up with a national junior record of 2:11.69 in the 1500 metres for a 9th place.

The second day started with Donoghue taking more than a second off her 1000 metres personal best and national record by posting a time of 1:24.29 which put her in 10th for the distance. She also lined up for the 3000 metres, but unfortunately fell mid-race and was unable to finish. Nevertheless, two new Irish records can only be viewed as a hugely positive way to conclude a very successful season overall.