Irish Ice Skating Thrived In 2022 Reaching New Heights

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Irish ice skating broke new ground in 2022 as activities largely resumed after pandemic restrictions were lifted.

The year began dramatically when Conor Stakelum stepped in at the last moment to compete in Tallinn, Estonia at his fourth European Figure Championships in January. He placed 3oth which was his highest placement ever at the event.

February saw figure skating national team members Adare Condon, Dracy Condon, Robyn Foster, Elizabeth Golding and Sam McAllister participate at international competitions across Europe.

In March, Elizabeth Golding became the first skater to represent Ireland at the European Youth Olympic Festival when the postponed edition in Vuokatti, Finland finally was held. She placed 26th.

Sean McAnuff and Liam O’Brien became the first skaters from Ireland to compete in the same category at an ISU World Championships when they raced at Short Track Speed Skating Worlds in Montreal, Canada in April. They finished 35th and 37th respectively. The same month Dillon Judge, Robyn Foster and Sophia Tkacheva all placed inside the top ten at the Kurbada Cup in Riga, Latvia, while Sam McAllister claimed a silver medal at the Triglav Trophy in Jesenice, Slovenia. Amidst all of that, the Irish Winter Sports National Governing Bodies, including the Ice Skating Association of Ireland, together with the Olympic Federation of Ireland launched the Irish Winter Sports Strategy.

The 2021/2022 season concluded with the Irish Figure Skating Championships held for the first time since 2020. The Dundee Ice Arena hosted the competition over two days with Laura Hegarty and Kevin Hegarty crowned the first ever champions in the Junior Ice Dance event. Sam McAllister and Dillon Judge both won third national titles in their respective categories, while Robyn Foster picked up her first national title.

In July, Conor Stakelum announced his retirement following a career where among other achievements he made history by becoming the first Irish male skater to participate at a European Figure Skating Championships. Among the 2022/2023 figure skating national team members selected were Laura Hegarty and Kevin Hegarty, another first for Irish ice dance.

Ireland fielded its largest ever team at an ISU Junior Grand Prix with Dillon Judge (Men), Robyn Foster (Women) and Laura Hegarty and Kevin Hegarty (Ice Dance) taking to the ice in Courchevel, France at the end of August. The Hegartys also became the first ever ice dance team to represent Ireland at an ISU event. The same weekend Sam McAllister took a bronze medal at the Britannia Figure Cup in Sheffield.

Sophia Tkacheva joined Dillon Judge and Laura Hegarty and Kevin Hegarty in Gdansk, Poland for Team Ireland’s second designated ISU Junior Grand Prix of the season in late September.

In October, Sam McAllister, Dillon Judge and Sophia Tkacheva were back at the Dundee Ice Arena for Tayside Trophy. Both Judge and Tkacheva posted a new set of season bests, while McAllister collected valuable ISU World Ranking points in coming fifth in his event.

Emerald Skate Learn To Skate lessons returned in November with courses held at Dundrum On Ice. Dillon Judge and Sophia Tkacheva rounded out 2022 by competing at the NRW Trophy in Dortmund, Germany. The ISAI Annual General Meeting was held virtually on 30 November and a new Board of Directors was elected.

The final month of 2022 began in spectacular style with an Ice Parade of Nations held at Dundrum On Ice to celebrate the inaugural World Ice Skating Day on 4 December. Liam O’Brien participated in back to back World Cups in Almaty, Kazakhstan setting a new national record in the 1000 metres and also becoming the first Irish short track speed skater to qualify for a World Cup semi-final.

2022 has been a landmark year for Irish ice skating with new heights achieved across a range of disciplines. The ISAI looks forward to making 2023 an even better year with the continued cooperation of all our stakeholders.

2023 Short Track And Figure Euros Teams Named

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January 2023 will be a busy month with Ireland represented at both Short Track Speed Skating and Figure Skating European Championships.

