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Turning Up The Tempo

After last season, I made a very intentional decision to focus the content of the blog on celebrating figure skating's unique and colourful history. To be honest, I kind of promised myself that I'd steer away from event coverage and interviews. However, with the 2016 Canadian Tire National Skating Championships being held right in my own backyard this year, in the spirit of breaking New Year's resolutions in January it only seemed appropriate that I rolled up my sleeves, took one for the team and gave you all the inside scoop. Over the next two weeks, I'll be putting the Belita book on hold and giving you a behind the scenes glimpse at all the action in Halifax. 

Just what can you expect? This week, I'll be sitting in on Skate Canada teleconferences and giving you a pre-competition glimpse at how some of the favourites are feeling heading into the competition. I'll also be heading over to the Canadian Museum Of Immigration At Pier 21 to give you a sneak peek of the upcoming Perfect Landings exhibit which will be bringing skating history to life by sharing the stories of the immigrants who have helped shape Canadian skating history... names like Petra and Ellen Burka, Otto and Maria Jelinek and of course Louis Rubenstein and Carole Jane Pachl, both of whom where featured earlier this month on the blog. What else is coming? A four part series on Halifax's skating history which will be released from Sunday to Wednesday of Nationals Week that you absolutely do not want to miss as well as four more must read stories from Canadian skating history... biographies of Shaun McGill and Guy Owen, a Kurt Browning story you may not know and the crazy tale of an icy fight that got way out of control.

At the risk of sounding like an infomercial... BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE! I will be talking to skaters past and present through the week of the competition and asking the questions others aren't. That's where you come in...


It's time to turn up the tempo from Waltz to Quickstep. Starting tomorrow and for the next two weeks, Skate Guard's going daily! 

Skate Guard is a blog dedicated to preserving the rich, colourful and fascinating history of figure skating. Over ten years, the blog has featured over a thousand free articles covering all aspects of the sport's history, as well as four compelling in-depth features. To read the latest articles, follow the blog on FacebookTwitterPinterest and YouTube. If you enjoy Skate Guard, please show your support for this archive by ordering a copy of the figure skating reference books "The Almanac of Canadian Figure Skating", "Technical Merit: A History of Figure Skating Jumps" and "A Bibliography of Figure Skating": https://skateguard1.blogspot.com/p/buy-book.html.