The Seventh Annual Skate Guard Hallowe'en Spooktacular

"Black is the clear glass now that he glides,

Crisp is the whisper of long lean strides,

Swift is his swaying - but pricked ears hark.

None comes to Ghost Lake late after dark!"

- excerpt from "The Skater Of Ghost Lake" by William Rose Benét

It's October 31st and all of you loyal Skate Guard readers know that means. It's time for a yearly Skate Guard tradition... The Annual Skate Guard Hallowe'en Spooktacular! Dim the lights enjoy this collection of darker stories that have peppered skating's history through the years.

THE KILLER ICE RINK

From 1943 to 1951, Hugh Reamer Hendrickson toured the United States as a featured performer with Shipstad and Johnson's Ice Follies, wowing audiences with his dizzying spins and Russian split jumps.

Hugh was an electrician's son from Kansas who moved to Los Angeles, the city of his father's birth, when he was in his twenties. While touring with the Ice Follies, he met both of his wives - fellow skaters Shirley Ann 'Ginger' Clayton and Pollyanna Crawford. When he decided to stop touring, he took a position managing the San Francisco Ice Arena. The 48th Avenue rink had fallen so badly into disrepair that it was closed for two months in June 1959 so that it could be overhauled.

Hugh Hendrickson. Photo courtesy University Of Washington, Special Collections.

On August 12, 1959, thirty one year old Hugh was in the building's basement, where a 'brine room' was housed and pumps ran brine through cooling pipes in the ice to maintain the ice. He was working on the brine pump while holding a drop light when suddenly the pump came on, splashing water on him and electrocuting him. Though rushed to a nearby emergency hospital, he was pronounced dead on arrival. In 2002, Emiliano Echeverria recalled, "My Dad was on the crew to help repair and renovate the plant. The refrigeration plant... was a dark and spooky place. [After Hugh's death] Polly, then thirty with two young boys, four and six, and all of us were devastated. One of the few times I saw my Dad weep. [Hugh] was a great guy, kind and generous. It just wasn't right... Eventually Polly sold her interest in the [San Francisco] Ice Arena to Joe Thurston, who eventually acquired complete ownership. He was the final owner. The rink reopened in late September '59, but it wasn't the same, and a few years later we drifted away." Though the rink remained open for many years after Hugh's tragic death, it was eventually torn down to make way for residential housing. It's a good thing too. The basement where Hugh's life came to a tragic end took on a very eerie quality.

MAN'S BEST FRIEND

As they say, a dog is a man's best friend. In nineteenth century Ireland, one skater's faithful companion came to their rescue when they fell through the ice and paid the eternal price. The book "True Irish Ghost Stories", compiled by John D. Seymour and Harry L. Neligan in 1992 shared, "In the winter of 1840-1, in the days when snow and ice and all their attendant pleasures were more often in evidence than in these degenerate days, a skating party was enjoying itself on the pond in the grounds of the Castle near Rathfarnham, Co. Dublin. Among the skaters was a man who had with him a very fine curly-coated retriever dog. The pond was thronged with people enjoying themselves, when suddenly the ice gave way beneath him, and the man fell into the water; the dog went to his rescue, and both were drowned. A monument was erected to perpetuate the memory of the dog's heroic self-sacrifice, but only the pedestal now remains. The ghost of the dog is said to haunt the grounds and the public road between the castle gate and the Dodder Bridge. Many people have seen the phantom dog, and the story is well known locally."

A HYPNOTIZED CAT?

This fanciful tale first appeared as "Mouser The Skating Cat" in the "New York Recorder" and was later republished in the Illinois newspaper "Rock Island Argus" on March 16, 1896 under the byline "For Little Folks": "Harry Summers is a Harlem boy, and his greatest boast is that he has succeeded in teaching his pet cat, Mouser, how to glide along an ice pond on skates. Mouser did not learn how to skate in a day. As may be imagined, she was a slow pupil, and it was quite a month before she could be induced to keep the little pieces of steel and wood (which Harry had specifically made for her) attached to his feet. Even when Mouser had grown accustomed to her shackles she had to be taught to stand upright, and after that she had to be coaxed into using her skates on the ice. Poor puss had many a bad fall, and if her skates had not been so firmly attached to her hind legs she would have run away from her terrible task long before she had grown accustomed to her unnatural sport. It was only with the utmost patience and kindness that Mouser was taught to look upon her daily exercise as part of her existence. Today she rather enjoys a spin on the little pond in the back yard of Harry's home. Mouser's first real lessons in skating were given on miniature roller skates; it was only a step from roller skating to a glide on the ice. Mouser is a big white and yellow cat, not at all handsome, and more inclined to fight than to skate, but Harry is a lad of fierce determination, and the boys in the neighbourhood of Harry's house insist that the young animal trainer has hypnotized his pet. Be that as it may, Harry has succeeded in doing what no one has ever done before, and he is reaping his reward in the fun that Mouser affords himself and his friends whenever the weather is cold enough to make an ice pond in fit condition for skating. Harry has had several offers from museum keepers who want to buy the gifted Mouser, but the boy would rather part with his ears than give up his clever cat. Mouser is the most remarkable feline in the world, and if she understands her own value she most certainly know that she can do at least one thing that no other cat has ever before succeeded in doing. A skating cat is worth a whole menagerie of ordinary trick animals, and when Mouser dies - as she probably will some day - a fine monument erected over her grave will be the very least that her proud master can do to let future generations know how wonderful a pussy once lived and skated in New York."

