Recap

Teams Together, Fantazy, Seaside and Inspire claim gold


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Team Together - now dressed in blue - won the Advanced Novice division with 81.24 points. (Credits: Figure Skating Pictures - 2021)

After a long pandemic break, Sweden's best synchro teams competed again last weekend at the first qualifying event in Borås. The new national senior team Team Inspire made its competition debut.

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This weekend, the first national Swedish competition took place since the Covid break-out, back in the spring of 2020. The location for this first qualification was the beautiful city of Borås, which welcomed the competitors with clear blue skies and lots of snow on the ground.

There was a lot of nervosity in the air, both for the competitors but also within the audience. Of course, it had been a long time since the last event.

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On the first day, two Novice teams competed in the qualification competition. Team Fantazy from Ytterby-Kungälv and Team Seastar from Tjörn. Both teams performed well but with minor mistakes. Team Fantazy ended up as winners with 27.08 points.

After the debutants, it was the two Junior teams' turn to show what they had been up to for the last 20 months. The regaining champions (19/20) Team Spirit from Kungsbacka against Team Seaside from Tjörn, who lost the last nationals against Team Spirit with less than 2 points. 



Team Seaside was first out on the ice and performed a good skate with an unfortunate fall, earning 50.14 points. Spirit, who was next performed a clean skate earning 49.68 points. If the last nationals were tight, nothing has changed!

Team Inspire arouses curiosity
After the juniors, the new national senior team of Sweden, Team Inspire from Landvetter, led by the former Team Surprise coach Andrea Dohany was up for it.

There was a lot of curiosity in the air; most of the other skaters had made them comfortable on the stands to watch. Team Inspire did not disappoint anyone, a high-speed program with many inspirational transitions was performed, and the audience was thrilled to finally have a senior team back in the Swedish synchro community!


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Team Inspire at the Pre-Event in October. (Credits: Figure Skating Pictures - 2021)

Inspire earned 59,56 points in the short program, incl. two unfortunate falls. 

On the second day, the Advanced Novice category opened the competition. The battle was between six teams.

The victory went to Team Together from Kungsbacka. The 12 skaters team earned a stunning score of 81.24 points, winning the competition followed by Team Limelight, 58.79 and Team Seaflowers, with 58.28. It was a very tight competition between most of the teams.



Once the Advanced Novice category was finished, it was time for the Junior battle with less than 0,5 point separating the two participating teams after the short program on Saturday.

The atmosphere in the arena quickly changed. There was a lot of cheering and anticipation in the air. Team Spirit was first up, and they seemed very pleased with their skate, although they had a fall in one of the intersections, ending up with 92.85 points for the free program resulting in a total of 142,53 points.

Team Seaside then entered the ice and obviously knew what they had to do, knowing the Spirit scores. They performed a clean skate to a cheering audience earning 99,26 points for the free program, a total of 149,40 points and thereby won the category.


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Team Spirit, competing in the Junior division. (Credits: Figure Skating Pictures - 2021)

The audience was now very warmed up when Team Inspire in the Senior division entered the ice for the free program.

The spectators were thrilled and after a bit of a bumpy start for Team Inspire with a couple of mistakes, they came back and delivered a fast and very nice skate for the audience who loved it. They earned 120.89 points for the free program, making it a total of 180,45 points.

That was it for this first Swedish competition in a very long time and both audience and skaters seemed too long for the next one already. The next qualification competition will take place in Kungälv on January 8-9, 2022.

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Results - TOP 3

Swedish first qualifications 2021
Borås (SWE)
DEC 04, 2021 - DEC 05, 2021

Senior
TEAM Score
1Team Inspire (SWE)180.45

Junior
TEAM Score
1Team Seaside (SWE)149.40
2Team Spirit (SWE)142.53

Novice A
TEAM Score
1Team Together (SWE)81.24
2Team Limelight (SWE)58.79
3Team Seaflowers (SWE)58.28

Novice B
TEAM Score
1Team Fantazy (SWE)27.08
2Team Seastar (SWE)23.27