Sean McAnuff and Liam O’Brien will race at Short Track Europeans between 13-15 January at the Hala Olivia in Gdansk, Poland. McAnuff finished 35th at the World Championships in Montreal, Canada back in April. It will be his fourth appearance at Europeans.

“I am really excited to compete the upcoming European Championships as it will be my first time in Poland,” McAnuff said. “I took most of this past year off to relax and reflect on why I would like to continue to pursue a career in speed skating. I came to the conclusion going into this competition I find it rewarding to achieve goals I set out for myself. I want to strive to race to the best of my ability and encourage other to do the same while strengthening friendships to be more involved in the skating community.”

O’Brien has had a great season so far. In back to back outings at World Cups in Almaty, Kazakhstan, he set a new national record in the 1000 metres and also became the first Irish skater to race in a World Cup semi-final at any distance.

“I’m excited to get the opportunity to race at Europeans,” O’Brien said. “I can’t wait to head back to Poland where I skated my first competition and previous European Championships for Ireland. I hope to build on the performance from World Cup 4 and aim towards the championship main event.”

After missing out on the previous two editions through cancellation and illness respectively, Sam McAllister makes his European debut at the Metro Areena in Espoo, Finland with the championships taking place 23-29 January. He will become only the third skater to represent Ireland at the event since it began back in 1891.

“I am beyond excited and ready for Europeans,” McAllister said. “I have never travelled to Finland before so I’m looking forward to also visiting a new country. I am planning to go and enjoy this event and gain more experience.”

ISU European Short Track Speed Skating Championships 2023 – Gdansk, Poland (13-15 January)

Men: Sean McAnuff, Liam O’Brien

ISU European Figure Skating Championships 2023 – Espoo, Finland (23-29 January)

Men: Sam McAllister

ISAI Board of Directors Announced

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Following their election at the ISAI AGM on 30 November 2022, the ISAI Board of Directors subsequently met for the first time and during the meeting the new board roles were established as follows:

President: Seán Gillis
Vice-President: Clara Peters
Finance Director: Frank Mulhern
Company Secretary: Frieda Verbaenen
Director: Mark Elmore

Breakthrough For O’Brien At Almaty World Cup

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This weekend saw Liam O’Brien take Irish short track speed skating to new heights at the World Cup in Almaty, Kazakhstan.

O’Brien opened his second World Cup at the Halyk Arena with the 1500 metres quarterfinals where he lined up in Heat 1. He was racing well until he was impeded by another skater and crossed the line in fifth place with a modest time of 2:55.108. However, he subsequently was advanced to the semi-finals the following afternoon. He also participated in the 500 metres (2) heats where he came fourth in Heat 1 with no time recorded.

On the afternoon of the second day of competition, O’Brien took his place in Heat 2 of the 1500 metres semi-finals, making history for Ireland in the process. No Irish short track speed skater had ever competed in an ISU World Cup semi before. He raced valiantly finishing in 6th place and just missed out on qualifying for the B Final in a time of 2:17.986.

O’Brien closed his racing in Almaty with the repechage quarterfinals of the 500 metres (2) event. Despite posting a new personal best time of 42.212 in Heat 3, he just missed out on advancing to the repechage semi-finals by one place.

“The last two World Cups I’ve learnt a lot and will take it all into training for the upcoming competitions,” O’Brien said. “I am happy to have set new personal bests and my first top 20 at a World Cup event. I hope to there in the semi-finals once again this season and continue to improve on my results.”

O’Brien Set For Second Kazakhstan World Cup

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Liam O’Brien had contrasting fortunes at last weekend’s ISU World Cup Short Track Speed Skating in Almaty, Kazakhstan, but he is back on the ice for another round of racing at this weekend’s World Cup in the same venue.

O’Brien started auspiciously last week by breaking the Irish national record for the 1000 metres with a time of 1:26.378. However, in the 1500 metres (2) event he crashed out in Heat 3 which put a premature ending to the competition for him.