SEVEN-MILE LEVEL

Raymond T. Robinson

In June of 1919, Raymond T. Robinson and a group of his friends headed to a swimming hole in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania. On the way, the boys stopped on a trolley bridge, where Raymond climbed a pole to reach for a bird's nest. He was badly electrocuted and was so disfigured that he lost his eyes, nose and right arm... but he survived. Over the years, he became something of a living urban legend in town and earned the nicknames of 'Charley-No-Face' and The Green Man, because the legend developed that his skin was green and glowed.

Eleven years prior to Raymond's accident, a stone's throw from that trolley bridge, Zella Wylie and R.C. Patterson met their end while ice skating... after escaping death one year prior in the exact same spot. The below clipping from the February 1, 1908 issue of "The New York Times" illustrates the very real dangers that Victorian and Edwardian era skaters faced when skating on natural ice.

THE STRANGE CASE OF ROSA DAY

The strange case of Rosa Day reads like something straight out of an Agatha Christie novel. This trio of clippings, just a small sampling of many that appeared in British newspapers in February of 1899, describe the unusual disappearance and alleged kidnapping of a governess from Cheshire, who was out for a day of ice skating.

"A Lady Skater's Mystery" ("Sheffield Independent", February 4, 1899)

Miss Rosa Day, who disappeared from her home at Rowton, near Chester, on Sunday morning, and who was been anxiously searched for since, was found lying unconscious outside her home late last Thursday night. She had a tremendous wound across her forehead, caused either by a kick or a blow, and was bruised all oer. When she had partly rallied Miss Day told an extraordinary story. On Sunday morning, she said, she went to skate on a pit near her home. Finding the ice was not safe, she went to another pit about three-quarters of a mile away. When she was sitting down putting her skates on a man came behind her, blindfolded her, tied her hands and said, "If you scream I will shoot you." The terrified girl says she then felt him put his hand in her pocket, and on finding no money he swore horribly. She became unconscious, and when she recovered she found herself in a strange loft some distance away. She was detained there until the following Thursday, during which time she was unconscious off and on. The man visited her several times but did not bring her anything to eat. On Thursday she succeeded in breaking a hole in the roof of the shed and getting through, and jumped to the ground. A little distance away she found a stream she knew, and managed to partly crawl and walk home. When she arrived there the feeling she was at home overcame her, and she had just strength to throw her hat at the door before fainting away. Luckily one of the servants on subsequently opening the door saw the hat, which led her to look for her young mistress. But for this discovery it is probable Miss Day would have frozen to death, as the household were on the point of retiring for the night. Doctors were immediately summoned from Chester, and though Miss Day is suffering from severe shock and exhaustion due to her not having tasted food since Sunday morning she is now practically out of danger. Miss Day, who is 21 years of age, is well connected and highly respected, and her story, extraordinary as it seems, is generally believed, and has given rise to intense indignation. The police are thoroughly investigating the matter. Another Chester correspondent states that with the exception of the injury to the head, which might have been caused by either a blow or a fall, and which had a more favourable appearance yesterday, there is not evidence of an assault having been committed upon her, beyond her statement that she was abducted while putting on her skates on Sunday morning, and was taken to a loft and bound until she managed to free herself on Thursday, and managed to escape by making a hole in the roof. No explanation has been given as to how she subsisted during the four and a half bitter winter days she was away. The police are investigating the case, and probably some more coherent statement may be expected. The correspondent states that shortly before Christmas, Miss Day had a narrow escape from falling into a deep quarry while collecting greenery for decorating a church. She hung on to some bushes for twenty minutes, and was rescued from what appeared to be certain death by two men. Since then she had been in failing health, and it is feared that her mind had been affected by the incident.

"Kidnapping Of Miss Rosa Day" ("Penny Illustrated Paper", February 11, 1899) 

This belated young lady, after being absent since Sunday week, returned home on Thursday se'nnight, and related how she had been seized while skating, blindfolded, gagged, handcuffed, and led to some mysterious place of captivity by an unknown man. She had an ugly wound on her forehead, which fractured her skull. The read that the story told by Miss Day is altogether so remarkable that some skeptical people suggest that she may be suffering from mental aberration; but this theory of hallucination does not answer the obvious inquiry where the lady could possibly have been for five days. The family and neighbours, however, believe implicitly the whole story as related by Miss Day. She alleged that when the attack was made she was standing upright by the pond, not as previously stated, putting on her skates. The man approached, and asked the time, and it was when she was feeling for her watch that he secured her hands and made her a prisoner. When he asked for her money, he threatened to shoot her if she did not give it up, and when he found she had none, he cursed and swore horribly, and used violence. It is, however, strange that a gold brooch she was wearing was in its place when she returned home.

"The Rowton Disappearance" ("Cheshire Observer", February 18, 1899)

The police have been making the most strenuous efforts in regard to the strange disappearance of Miss Rosa Day, in order to discover anything by which an opinion can be formed on the probability or improbability of such things as Miss Day describes having happened. Despite every endeavour on the part of Superintendent Pearson - who, judging by his smartness, may be depended upon to leave no stone unturned, no likely theory untested, to get to the bottom of the mystery - no clue of any kind, say the police, has been discovered.

Every theory brought forward as yet is to be met with objections, which make them more improbable than the story itself. An idea which seems to have taken hold of several of the detectives, and many local residences, is that Miss Day was concealed in some building or other not far away, basing the argument on the fact that Miss Day's boots, on her return, were cleaner than one would expect after such wanderings. Against this, however, it can only be stated that on the Sunday she disappeared the thaw had only just set in, and the ground was like adamant, as was also the case when she returned. Her way back seems to have been from the direction of Saighton, as she was found near the pump, which is situated at the back of the house, and which would necessarily have to be passed before her home could be reached from the fields. Had she entered from the front, she would have had no occasion to go near the pump.

