A busy few days


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September 7th 2017
Published: September 7th 2017
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Senior menSenior menSenior men

There is a fair bit of skating talent in this Photo
Here we are, It is Thursday , and it has been a busy few days. unfortunately that means the updates have been few and far between, and am sorry about that, but there has been so much going that it has been important to focus on everyone here, I am sure you can understand. Going back to my last entry it was on Sunday after we completed Dance and Style compeetition, seems so long ago.

Monday morning we had training for Freedance, which is a much better time frame this year for skaters to have the ability to recover and prepare for whatever is next. Last year there was training and competition in the one day which was far from ideal, with this years program much better in my opinion. The senior did train at 6am one morning which is not idea, but other than that I haven't seen to many issues, and with the Italians and Portuguese dance skater doing both Solo and Couples it must be a very difficult schedule to manage. Training Monday morning went really well, Olivia looked good, and skated very cleanly with good enthusiasm. Positive vibes are contagious, and the good day on Sunday
Liv & Jessie Post FreedanceLiv & Jessie Post FreedanceLiv & Jessie Post Freedance

There is no compeition without silly photos, luckily the lifting each other up idea was scrapped.
certainly helped, and she has had a great atiitude all week. After training we got back for a little break and then went back to the venue to watch Senior dance and Style for ladies & men. It is a great event, with the Australian ladies skating really well. Watching the top skaters is also a massiv highlight, their speed & skill is just amazing to watch. After dance Charlie skated his Short program and we stayed and watched Charlie before we went back to the hotel to rest. The benefit of being so close to the venue at the hotel has been fantastic, and with the very poor bus service, it has been fantastic to be able to decide to just walk to the venue (even if there is rain sometimes). Tuesday was comeptition day for freedance so the morning was spent preparing and getting everything ready which again was pretty straight forward and stress free. First skater in the group was the worse possible draw for a couple of reasons (not that it made any difference) , for a couple of reasons, firstly skating straight after warm up mean really managing the warm up time (thanks to Candace for her clocking dedication) and making sure you are off in enough time to recover before performance. The Chinese seem to not underatnd the idea of allowing some time between "warm up is over" and "the next skater is" , which unfortunately means quite often skaters are called onto the floor when other skaters are still trying to get off. Common sense says you wait until the skaters are off and then enter the floor, however in the excitement of the moment it is easy to get over eager ad just go. This is what the snoopsta did, and cause I was standing back a little waiting for people to get off, and not close enough to grab her , and it was too loud for her to hear me saying "wait, wait, wait" , so she was entering the floor while there was people trying to get off the floor (almost derby Style).

Last minute instructions are generally fairly pointless in my opinion, athetes go back to what they know, however having composure as you enter the floor is important, which I think was a little issue in the case. Freedance was pretty good (not training good) but
Livs ShopLivs ShopLivs Shop

Had to be done
generally pretty good, little issues here and there but all things to learn from. Overall Olivia stayed in 16th pace which was a great result. Jessie was 19th and our friend Abbey from NZ 20th.

After compeition we watched all the girls and boys freedance performances which again was great to watch, some fatastic performances, again dominated by Italians and Portuguese, with a Columbian in there for good measure. After skating we headed out to have a look around at some shops nearby, as we have had limited opportunity to have a look around Nanjing, so it was nice to do some non skating things seeing we had been here a week. After some shopping we cam back for a team dinner (Tuesday night) as some of the team were heading home Wednesday, so it was the last opportunity for us all to be together, and the first time now the some of skaters had finished, that could make the most of the Desert Bar 😉. It was nice for everyone to spend some time together. After dinner a few of the girls went to the Pool / Spa and had an interesting ecpereince (WHICSIC) and a couple of
CrocodileCrocodileCrocodile

Not sure why she needed this but apparently she did
us had a quiet beer in the Irish bar, which inluded a South American birthday cellebration, which was a bt of fun after a long day (thansk to Nigel and Hugo for the translations to keep me up to speed with the conversation).

Yesterday we headed to the Nanjing Memorial where there is a historical tribute to the events pre world war one when the Japanese invaded Nanjing, I am not going to go into details here (googole it) , but it was fairly confronting, and a strong reminder of the horrendous nature of War. It was a trip worth doing, and unlike when in Poland, an event I knew little about, so interesting to discover more about the History of Nanjing. Almost every tribute had words to the effect of . We should remember History to ensure we always strive for peace in the future. (I am paraphrasing) .

After our little tour and some lunch (Harder to find Vegetarian meals than you might think), we headed back to the stadium to watch Charlie skate his long program, and the Senior Ladies and men Solo Freedance. Again great performances by our skaters, and everyone seemed pretty happy
DessertDessertDessert

Post competition praying to the Mecca that is the Dessert bar
at the conclusion. The top 5 Solo Dance skaters in both Women and Men were amazing, it is great to watch the level of Speed and edges, compicated turns , while still keeping fantastic composure, and the look of ease throughout the entire performance. Every year in the llast few i have watched my skaters become more inspured and learn so much while being here and seeing the worlds best and this year is no exception. We are going back today for the couples which i am sure will be fantastic. Last night was a quiet one, once we got home from the compeition, I think the last few days had crept up on us, so the original plans to go sight seeing were scrapped and a quiet night with performance review videos (not my idea) and some sleep to ensure we can make the most of the last few days here.

This morning we had a Massage (tough life I know) and I am writing this while the Snoopsta does some home work (year 12 doesn't stop) , before we head to the venue for dance. tonight we will look at the Confusious Temple which is down on
Watching CharlieWatching CharlieWatching Charlie

Is a scene that was repaeted at trainings in a few states, the South Australians watching Worlds as Charlie skates.
the river and pretty at night we have been told. Tomorrow we are hoping to get out and watch some other sports, and see some Australians competing.


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Liv StyleLiv Style
Liv Style

My favourite photo of the week, great work as always by Raniero.


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