O’Brien is scheduled to line up this weekend in the 500 metres (2) and 1500 metres with competition beginning tomorrow (16 December) with subsequent rounds on Saturday (17 December) and Sunday (18 December).

The World Cup can be viewed live on the ISU YouTube channel and followed via the #ShortTrackSkating hashtag on social media.

O’Brien Back On Track For Kazakhstan World Cup

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Liam O’Brien is back to racing this weekend at the first of two World Cup Short Track Speed Skating events in Almaty, Kazakhstan (9-11 December).

O’Brien will race over 1000 and 1500 metre distances to try to advance from the qualifying rounds which will be held on Friday through to the subsequent rounds on Saturday and Sunday. This will be the first time he suits up for Ireland since the World Championships in April this year.

“I am excited to race again this season at the World Cup this weekend,” O’Brien said. “I am hoping to go out there and race strong and see how I fare against my competitors.”

The World Cup can be viewed live on the ISU YouTube channel and followed via the #ShortTrackSkating hashtag on social media.

 

 

Judge 11th; Tkacheva 26th At NRW Trophy

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National team members Sophia Tkacheva and Dillon Judge were back in action this weekend at the NRW Trophy in Dortmund, Germany in their respective categories.

Tkacheva began the event for Team Ireland in the Junior Women’s short programme. She opened her routine with an attempted double Axel and went on to land a double Lutz-double toe loop combination and a solo double loop. She ended her programme with a Level 4 change foot combination spin. A score of 30.05 points put her in 27th place overnight.

In the following day’s free skating, Tkacheva commenced with a double loop and again attempted a double Axel. She included five other jumping passes in her performance and garnered Level 3 for both a flying change foot sit spin and a layback spin. She scored 55.38 points which placed her 24th in the free and she moved up a spot to 26th overall with a total of 85.43.

Judge cleanly landed a triple Salchow-double toe loop combination at the start of the Junior Men’s short programme before attempting a triple loop. He also included a double Axel and two Level 3 spins in his routine. His score of 38.49 points put him in 11th place at the midway stage of the event.

The next day Judge concluded the competition with the free skating. He began with a triple Salchow attempt followed by a double Axel. Later on in the programme another successfully landed double Axel earned a positive grade of execution from the judging panel. He also received full value for a Level 3 flying camel spin. His free score of 66.28 points gave him a combined total of 104.77 points and he remained in 11th place.

“Overall I was pretty dissatisfied as the mistakes I made were not reflected in practices,” Judge said. “However, for the first time, I managed to achieve new spin levels on the flying camel.”

Sam McAllister was third after the Senior Men’s short programme, but had to withdraw from the event due to injury.

Irish Figure Skaters Hit Their Stride At Tayside Trophy

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With the season well and truly under way, a trio of Irish figure skaters competed this weekend at the Tayside Trophy in Dundee, Scotland.

After his withdrawal midway through Lombardia Trophy last month, Sam McAllister was back to full health at this event. In the Senior Men’s short programme, he nailed a triple Lutz at the start of his routine and then attempted a triple toe loop-triple toe loop combination. He also landed a double Axel and all three of his spins were awarded Level 4. He scored 58.37 points and stood in fifth place overnight.

The free skating took place earlier today and McAllister included five triple jumps in his programme to “The Sound of Silence” by Disturbed. He once again earned Level 4 for all three of his spins and his step sequence was also given Level 4 by the technical panel. He posted a score of 104.05 points for the free which gave him a total of 162.42 and was sufficient to keep him in fifth place overall. This also meant that he earned some valuable ISU World Standings and Season’s World Ranking points for his efforts.

Dillon Judge opened his short programme in the Junior Men’s category by landing a triple Salchow-double toe loop combination. He also attempted a triple loop and a double Axel. He received a season’s best score of 36.10 which put him in sixth place.

In the free skating, Judge commenced with an attempt at a triple Salchow-double toe loop combination and went on to land two double Axels successfully. He achieved Level 3 for two of his spins and set another season best score in the free of 69.81 for a total of 105.91 points. He moved up to fifth in the final standings.