Taken all round, the mystery seems to thicken as the days go by, and neither the hut, the skates, nor the weapon are found. Still Miss Day who, in the doctor's opinion, has been perfectly rational ever since her return home, insists that the brutality described was exercised upon her. It may not be generally known that as she was returning to consciousness on being carried to the house, she shudderingly moaned, 'Oh! that horrid man.' Since then she has dreamt about the terrors of the journey home, her experiences on the Sunday, &c. One day last week she asked if the man had been found yet. "No," was the reply. "They are looking for the shed." Miss Day thereupon manifested the utmost surprise, said it was dark when she left it, and that she was so weary, so frightened, and so anxious to get away that she did not look at it. She is of the opinion that it was part of a larger building. On Friday Colonel Hamersley and several police detectives had arranged to interview Miss Day personally, but Dr. Taylor, noticing his patient's condition, said that she was not in a fit condition to be questioned, and the interview had to be postponed. Meanwhile Miss Day is progressing slowly. It is hoped that in a short time she will be able to throw more light upon what is at present a dark mystery.

By March of 1899, the story of Rosa Day's case had been dropped completely by local newspapers. No confirmed explanation was ever announced to the press by Cheshire detectives. The case, it seemed, had gone cold. A little digging in Census records revealed that Rosa had left her family's home in Cheshire by 1901 and was working as a hospital nurse in Liverpool. Ten years later, she was living in High Wycombe, in service to a large family. Her occupation was listed as 'sick trained nurse'. From there, she seemingly disappears from the pages of history - her skating mystery a chilling footnote from another time.

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 Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest 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.

Oublié: 6.0 Forgotten French Figure Skating Pioneers

French skaters being photographed by the press, 1927. Photo courtesy Bibliothèque nationale de France.

Long before Surya Bonaly made jaws drop with her defiant backflip at the 1998 Winter Olympic Games in Nagano, Japan or Marina Anissina and Gwendal Peizerat made history as the first ice dancers from their country to claim Olympic gold in 2002, the first generations of pioneering French figure skaters were paving their way for the stars of 'patinage artistique' that followed. Today's blog takes a look at the stories of 6.0 lesser known French skating pioneers.

ANITA (BEN NAHMIAS) DEL MONTE 

Anita Ben Nahmias and Louis Magnus. Photo courtesy Bibliothèque nationale de France.

Anne Marie Gabrielle Dite 'Anita' Ben Nahmias was born November 14, 1891 in Paris, France. Her parents were both immigrants to France. Her mother was born in Guayquil, Ecuador and her father, a Jewish banker, hailed from Salonica, the capital of what is now Macedonia. Anita won the French women's title in 1910 and 1912, and the French pairs title with Louis Magnus in 1912. She married Octavio Luis del Monte, the son of an aristocratic Costa Rican family, the August after she won her first French title.

In 1912, she also became the first French woman in history to compete at the World Championships, when she finished fifth in the pairs event in Manchester, England with Louis Magnus. Louis was married to Anita's older sister Esther at the time, though they divorced in 1916. Anita passed away on February 9, 1961 in Paris at the age of sixty nine.

JEAN HENRION

Photo courtesy Bibliothèque nationale de France

After making history as the first skater from France to compete in the men's event at the World Championships in 1927, Jean Henrion became the undisputed star of men's figure skating in France during the thirties. From 1932 to 1939, he won eight consecutive French men's titles - a record broken only by Alain Giletti, who won ten.

Top: Georges Torchon and Jean Henrion. Middle: Jean Henrion. Bottom: Jean Henrion and Eduard Engelmann Jr. Photos #1 and #3 courtesy Bibliothèque nationale de France.

Jean finished second in the pairs event at his National Championships in 1934 and 1935 with Gaby (Barbey) Clericetti and took the pairs title in 1937 and 1938 with a second partner, Suzy Boulesteix. Known as a specialist in school figures, Jean's best finish in international competition was a fourth place at the 1933 European Championships in London, England.

Georges Torchon and Jean Henrion. Photo courtesy Bibliothèque nationale de France.

Although the powers that be in French figure skating recruited Swiss Olympian Alfred Mégroz to train Jean and Gaby Clericetti for the 1936 Winter Olympic Games in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, neither skater ultimately competed. Little is known of Jean's fate during World War II or afterwards, although genealogical sources do seem to suggest he might have served with the French Navy.

GEORGES TORCHON

The son of Louis and Séverie (Valenciennes) Torchon, Georges Louis Torchon was born September 25, 1896 in Paris, France. From 1924 to 1933, he was a perennial competitor in the senior men's event at the French Championships. Though he placed second in 1924, 1931 and 1933, he finished as low as fifth in 1925. In his only major international competition, the 1932 European Championships in Paris, he placed dead last on every judge's scorecard. However, that same winter he had the honour of serving as France's flagbearer and judge at the Winter Olympic Games in Lake Placid.

Photo courtesy Bibliothèque nationale de France

Interestingly - even while he was competing - Georges prioritized judging over his own skating. At the French Championships, quite often he and fellow competitor Gérard Rodrigues-Henriques would rush from the ice to the dressing room after the men's event, take off their skates and judge the women's and pairs events. As a judge at the 1932 World Championships in Montreal, he found himself in the unique position of assessing the same skaters who had defeated him weeks prior at the European Championships.

During World War II, Georges coached skaters at the Rue Saint Didier rink in Paris and following the War, he resumed his judging duties at the 1948 and 1952 Olympics, as well as several European and World Championships in the late forties and early fifties. One of his more controversial decisions occurred at the 1947 World Championships  in Stockholm, when he placed the French pair - Denise Fayolle and Guy Pigier - in a tie for second and the silver medallists, Karol and Peter Kennedy, sixth. The following year, he drew ire for daring to place the champion - Canada's Barbara Ann Scott - third in free skating.

