Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Countdown to US Figure Skating Championships: 17 Days!

Marissa Castelli & Simon Shnapir (SC of Boston)

  • 2008 US Novice Bronze Medalists
  • 2009 US Junior Bronze Medalists
  • 2009 World Junior Bronze Medalists
  • 2010 US Nationals 10th
  • 2010 Four Continents 10th
  • 2010 Skate Canada 4th
  • 2010 Skate America 6th

I took notice of this team for the first time at Skate Canada this year and I actually felt a glimmer of hope for the future of US pairs skating, something I haven't felt in a long time. Their biggest struggle this year on the Grand Prix circuit was putting together two clean programs. At Skate Canada we saw a fantastic short with a flawed free skate and at Skate America we saw a weak short followed by a fantastic free skate. They have been working on a throw triple axel this season and have actually had some pretty clean landings, which shows they are working to up their technical ante. I also love their Avatar free skate and find it really innovative. Simon has over a foot height advantage on Marissa which makes their lifts look particularly breathtaking. At 20 and 23, they can have a long pairs career ahead of them, maybe even two Olympic cycles and while I'm not expecting them to win or even medal this year at senior Nationals, I truly think they are our hope for the future in US pairs skating.

No comments:

Post a Comment