Recap
Team Australia announced as National Championships wrap up in Sydney
Team Unity defend their title as Australian Champions in Senior division /Credits: PowerPlay Photographics
The Australian Figure Skating Championships were held last weekend on December 1st and 2nd at Macquarie Ice Rink in Sydney. 43 teams competed across 7 divisions, making this the largest nationals ever in Australia.
After facing fierce competition, Team Unity successfully defended their title as Senior National Champions and secured their spot in Helsinki at the World Championships as Team Australia. With a slightly more comfortable lead of 8 points, Iceskateers Elite took the top spot that they have missed out on for the last 2 years and will be representing Australia at the Junior World Championships in Switzerland next year.
Each year the quality and strength of our Senior skaters improve dramatically, and this year was no different. The tight competition between Team Unity and Ice Storm continues to drive innovation and creativity in our sport as the gaps between first and second place get smaller and smaller.
The 1.84-point difference in the Short Program saw Team Unity take the lead with their superior expressions and body language as well as an effortless step sequence that was called at a level 2 in their program to “Call Out My Name” by The Weeknd.
A strong free program filled with jaw-dropping acrobatic moves and partner lifts saw Ice Storm’s “The Greatest Showman” free program close the points gap. However, the highly interpretive free program based on Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet” was beautifully delivered by Team Unity and ultimately secured their victory.
Nova put up a good fight in the short program and were trailing by only 3 points but due to a few unfortunate falls in the angled intersection of the free program their otherwise entertaining program to the soundtrack of “Cops and Robbers” suffered technically, which guaranteed their 3rd place finish.
The competition in the Junior division was also very close, but consistency won in the end with Iceskateers Elite delivering clean programs in both the short and the free. Their recycling of last season’s short program with some technical requirement adjustments ensured that more training time could be devoted to improving elements rather than on choreography while their energetic free program captured the pace and rhythm of traditional Irish folk dancing, titled “Riverdance”.
A shaky short program to the bright soundtrack of “Hollywood Wiz” and a minor fall in the second step sequence saw Majestic Ice trailing by 4 points but they rallied together on Sunday to produce a truly spectacular free program with synchronised death spirals and a challenging creative intersection. They were so close to stealing the silver medal, but a tiny margin of 0.12 points saw them receive the bronze medal.
Infusion skated a strong short program, coming 2nd by only 0.81 points but a minor fall in the artistic line followed by some shaky elements had them only just clinging to their silver medals.
Competing at only their second nationals in the Junior division, Southern Sky put up a good fight and earned a season’s best for both their programs, but their still-developing skating and technical skills ultimately resulted in their 4th place finish.
Five teams battled it out for the national title in the Advanced Novice division. Iceskateers pulled out in front with their “Pinocchio” program, the look completed by suspenders and bright red shorts along with some charming choreography. Majestic Ice followed close behind with a creative Moves element and beautiful interpretation of the soundtrack to DreamWorks’ “Rio”.
Adelaide Ice Magic also delivered an entertaining program to “Coco” with an impressive angled intersection, securing them the bronze medal.
The Southern Sky team ranked 4th and Phoenix finished in 5th place.
Mixed Age was the equal largest division with 11 teams competing for the podium. Ice Vivacity snatched the gold medal with their “Black Eyed Peas” medley, demonstrating a commanding presence on the ice with strong skating skills as many members of their team were ex-junior and ex-senior skaters.
The runners up had a similar team composition, with Adelaide Ice Magic attempting many difficult elements for the Mixed Age division that assured them the silver medal.
As one of the only synchro teams from Victoria, Eclipse represented their state well by finishing in 3rd place with their very interpretive program to the soundtrack from “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory”.
Majestic Ice narrowly missed out on the podium despite their clean skate to a collection of “Latin Beats” and displayed some excellent choreography throughout their program. Two teams from also competed in the category.
Basic Novice was the largest it has ever been this year, with 11 teams participating. Bees just edged out ahead to claim victory with their very innovative “Space” program with very strong skating skills.
Majestic Ice placed in 2nd despite a minor fall, their enthusiasm and energy on display with every step they took on the ice as they skated through their “Madagascar” program.
Ice Pizzazz rounded off the podium with the bronze medal and strong presentation scores as they performed their program to Disney’s “Descendants” soundtrack. All the teams put on a great show and demonstrated the hard work they had put in all season.
After a short break, our junior and senior champions will jump back to training as Team Australia prepares for the World Championships early next year. We can’t wait until then!
Results - TOP 3
Australian National Championships 2018
Sydney (AUS)
NOV 30, 2018 - DEC 02, 2018
TEAM | Score | |
---|---|---|
1 | Team Unity (AUS) | 141.44 |
2 | Ice Storm (AUS) | 140.65 |
3 | NOVA (AUS) | 120.66 |
TEAM | Score | |
---|---|---|
1 | Iceskateers Elite (AUS) | 106.23 |
2 | Team Infusion (AUS) | 98.19 |
3 | Majestic Ice (AUS) | 98.07 |
TEAM | Score | |
---|---|---|
1 | Iceskateers (AUS) | 44.12 |
2 | Majestic Ice (AUS) | 42.62 |
3 | Adelaide Ice Magic (AUS) | 40.73 |
TEAM | Score | |
---|---|---|
1 | Ice Vivacity (AUS) | 47.33 |
2 | Adelaide Ice Magic (AUS) | 46.77 |
3 | Eclipse (AUS) | 45.18 |