Photo courtesy "Skating" magazine

Off the ice, Georges served as the long-time treasurer of the Club des Sports d'Hiver de Paris and travelled extensively to South America for his work in an industrial trade. The entire time he was competing and judging, he was a married father of two.

SOUMI SAKAMOTO AND GUY PIGIER

Guy Pigier was the son of a French diplomat; Soumi Sakamato the daughter of a Japanese diplomat. They paired on the ice up in Paris, fell in love and won the pairs title at the 1939 French Championships but her father whisked her back to Japan in 1940, ending both the relationship and partnership. French skating historian Jeanine Hagenauer sadly remarked, "The war came between the children in love."

Denise Fayolle and Guy Pigier. Photo courtesy Musée Carnavalet, Histoire de Paris.

Guy went on to skate in shows with Denise Fayolle and join the cast of Holiday On Ice. Little is known of Soumi or her ultimate fate.

CHARLES SABOURET

His competitive career spanned four decades, he competed at two Winter Olympic Games and the book he penned was one of the most widely read instructional texts on figure skating in the French language. However, chances are you haven't heard the name Charly Sabouret.

Born in 1884, Charles 'Charly' Sabouret was the son of esteemed road and bridge engineer Victor Sabouret and Aména Fraisseix de Veyvialle. He was raised in Paris, France with his brothers Henri, Antoine,  Étienne and Bernard and in his youth, studied anatomy before attending l'Ecole des Beaux-Arts on rue Bonaparte, where he studied fine arts. A gifted sculptor, Charly would often play hooky from school and sneak off through the bushes to the Palais de Glace to skate.

A member of the exclusive Club des Patineurs, Charly would often travel to Chamonix to give figure skating exhibitions with Louis Magnus and Francis Pigueron, two of his contemporaries. In January 1907, he entered one of the first pairs skating championships at the Palais de Glace. Teaming up with Anita Nahmias, he finished second of the four teams participating, just behind Louis Magnus and his wife. The "Journal de la jeunesse: nouveau recueil hebdomadaire illustré" reported, "Miss A. Nahmias and M. Ch. Sabouret executed the compulsory figures, rockers and a Viennese Waltz to unanimous applause." The following year, Charly placed third in the French Championships for men behind Magnus and Robert Lacroix. That same year and the next, the well rounded artist/athlete was France's speed skating champion. In 1911, Charly and partner Mademoiselle Aysagher claimed France's pairs title. He also finished second in the men's event behind Magnus. Over the next two years, he won another four medals in both men's and pairs skating.

Simone and Charly Sabouret

His career interrupted by the Great War, Charly married Simone Roussel, a talented skater nine years his junior. Simone was the cousin of renowned painter and photographer Jacques Henri Lartigue, who was good friends with Francis Pigueron and his wife. Husband and wife Charly and Simone teamed up as skaters as well, placing second at the 1920 French Championships behind Pigueron and his step-sister Yvonne Bourgeois.

That summer, Charly and Simone travelled to Antwerp, Belgium to compete in the Olympic Games. They placed a disappointing seventh but earned the distinction of being the first French figure skaters in history to compete in the Olympics and the only ones to have competed in the Summer Games.

Yvonne Lacroix and Charles Sabouret

The following year, Charly - now thirty seven - returned to the French Championships, placing third in the men's event behind Francis Pigueron and a young Pierre Brunet. In the pairs event, he and wife Simone were victorious, defeating Bourgeois and Pigueron and Brunet and Andrée Joly. The following year, Charly and Simone again finished above the future three time Olympic Medallists at the French Championships. Not to diminish these victories, but the fact that Charly and Simone twice defeated the Brunet's would've been because they necessarily outjumped them - keep in mind this was the early twenties - but because they outdanced them. The line between pairs and ice dance was very thin in those days and whereas the Brunet's veered off in what we would think of as the pairs direction with athletic lifts, the Sabouret's would have been to some degree moreso ice dancers, as Charly was a strong advocate for free skating programs heavily comprised of figures, dance steps and pattern dances.

Simone and Charly Sabouret competing in the 1924 Winter Olympic Games. Photo courtesy National Archives Of Poland.

When Charly and Simone returned to the Olympic stage in Chamonix in 1924, it was clear that their perhaps old-fashioned interpretation of pairs skating was falling out of vogue. The Brunet's won the bronze; they finished dead last. Discouraged by this result, Simone quit skating.

Marguette Bouvier and Charly Sabouret

Ever the competitor, Charly returned to the competitive scene, placing third at the French Championships in 1929 and 1930 with Algerian born skier, journalist and aviatrice Marguette Bouvier. In 1931, he won another bronze with Lucienne Bonne... at age forty-seven. The following year, he penned the book "Patiner", one of the most widely read instructional texts on figure skating in the French language - certainly at the time at least.

Marguette Bouvier and Charly Sabouret. Photo courtesy Bibliothèque nationale de France.

Throughout the thirties, Charly covered figure and speed skating for "Sports de neige et de glace: organe portant les bulletins officiels" and was extremely active as an international judge, officiating for France at several European and World Championships. He also served on the executive of the Club des Sports d'Hiver de Paris.

Lucienne Bonne and Charly Sabouret. Photo courtesy Bibliothèque nationale de France.

