This weekend saw the 2025 Irish National Figure Skating Championships take place in Dundee, Scotland with titles decided in four categories.
Appearing in their third Irish Championships, Carolane Soucisse and Shane Firus (Co. Wexford) got the event under way in the Senior Ice Dance rhythm dance. Performing to a James Brown medley, the duo began with a midline step sequence garnering a Level 3 for Soucisse and a Level 2 for Firus. They followed with Level 4 sequential twizzles for Soucisse and Level 3 for Firus. Their pattern type step sequence earned a Level 3 and they closed out their routine with choreographic rhythm sequence and a Level 4 rotational lift. They were awarded a score of 66.80 points.
Soucisse and Firus were back out on the ice a few hours later for their free dance. The husband and wife team opted to debut their newly choreographed programme to music from “Riverdance” by Bill Whelan. They commenced with a Level 3 dance spin and a choreographic slide. They next executed a Level 2 one foot turn sequence and achieved Level 4 for their synchronised twizzles. Their lift combination comprised a Level 3 straight line lift and a Level 4 rotational lift. A serpentine step sequence was deemed to be Level 2 and a stationary lift Level 3 by the technical panel. They rounded out the performance with a choreographic step sequence and a choreographic assisted jump. A score of 100.88 gave them a total of 167.68 and a third consecutive Irish national title.
“This was a special Irish Championships for us because it was our first three-peat,” Firus said. “We got to debut our new free to ‘Riverdance’. Growing up my mom was adamant that I learn Irish dancing. This led to Irish dance competitions across North America and it’s been fun bringing back some of those memories and moves for this programme.”
“We are very happy and proud to have won our third national title this year,” Soucisse said. “We always leave Dundee with lots of great memories and this year is even better because we got to debut our new free dance to ‘Riverdance’, one that we are extremely excited to show off. We feel truly grateful to the ISAI for every opportunity that was given to us and this free dance is a special thank you for their support.”
After missing out on last year’s championships through injury, Dillon Judge (Co. Antrim) returned this year seeking a second national title in the Senior Men’s competition. He started solidly by landing a triple Lutz-double toe loop jump combination, but fell on a subsequent triple flip. He registered Level 2 for a change foot camel spin and Level 3 for a change foot combination spin. He popped a planned double Axel into a single which meant he received no points for that element. He concluded his routine with a Level 3 flying sit spin and a Level 3 step sequence. He received a score of 44.99 points.
Judge returned for the free skating later this afternoon and set out his stall from the start with a triple flip. He landed an excellent solo triple Lutz, but came undone on a second one immediately after that was supposed to be in combination. After a Level 3 flying sit spin, he fell on a popped double Salchow. He did rally and succeeded in landing a triple Salchow on the second go round. He fought hard towards the end of the routine and came away with a free skating score of 79.39 points. This left him with a total of 124.38 points and a second senior title.
“I really enjoyed being back at Nationals this year after suffering from an injury last season leaving me unable to compete,” Judge said. “I’m happy I got to show my new free programme albeit there’s further improvements to be made on it. The atmosphere was great getting to see some familiar faces again and some new ones.”
The Junior Women’s category was contested between two skaters making their Irish Championship debut.
Julianna Farrell (Co. Cork) landed a triple Salchow-double toe loop jump combination for a strong start to her short programme and backed that up with a double flip and a Level 2 sit spin. She nailed a double Axel and reeled off a Level 2 flying camel spin, a Level 3 step sequence and a Level 2 change foot combination spin. She garnered a score of 42.11 points that put her in first place overnight.
Eeva O’Brien (Co. Wicklow) began her short with a double Axel that was called short on rotation by the technical panel. She included a double Lutz-double toe loop as a jump combination which was followed by a Level 3 flying camel spin. She executed a double flip and finished with a Level 1 change foot combination spin, a Level 3 step sequence and a Level 3 layback spin. Her score of 33.77 points put her in second place at the midway point of the competition.
Farrell made a solid start to her free skating with a triple Salchow-double toe loop combination, a double flip and a triple loop-single Axel sequence with all elements receiving a positive grade of execution. However, she did struggle in the middle part of her routine with falls on a solo triple Salchow and triple loop. She battled back with a double Axel on its own, a double Axel-double Salchow sequence and a Level 4 change foot combination spin. With a free score of 72.43 points and a combined total of 114.54 points she became the first skater representing Cork to win an Irish title.
“I had a great experience at the competition,” Farrell said. “Everyone was super nice and welcoming. The team dinner was also super fun!”
O’Brien was first up in the free skating and she began with a double loop and a double Lutz-double toe loop for which she earned positive grades of execution. She had difficulty with both of her double Axel attempts, but rebounded with a Level 3 layback spin and a double flip. She negotiated the second half of her programme well with double Lutz-Euler-double Salchow jump sequence, a Level 2 flying change foot combination spin, a double flip-double toe loop combination and a Level 4 flying sit spin to end. Her free score of 62.77 points gave her a final total of 96.54 points and the silver medal.
“I really enjoyed the competition and getting to know everyone,” O’Brien said. “It was my first time at Irish Nationals and it was a great event.”
Lexie Graham (Co. Carlow) was the sole entrant in the Advanced Novice Girls category. She opened her short programme with a Level 2 change foot combination spin and went on to cleanly land a double loop, a double flip-double toe loop combination and a single Axel. She wrapped her performance up with a Level 3 sit spin and a Level 2 step sequence and received a score of 27.28 points.
As in her short, Graham also started her free skating with a change foot combination spin. This time it was a higher Level 3. She then landed two double Lutz jumps on their own in quick succession and then completed a double loop-single Axel-single Axel jump sequence. She attempted two solo double flips later on in her routine as well as a double loop-single toe loop combination with a Level 3 flying change foot camel spin thrown in amidst those latter elements. A free score of 51.42 points gave her a final total 78.70 points.
“I was very proud to represent Carlow this weekend,” Graham said. “I was really happy with how I skated and I enjoyed watching and meeting the other Irish skaters. It has given me motivation to work hard and to come back next year. I feel very welcomed into the Irish skating community.”
