Recap

First competition of the season for British teams


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The skaters of Team Zariba skated their new short program in London. /Credits: Zariba

The first British synchronised skating competition of the season kicked off with a bang this week at Lee Valley ice rink in London. With 28 teams competing from around the country, there was an electric atmosphere and the rink was filled to capacity. 

Senior

Teams Zariba from Aberdeen were the only team in this category and skated both the short and free programs today. Their short was to FU by Miley Cyrus and they wore jazzy pink, black and yellow costumes. They skated an upbeat number scoring 28.28 points. Keeping the same music from last season, their free program pleased the crowd with their creative lifts and new artistic elements, scoring 56.43. The total score was 84.71 points.


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FREE PROGRAMME - Lee Valley Open 2018

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Junior B

There were two teams in this category; team Unum from Sheffield and Whizz Kids from Altrincham. First to skate their short was Unum. Wearing black and magenta dresses and skating to ‘honey I’m good’, Unum suffered three falls, 2 in their pivoting block causing them some -5 GOEs and one before the whip intersection. They got back up to perform well in their synchronised spins but scored 19.20. Skating second was Whizz Kids, wearing pink sparkly dresses to La La Land music. Both their no hold and synchronised spins were very neat but they suffered a fall in the pivoting block.

In the free, Unum skated to Dance Macabre and had some interesting choreography, especially in their line, however a bump in the intersection and two falls in the moves element cost them and they scored 37.08 points, 58.28 overall, coming second. Whizz Kids had a very confident skate to the Greatest Showman with great jumps off the artistic block and the artistic circle earning them base across the board of judges, however one element was not called. They scored 49.63, coming first with 76.77 overall. “We are using this as a benchmark as this is the first time they’ve completed with the new -5 to +5 system. It’s been a bit like stepping into the unknown. We are very happy with the skate. With them speeding up, the faster they go, the faster they can fall but I’m very pleased with them.” Coach Sam Ozard 



Adult

With 6 teams competing, this was the largest category in the competition. In third place, wearing pink and black sparkly dresses and skating to ‘One’, was Dreigiou Dawnsio from Deeside. They skated a clean program with nice leg extensions to score 19.28. In the second place, skating to a Prince medley was Orion from Lee Valley. They delivered a crowd-pleasing number with a lot of flair, scoring 20.01. Coming first with 29.74 points was Bladerunners from Altrincham. Wearing black sparkly dresses, they delivered a Bond inspired program with an angle intersection and a well executed wheel, a highlight being an excellent hydroblade to conclude the routine. Special mention to brand new team Majestikal from Coventry who came fourth in the first ever competition.

“We started as a laugh and it snowballed into this. We have the most amazing time even at 5 AM! We are a new synchro family and we are dead pleased we didn’t die!
It’s my first competition as a synchro coach so it has been learning on the job.” Team Majestikal and coach Kimberly French. 

Juvenile 

The only entry for this category was Supernova from Lee Valley. They skated an action packed program to spy kids which was very fast with lots of interesting positions, earning them 30.69 points.

“This is the highest score they’ve ever actually at a competition so I’m pleased with that. Their basics are much better!” Coach Chrissy Richards.

Preliminary 

There were five teams competing in this category. In third place was Shooting Stars from Gosport, scoring 32.88 points. Wearing red neck ties and belted black costumes, they escorted us on board the Polar Express with a jolly routine. In second place, scoring 36.96 points, was Deelites from Deeside. Wearing red lace fading to black dresses, they skated beautifully to AC/DC with plenty of kneebend. In first place was Phoenix from Lee Valley who earned 39.74 points. They skated to Lady Gaga and delivered a very fast program with plenty of attitude.

“It’s a new system, new rules and we pretty much got a new team as over half of our team moved up this season. It was a brilliant skate with room to grow. Good for their first time and I’m really pleased. They channeled their inner Gaga!” Coach Dannii Hunt. 

Elementary 

In third place was Deeside Angels from Deeside scoring 10.67 points. They skated in pink fluffy dresses to ‘Marry you’. In the second place, skating in very sparkly dresses to music from Trolls was Stardust from Lee Valley. They scored 16.53 points. In first place, was Ice Pops from Nottingham, scoring 20.38 points. This was the most talked about program of the day due to their catchy music, Baby Shark!



Mixed Age

In third place was Amici from Sheffield. They skated in orange and white dresses to music from Moana, scoring 27.54 points. They had an interesting mixed element but suffered a fall in the no hold element. In second place was All Stars from Gosport scoring 30.70. Wearing vibrant pink, they had some interesting choreography but suffered a fall in the interlocking circles. In first place was Aura from Lee Valley skating a haunting program in grey sparkly dresses. They earned 37.15 points and scored highly in the mixed element with Y-spirals pivoted around a circle.

“Really tough pre season for Aura knowing we were going into our first event 2 of our strongest team members were going to miss the first event due to a clash with education. In the past month we gained a Finnish powerhouse and unfortunately during a training accident had 2 skaters injured. We were hoping they would be recovered in time but unfortunately this wasn't the case. So for this team to do what they did in this event was a massive achievement we are so proud of them.” Coach Dannii Hunt. 

The next competition in Great Britain will be held mid-December in Cardiff.

Results - TOP 3

Lee Valley London Synchro Open 2018
London (GBR)
NOV 05, 2018 - NOV 05, 2018

Senior
TEAM Score
1Zariba (GBR)84.71

Junior B
TEAM Score
1Whizz Kids (GBR)76.77
2Team Unum (GBR)58.28

Mixed Age
TEAM Score
1Team Aura (GBR)37.15
2Gosport Allstars (GBR)30.70
3Amici (GBR)27.54