Sophia Tkacheva embarked on her short programme in the Junior Women’s event with an attempted double Axel. She later landed a double Lutz-double toe loop combination and a solo double loop. She also garned Level 4 for both a layback spin and a change foot combination spin. She attained a lifetime best score of 35.36 points which put her in seventh place after the short.

Tkacheva went for a triple Salchow to open her free skating routine and also tried for a double Axel shortly afterwards. She included a further five jumping passes in the programme to “Voila” by Barbara Pravi and closed out with a Level 4 layback spin the received a positive grade of execution from the judging panel. Her free score of 57.10 was a season’s best and she ended up with a career high total of 92.46 and eighth place.

Robyn Foster was scheduled to participate in the Junior Women’s event, but had to withdraw due to illness.

Speaking after the competition concluded, Karen O’Sullivan, President of the Ice Skating Association of Ireland and Team Leader at Tayside Trophy, said:

“Team Ireland should be proud of how they represented and performed this weekend. Those of us on the other side of the boards are truly proud of them. Both Junior skaters put in season bests in both short and free programmes. This has to be motivational for them that their dedication and hard work is showing growth and development.

“Sam had to dig deep after a nasty fall in the free programme to retain his fifth place position and we are really proud he had the mental strength to do this. He is beginning to show his maturity as a senior skater and the reward if his first World Ranking points has to be a silver lining.”

Irish Figure Skaters Round Out JGP Campaign In Poland

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Ireland’s figure skaters concluded this season’s ISU Junior Grand Prix assignments when a team of four athletes competed at the Solidarity Cup this weekend in Gdansk, Poland.

First out of the gate was Sophia Tkacheva (17) in the women’s short programme on Day One of the competition. Skating to “Bust Your Knee Caps (Johnny Don’t Leave Me)” by Pomplamoose, she attempted a double Axel and landed a double Lutz-double toe loop combination and a double loop. She closed out with a Level 4 change foot combination spin that earned a positive grade of execution from the judging panel. She scored 30.13 points to sit in 41st place halfway through the event.

Tkacheva was back the following afternoon to participate in the free skating. In her routine to “Voila” by Barbara Pravi, she tried a triple Salchow to start and also attempted to include a double Axel later on in her performance. She once again executed a Level 4 change foot combination spin and received a free skating score of 43.21 to give her a total of 73.34 points and 46th place overall.

“Honestly, I think that the competition didn’t go well for me,” Tkacheva said. “I think i didn’t put my best foot forward especially in the free skate and I didn’t get to showcase what I’ve worked on over the summer. This is definitely something that I will focus on improving in the future. Nonetheless, this competition was a really big event that I’m really glad I had the opportunity to attend and talk a lot to incredible people like Javier Fernandez, Mark Hanretty and Ted Barton. The atmosphere was nothing like any other competition and I got to learn a lot about myself there too.

“For my next competition I will work on handling any nerves before my skate and my expressiveness during programmes. I will also focus on new spin combinations to get higher levels and better components.”

Dillon Judge (18) landed a triple Salchow-double toe loop combination to begin with in his short programme to “Englishman in New York” by Sting and Charl du Plessis. He also attempted a triple loop and a double Axel to follow. He garnered 33.28 points to occupy 26th place after the first portion of the competition.

Judge opened his free skating routine with attempts at triple Salchow and double Axel. He was awarded positive grades of execution for a Level 3 change foot combination spin as well as a double Axel-double toe loop combination later on in the programme. He scored season bests for his free (59.74) and total (93.02) which saw him finish in 26th place.

“My thoughts on the competition are that the free programme spins showed improvement since my last competition and there is room to improve and up the GOEs,” Judge said. “I will work on the jump GOEs to marginally gain on the TES and the spin consistency to gain better GOE and better levels for the next competition.”