At the 1934 World Championships in Oslo, Charly was the only judge not to place Sonja Henie first in the free skate. In fact, he had her third, behind Liselotte Landbeck and Megan Taylor. This was before the days of open judging, so there were no angry Norwegians tossing their Smörgåsbord at him protest. However, it's possible he received a reaming behind the scenes for not once did he ever make that 'mistake' again. Perhaps tired of towing the line, he briefly returned to competitive skating in 1939, winning a silver medal in a domestic event.

Charly Sabouret's incredible story seems to fade into obscurity around the time of World War II. Those 1939 French Championships were his last and he never judged internationally again. However his story ended, Charly's pioneering spirit and love of competition deserve a special place in skating history.

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 Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest 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.

The 1994 Skate Canada International Competition

Photo courtesy "Chatelaine" magazine

From November 3 to 6, 1994, an international cast of skaters from fifteen countries gathered at the Centrium Arena in Red Deer, Alberta for the 1994 Skate Canada International competition. The event boasted seven and a half hours of coverage on CTV. Ticket prices ranged from twenty two to thirty two dollars, with the free skating finals playing to a packed house.

Though the competition offered a total purse of one hundred thousand dollars in prize money, the winners in singles 'only' received five thousand. One reporter speculated that France's Philippe Candeloro, who withdrew from the event with no explanation provided, did so because the prize money at Skate America was higher.

Incidentally, it was the final year that Skate Canada was held as a standalone event. In 1995, the event was first included in the Champions Series - now called the Grand Prix. It was during Skate Canada that David Dore of the CFSA first announced discussions to "combine Skate Canada and Skate America into a two-event championship... [called] North American Skate with combined prize money... We plan to increase the Skate Canada prize money, anyway, but if we combined our prizes together with the U.S. payout, it would be a good purse that could attract good fields. It also would eliminate competition for skaters."

Just as the prize money being offered at professional competitions enticed skaters to leave the amateur ranks behind, the pressure for skating federations to offer big bucks at amateur international events was already becoming 'a thing'. Let's take a look back at how the competition unfolded!

THE PAIRS COMPETITION

During the off-season, twenty year old Kristy Sargeant and twenty four year old Kris Wirtz spent a couple of weeks training with Igor Moskvin in St. Petersburg, Russia. They couldn't wait to get home to their training base in Brossard, Quebec. Kris Wirtz told reporter Cam Cole, "The things people don't have there is frightening. There was a woman at the end of our street, I could see the bones through the skin of her legs. Her face was black from exposure. I don't understand how they live. They have to be such strong people. I mean, I will work with Igor again... just not in those conditions. We were so out of our element, we couldn't concentrate on the things we went over there for.''

In the warm-up for the pairs short program, America skater Cheryl Marker collided with Kris Wirtz. Her shoulder smashed into his ribs, but he decided to compete anyway. Kristy Sargaent tumbled on the side-by-side triple toe-loop in their program, but the Canadians were still second heading into the free skate.

Photo courtesy Skate Canada Archives

Kristy Sargeant and Kris Wirtz managed to score their first major international victory in Red Deer - the city where Sargeant was born - skating a strong program that was only marred by a faulty death spiral. After the event, Sargeant told reporters, "Winning our first international event is very big for us because it shows that we have a chance to be on the ladder towards the next Olympics. Our skating was a little rough, but we executed the things we were trying to do up until the last little problem.'' The silver medal went to Latvia's Elena Berezhnaya and Oleg Shliakhov and the bronze to crowd favourites Sarah Abitbol and Stéphane Bernadis of France. Danielle Carr of Australia, who finished fifth with her brother Stephen, celebrated her twenty fifth birthday in Red Deer.

THE WOMEN'S COMPETITION

Germany's Marina Kielmann, ranked fourth in the world, was the favourite entering the competition after the withdrawal of China's Lu Chen. However, she tumbled twice in the short program, taking herself out of the running for the gold medal. France's Laetitia Hubert rose to the occasion, delivering a strong performance to René Duprée's "Tango" from "Cirque du Soleil" and taking top spot after the short program. She was working with Evy and Mary Scotland down in the United States at the time.

In the free skate, Laetitia Hubert faltered and Marina Kielmann rallied but it was fifteen year old Krisztina Czakó of Hungary who rose to the occasion and snatched the gold medal over Hubert and Chicago's Jessica Mills. Czakó was six weeks shy of her sixteenth birthday,

Czakó was the youngest woman in Red Deer. She tried eight triples, including a triple/triple combination, and landed six. All but the Canadian judge, who had her fourth, placed her first overall. Czakó had arrived in Red Deer with an unusual quandary. The hem on one of her dresses was too long and she almost had to skate in a costume donated by the Red Deer Figure Skating Club. She eventually found suitable dresses in a skating boutique. Canada's two entries, Angela Derochie and Jennifer Robinson, placed fifth and sixth. Robinson had been a last-minute replacement for an injured Susan Humphreys.

THE ICE DANCE COMPETITION

Photo courtesy Skate Canada Archives

Taking an early lead in the compulsories, Canadian Champions Shae-Lynn Bourne and Victor Kraatz dominated the ice dance event in Red Deer from start to finish, easily besting Lithuanians Margarita Drobiazko and Povilas Vanagas and Americans Renée Roca and Gorsha Sur. Bourne and Kraatz received marks ranging from 5.4 to 5.7 for their winning free dance, a credit to their new coaches Marina Klimova and Sergei Ponomarenko. The Canadians had recently made the move to Lake Arrowhead to work with the Olympic Gold Medallists. They also worked with choreographer Uschi Keszler. Bourne told reporters, "With Marina and Sergei, everyone is going to be involved. Everyone's working toward the same thing. They're helping us to grow and become adults. Like a flower blossoms, we're going to blossom.'' Canada' second team, Jennifer Boyce and Michel Brunet, placed fifth of the eleven couples entered.

