If you are a skater (or skating fanatic) the Detroit Skating Center is the place to be. Lately, this has been the haven for many Olympians and Olympic hopefuls to come to for training. This center is managed by national champion ice dancer, Jerod Swallow. Their coaching team includes Olympians such as Yuka Sato, Jason Dunjen, Paquale Camerlango, Angelika Krylova and Massimo Scali. The skaters that you will find in the DSC's three rinks inlcude: Alissa Cziny, Jeremy Abbott, Alexe Gilles, Becky Bereswill, Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje, Merill Davis and Charlie White, Madison Hubbel and Zach Donihue, just to name a few.
Skate Detroit drew skaters from all over the country and the world. This competition is early in the season, but the perfect time to test new programs and get feedback from IJS judges concerning levels on footwork, spins and jumps. I mainly watched the junior and senior skating competitions.
My favorites:
Madison Hubbel and Zach Donihue: Beautiful newly formed ice dance team! They are ones to watch this year!
Gracie Gold: junior level skater: landed triple triples and outscored all of the senior women! Definitely one to watch out for!
Amanda Dobbs: Skated her sp only here. She ended up winning her group! It was her first time competing for awhile because of her injuries.
Nina Jiang: This is the first time I have heard of her. She won the competition and looked impressive with her triple flip and triple lutz jumps. She missed a couple of her jumps in the free, but was able to pull off the win!
Alexe Gilles: just moved to Detroit to work with Jason Dunjen. Her jumps need work, but she skates with a lot of heart!
Becky Bereswill: my favorite! The jumps are not all there for her yet, but the ones she landed were gorgeous! Also, her layback and spirals were fantastic!
Georgia Glastris: Greek champion: needs more technical content, but had great presence on the ice!
Keegan Messing: Alaskan powerhouse! He carries his skates in a camping bag! He was here working out his quads. Didn't land any in his programs, but he's getting close!
Armin Mabanoozadeh: His quads are getting closer, he landed some giant ones in the warm-up. He easily won this competition.
Elladj Baldé: 5th at 2011 Canadian Nationals: He skated to Michael Jackson and was a crowd favorite! Skated in what looked like a white undershirt! His hair tie fell out twice during the program and caused a big distraction. He coped with the set back well and pulled off two tripe axels!
Jonathan Cassar: elegance on ice: Wow! This guy is amazing! The most beautiful, deep edge spread eagles I've ever seen! (and I've seen a lot! : ) He got a standing ovation after the short program. His long program is new and choreographed by the famed David Wilson. It was another masterpiece that the crowd loved! I'm rooting for Jon this year at nationals! He was also super nice and signed autographs for the young skaters!
Other notes:
It was awesome to see 2 Olympic gold medalists, Carol Heiss Jenkins and her husband Hayes Allen Jenkins. Mrs. Jenkins was here coaching a senior level ladies skater. At 71 she is sweet, kind and strikingly beautiful. She was so kind to her skater (who bombed) and encouraged her, kissed her and was very grandmotherly. Very touching!
Ryan Bradley showed up and watched some of the competition! He signed autographs and seemed very affable and kind. Also saw Jeremy Abbott and a few famous coaches like Richard Callaghan. I thought I saw Todd Eldredge too, but it may just have been wishful thinking! : )
Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje showed up to cheer all of their DSC skaters on! They are currently 5th in the world for ice dancing. My favorite team!
I loved watching Yuka Sato and Jason Dunjen coach their skaters. What a great team!
I hope I can come back next year! What a fun event! There is a great vibe at the Detroit Skating Club!
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