After making history in August by becoming the first ice dance team from Ireland to compete internationally, Laura Hegarty (16) and Kevin Hegarty (19) were back on competitive ice to build on their performance at their first Junior Grand Prix assignment. In the rhythm dance, they skated to “Sombrero Blanco” by Mala Rumba from “The Mask of Zorro” film soundtrack and to “Assassin’s Tango” by John Powell from the “Mr. and Mrs. Smith” film soundrack and negotiated the five required elements. They achieved Level 3 for a rotational lift and earned a season best score of 22.39 points to place 24th in the segment.

The Hegarty siblings were first up in the free dance earlier today and commenced with synchronised twizzles which were their highest scoring element in their programme to “Harem” by Sarah Brightman. The routine also comprised a dance spin, one foot turns sequence, a straightline lift, choreographic steps and slides, a rotational lift and a diagonal step sequence. They post another season best of 34.33 to bring them a total of 56.72 which kept them in 24th place.

“The people were very nice and the event was well organised,” Laura Hegarty said.

“This competition has allowed us to review what elements need to be improved,” Kevin Hegarty said. “We will try to maintain our physical fitness so that we will be in suitable condition when returning to the ice.”

All of Team Ireland’s performances at the Junior Grand Prix in Gdansk can be viewed on the ISU Junior Grand Prix YouTube channel.

Dillon Judge – SP/FS

Sophia Tkacheva – SP/FS

Laura Hegarty/Kevin Hegarty – RD/FD

Irish Figure Skaters Poland Bound For ISU Junior Grand Prix

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Dillon Judge (Men), Sophia Tkacheva (Women) and Laura Hegarty and Kevin Hegarty (Ice Dance) take to competitive ice this weekend (29 September – 1 October) as they line up for the Solidarity Cup in Gdansk, Poland, a part of this season’s ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating.Last month Judge participated in the Junior Grand Prix held in Courchevel, France where he finished in 19th place. He is aiming to build on his performance there.“Since my last competition, I have been working on improving my spin consistency as it was an area that required work,” Judge said. “My goal for this competition is to improve the average spin levels and Grades of Execution.”Tkacheva returns to the Junior Grand Prix circuit after making her debut last season. She finished 7th at last month’s Britannia Cup in Sheffield, United Kingdom. She is currently coached by two-time European medallist Kevin van der Perren and eleven-time British champion Jenna McCorkell.“From my last competition, I’ve been working on consistency of jumps in my program and trying out new spins,” Tkacheva said. “Since the regulations changed this season, I’ve tried various combinations through trial and error, and I was able to find the right spins for both my programmes in time for the JGP in Gdansk.

“My goals for this competition are to skate my programmes to my fullest abilities and to present what I’ve been working on. This will be my second time skating my new short programme in competition, so I’m really looking forward to that and my free as well.”The Hegarty siblings made history for Irish skating when they became the first ice dance team to represent Ireland in an international competition at the Junior Grand Prix in Courchevel, France last month. They have set their sights on skating even better this weekend in Poland.“Our main initiative was to improve our stamina and our elements,” Laura Hegarty said. “We hope to achieve cleaner elements.”“We have been working on polishing our elements, endurance and overall performance,” Kevin Hegarty said. “Our goal is to do as well as we can.”The ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating Series features skaters aged 13 to 19 (21 for male Ice Dance and Pair Skating partners) from all over the world. The 2022/2023 season marks the 25th edition of the ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating that was introduced in 1997. This season more than 300 skaters from over 50 different nations are expected to compete in the series. Ireland has been represented on the series since 2008.This week’s Solidarity Cup Junior Grand Prix in Gdansk, Poland will be broadcast live on the ISU’s dedicated YouTube channel. Direct links for each of the segments are as follows:Women’s Short Programme (29 September)Men’s Short Programme (29 September)Ice Dance Rhythm Dance (30 September)Women Free Skating (30 September)Men Free Skating (1 October)Ice Dance Free Dance (1 October)The conversation about the series can also be followed by using the #JGPFigure hashtag on social media.