THE MEN'S COMPETITION

Elvis Stojko

Ticket buyers who had been anticipating a showdown between Elvis Stojko and Philippe Candeloro may have been disappointed, but Stojko more than gave them their money's worth, even if his competition wasn't as stiff. The twenty two year old had performed his new free skate to "1492: Conquest Of Paradise" every night on his Tour Of Champions, but had ditched a short program that wasn't working over the summer in favour of a new program to music from "Total Recall". He landed a triple Axel/double toe-loop, double Lutz and double Axel to take the lead in the short. His marks ranged from 5.5 to 5.9. He earned marks ranging from 5.7 to 5.9 for his "1492" free skate, landing six triples; two in combination. He tried the quad but just missed it. He told reporters, "There's still a lot left in the program. I left out some things, like the triple/triple combination, the quad-triple combination, and a second quad I want to put in and there's a lot of in-between's I want to improve on.'' Sébastien Britten landed five triples to take the bronze, just behind Michael Shmerkin, who made history as the first Israeli skater to win a medal at Skate Canada. Canada's third entry, a young Jeffrey Langdon, placed tenth.

Thanks to a generous donation of VHS tapes by Skate Guard reader Kate, you can take a trip back in time and rewatch the gala from the 1994 Skate Canada International competition in digitized video form. The YouTube playlist can be found above or at https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL6c_NN6KdCfJpMkd7HMpTpuc5GlZIpNx6.

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 Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest 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.

Sonja Meets The Press

Courtesy of the Boston Public Library, Leslie Jones Collection. Used with permission.

One the most talented and incredibly complex figures in figure skating history, Sonja Henie brought skating to a new audience on the silver screen after winning three Olympic gold medals and ten World titles. Enthralling audiences from Oslo to Oklahoma City, the Norwegian darling of the ice had plenty to say to reporters at the height of her success and today on the blog, we'll let her words speak for themselves. From backstage interviews to society pages to press conferences, here's an eclectic collection of Sonja Henie quotables.

Sonja Henie being interviewed by reporters. Photo courtesy Boston Public Library.

ON NORWEGIANS HAVING A SWEET TOOTH

"Norwegians are a hardy race with rugged constitutions and athletic tendencies. With this, and the long, cold winters, they become great consumers of sweets, cakes and cookies. The severe winters and strenuous life make their demand for sugars very high."

ON HER START IN HOLLYWOOD

"I wanted so much to be a picture star but I knew enough not to make the big mistake of going to Hollywood and begging for a job. No - that is not good showmanship. I gathered together a group of good skaters and took them to Hollywood with me. Then I rented the ice rink and put on my show. I told myself that this was the best way. If I was screen material, the studios would make me offers. If not, I would go back to Norway."

Courtesy of the Boston Public Library, Leslie Jones Collection. Used with permission.

ON HER PROWESS IN THE KITCHEN

"I learned to bake, cook and keep house about the same time I learned to skate. In Norway, it's a lasting disgrace for a girl to fail to become a first class housekeeper."

ON IF SHE'D EVER CHANGE HER NAME IN HOLLYWOOD

"No. Sonja Henie is a lovely name."

ON MOVING INTO MYRNA LOY'S COLDWATER CANYON HOME

"When we moved in Myrna had the house filled with flowers and everything beautifully arranged for us, so we invited her to come and pay us a visit. She and Arthur [Hornblow] came together and I was glad to find them so happy. I suppose when we move out they will return here to live, it's so quiet and peaceful."

Courtesy of the Boston Public Library, Leslie Jones Collection. Used with permission.

ON PERFORMING HER FAMOUS HULA NUMBER

"I've never had so much fun on skates as I do in the Hula, and in the 'Little Brown Girl' number which follows it."

ON HER DREAMS AFTER MARRYING DAN TOPPING

"I love to skate. It's a part of me, but I have told Dan that I won't go on tour, at least not until we spend a whole year together. We want to have a home. I am a Norwegian, my ancestors have all been homemakers. I want a garden, a place in the country."

Courtesy of the Boston Public Library, Leslie Jones Collection. Used with permission.

ON ENDORSING CIGARETTES 

"No. I don't smoke. I think there is little honesty in endorsing things one doesn't believe in... As an athlete, I have no use for cigarettes. I think I have a large audience of children on the screen, too. To smoke, it seems to me, would be to teach them a poor lesson for their age."

A later ad that depicted Sonja endorsing Chesterfield cigarettes

ON NEW YORK GOSSIP COLUMNIST LEE MORTIMER 

"Where is this Mortimer? Others like me and like my show. But always this critic says bad things. And I have never seen him. Really, I would like to meet him. If we do meet, I will have to hold Dan [Topping] back or he will punch that Mortimer's eyes and that would be too bad. I really do want so badly to see what he looks like."

ON HER RELATIONSHIP WITH THE CONDUCTOR OF HER ORCHESTRA

"I drive our orchestra leader crazy. You see, I usually spin through one full chorus, but I can push him out to holding a chorus and a half. And sometimes I spin and spin until his musicians are blue in the face. Eighty-five times I can spin; I can spin more now than when I was younger, for some reason."

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 Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest 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.

The 1983 Skate America International Competition

An Australian yacht made history at the America's Cup, when it dethroned the New York Yacht Club, which had held the trophy for over a century. Ronald Reagan was America's President, a postage stamp cost twenty cents and everyone was dancing up a storm to Michael Sembello's hit song "Maniac" from "Flashdance".

The year was 1983 and from October 10 to 16, figure skaters from seventeen nations gathered at the War Memorial Arena in Rochester, New York to compete in Skate America, which was then only a few years old. The event was hosted by the Genesee Figure Skating Club, the home club of former USFSA President F. Ritter Shumway. The venue had been the site of the U.S. Championships twenty four years prior in the heyday of Carol Heiss and David Jenkins. Spectators flocked en masse to get their first glimpse at some of the world's top skaters as they began their season, which (if they were lucky) would culminate in a trip to the 1984 Winter Olympic Games in Sarajevo.

Photo courtesy "Skating" magazine

The month prior to the event, a Soviet fighter plane shot down a South Korean airliner with nearly two hundred and seventy passengers aboard. In the aftermath of this dramatic world event, Soviet skaters had withdrawn from the St. Ivel competition in Great Britain. They pulled out of Skate America at the last minute as well. Writing in "Tracings" magazine about the mess, Alexandra Stevenson said, "You never know where you are with the Russians. The Skate America organizers weren't sure that the Soviet skaters would turn up until they received indication that several Russian political bigwigs from Washington wished to attend. After these VIP's had been informed that the USSR hadn't yet accepted the invitation to skate, a telegram came from the Soviets saying that a team would be sent comprised of their third-ranked woman, their fifth-ranked man, an unknown pair and last year's bronze medallist dance team at Skate Canada. Then a few days later they sent this telegram: 'Due to changed preparation schedule of Soviet skaters for 1984 I.S.U. Championships, regret unable to send delegation to Skate America '83. Thank you for invitation, hope for your understanding. Best regards.' It was probably just as well that the Russians decided not to come [to Skate America]. Rochester is the headquarters for Kodak, several of whose staff were lost on the Korean airliner... The public may have booed the Soviet skaters, or worse." George T. Yonekura, the USFSA President at the time, believed the cancellation had more to do with tensions over the jet liner incident than a change in any training program. Quoted in "The New York Times", he said, "I believe there were a couple of Kodak people on that plane and Kodak employs a lot of people around Rochester. Tension would probably be high in Rochester because of that. Frankly, I was relieved when the Russians withdrew. My personal feeling is that there would have been a big problem."

Even without the Cold War drama, Skate America provided for some dramatic showdowns on the ice. Let's take a look back at how things played out!

THE PAIRS COMPETITION

The absence of the previous year's Skate America Champions, Elena Valova and Oleg Vasiliev, paved the way for a rather easy victory for siblings Kitty and Peter Carruthers. The Americans won both the short program and free skate in convincing fashion on their way to winning their first and only Skate America title.

The Carruthers had missed the event a year prior because Kitty had chicken pox. Their teammates Jill Watson and Burt Lancon were a strong second. Canadians Melinda Kunheygi and Lyndon Johnston moved up from fourth after the short to win the bronze, landing side-by-side double Axels, a throw double Axel and throw triple Salchow in the free. Canada's second pair, Katherina Matousek and Lloyd Eisler, placed fifth behind Gillian Wachsman and Robert Daw.

In his review of the event, Howard Bass recalled, "The injured Susan Garland had the unusual experience of watching her former partner Robert, with whom she won three British national teams, during which time she outgrew him. The petite Gillian is obviously more suited to Robert, as evidenced by their throw triple Salchow, triple twist, and throw triple toe-loop. Robert, though qualifying by residence for the U.S. national team, is ineligible to compete for a second nation in the Olympics, having already represented Britain in Lake Placid."

THE ICE DANCE COMPETITION

Elisa Spitz and Scott Gregory. Photo courtesy "Skating" magazine.

Elisa Spitz and Scott Gregory were the only winners from the 1982 Skate America event to turn up to try and defend their title. Judy Blumberg and Michael Seibert and Karen Barber and Nicky Slater had withdrawn, paving the way for an easy victory for America's number two dance team.

Spitz and Gregory amassed a considerable lead after the compulsory dances (Paso Doble, Rhumba and Westminster) and expanded it in the Paso Doble OSP. Their free dance, a mishmash of tunes including "Down By The Sea", "Paint It Black", "Scres Blues" and "When The Saints Go Marchin' In", offered plenty of speed and variety and went over well with the American crowd. Seven of the nine judges placed them first ahead of Canadians Kelly Johnson and John Thomas, whose free dance was a reimagination of "Faust". Britons Wendy Sessions and Stephen Williams, replacements for Barber and Slater, took the bronze. Canada's second couple, Karen Taylor and Robert Burk, had the misfortune of finishing last after colliding with the boards in the free dance.

Following the event, Howard Bass remarked, "Each of the leading couples [reflected] in their own distinctive ways a current trend towards more 'showy' presentations. It was apparent that dance judges, coaches and competitors alike have decided to turn a Nelsonian eye on some breaches of the rules regarding separations, jumps, lifts, and various other similarities to pair skating, now only half-heartedly curbed." In her book "Figure Skating History: The Evolution Of Dance On Ice", Lynn Copley-Graves suggested that the favourable response toward Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean's "Barnum" free dance played a role in this trend.

THE WOMEN'S COMPETITION

John Nicks and Tiffany Chin. Photo courtesy "Skating" magazine.

There were fifteen competitors in the women's event in Rochester. Many were surprised when Yugoslavia's Sanda Dubravčić, who'd placed in the top ten at two World Championships in figures, finished behind sixteen year old Tiffany Chin in the event's first phase. After all, ice conditions weren't exactly great... owing partly to an October heat wave. Covering the event for "The Globe And Mail", Beverley Smith recalled, "Outside the War Memorial Arena, where the competition is being held, the temperature was a balmy twenty seven degrees. Inside, however, during the women's compulsory figures, it was hot and muggy and the ice was wet. The figures, which were to start at 7 a.m., were delayed. Two hours later, the sixteen women skaters had completed only one of three compulsories. Rink superintendent Charlie Mason said the air conditioning was turned on at 9 a.m. However, it did not take effect immediately because someone forgot to close all of the outside doors to keep out the heat. The rink was spotty, with wet patches at both ends."

Americans were delighted when Tiffany Chin turned in two outstanding performances in the short program and free skate on the way to winning her first of two Skate America titles. Her winning free skate featured a triple toe-loop, triple Salchow and two double Axel's. Canada's Cynthia Coull landed one more triple than Chin but, hampered by ninth place finishes in both the figures and short, was only able to move up to fifth. The silver and bronze went to Americans Jill Frost and Kelly Webster and Sanda Dubravčić ended up seventh. Canada's second entry, Monica Lipson, was an unlucky thirteenth. It was the first American sweep of the women's event at Skate America - a feat that wouldn't be repeated until 1996, when Michelle Kwan, Tonia Kwiatkowski and Sydne Vogel took the top three spots.

THE MEN'S COMPETITION

Bobby Beauchamp. Photo courtesy "Skating" magazine.

At the 1983 World Championships in Helsinki, Brian Boitano had finished ninth in figures, one spot ahead of West Germany's Rudi Cerne. In Rochester, nineteen year old Boitano handed twenty five year old Cerne yet another defeat on the way to winning his first of two Skate America titles. The fact that Boitano had managed a triple Lutz/double loop combination in the short when almost all of the other men only tried double loop/triple toe-loop or triple toe-loop/double loop had perhaps been the clincher. In the free, Boitano two-footed a triple Axel attempt but landed five other triples, an effort matched by Japan's Masaru Ogawa, who finished second in the free but fourth overall because of his eighth place finish in figures. The bronze medallist, America's Bobby Beauchamp, made history as the first skater of colour to win a medal at Skate America. Canada's two entries, Gordon Forbes and Kevin Parker, were sixth and eighth.

In the aftermath of the event, CFSA President David Dore had plenty to say about the fact that several 'top flight' U.S. skaters weren't in attendance in Rochester. "We would never send Brian Orser and we would never send Tracy Wilson and Rob McCall. Would you send Wilson and McCall to be beaten by Spitz and Gregory?" And it would happen. I've told this to the people. We don't want them to make mincemeat of our skaters before the whole U.S. nation. I'm not debating the legitimacy of the Americans' finishing one-two-three, but I am debating whether it is healthy for skating to do that. I realize they may have to do it to make ticket sales. I don't know if they would make sales in the United States if they didn't...  If they want to do it for the good of the flag, then I wish they'd just let us know." Dore's comments perhaps hearkened back to old wounds from the days of the North American Championships that perhaps hadn't yet healed.

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 Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest 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.

Brackets And Banking: The George Greenslet Story

Photo (HUD 328.04) courtesy Harvard University Archives. Used with permission.

Born August 12, 1906 in Cohasset, Massachusetts, George Ferris Greenslet was the son of Ellen Stoothoff (Hulst) and Ferris Greenslet. His father was a renowned historian, editor and writer who served as Director and General Manager of Trade Department at Houghton Mifflin. Ferris Greenslet worked tirelessly to 'clear the name' of ancestor Ann (Greenslet) Pudeator, who was hanged for witchcraft in Salem in 1692. The Greenslet's - Ferris, Ella, George and his older sister Marguerite - lived in affluent existence in Charles River Square in Boston, their needs tended to by a live-in nursemaid and cook.

George's father Ferris Greenslet

George started skating when he was a student at Milton Academy. In 1921, at the age of fourteen, he claimed the junior men's title at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Philadelphia, defeating Beatrix Loughran's future husband Raymond Harvey, Charles A. McCarthy of Chicago and four others. At the time, the distinction between the junior and senior classes at the U.S. Championships had absolutely nothing to do with age. In fact, it was unheard of for a 'boy' of fourteen to win such a prestigious title. Many of his competitors were twice his age.

However, what really made George's success at the U.S. Championships so remarkable was what he overcame. In his autobiography "Under The Bridge", George's father Ferris wrote, "Not long after the war... death for the first time threatened my own immediate family. After a series of heavy operations, my son, a boy of fourteen, developed a brain abscess. Hope was all but given up. His life was saved by a miracle of modern surgery. A technique just developed in the war hospitals in France made it possible to locate the invaded area with precision and a brilliant brain operation pulled him through so completely that a few months later, he won the Junior National Championship at his sport of figure skating. During his convalescence, Margaret [Phillips] MacDonald, the spectacled maid at Thayer's who had summoned Senator [Henry Cabot] Lodge to the telephone to hear the terms of the armistice, was employed to read to him."

The First National Bank of Boston in Buenos Aires

George 'retired' from skating as a teenager and immersed himself in his studies at Harvard College and Harvard Business School. He graduated with an M.B.A. from the latter in 1930, worked at the Revere Airport and toured Europe by car before accepting a position as a statistician at the First National Bank of Boston on Roque Sáenz Peña Avenue in Buenos Aires. He worked his way up the ladder to become the head of the bank's accounting department. In his role, he was responsible for personnel, purchasing, maintenance, taxes and communications for almost eight hundred people. In November 1933, he married Glencora Ada De Osborn. While living in South America, George worked to better American-Argentine relations. In his spare time, he enjoyed reading and playing golf. He passed away on February 20, 1953 in Buenos Aires at the age of forty seven, his remarkable win at the U.S. Championships in 1921 a forgotten footnote in figure skating history.

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 Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest 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.