Photo courtesy "Skating" magazine
Jimmy Carter was the President of the United States and the top news stories were the Uganda-Tanzania War and the first documented case of a robot killing a human. The highest-rated television shows were "Laverne & Shirley", "Three's Company", "Mork & Mindy" and "Happy Days" and everyone was singing along to Gloria Gaynor's hit single "I Will Survive".
The year was 1979, and from January 30 to February 4, one hundred and forty of America's best figure skaters descended on the Riverfront Coliseum in Cincinnati, Ohio for the 1979 U.S. Figure Skating Championships. It was the first (and to date) the only time that the Queen City played host to America's National Championships and though the venue was only four years old at the time of the event, history had already been made there when Elvis Presley played his second to last concert.
The city had landed the event back in 1974, when Jim Carter, the convention manager of the Greater Cincinnati Convention and Visitors Bureau arranged meetings with the Queen City Figure Skating Club, Figure Skating Club of Cincinnati, the Coliseum's director of events Bill Barrett, skating judge Nancy Meiss and the Junior League of Cincinnati to discuss the possibility of holding a major skating event in the city. They entered a bid to the USFSA to host the 1976 U.S. Championships but were turned down in favour of the Broadmoor in Colorado Springs and offered the 1979 Nationals instead.
At forty-five dollars for an all-event pass or four to seven dollars for a single ticket, the cost of attendance was a bargain even in those days! The reasonable prices paid off for the organizers. Attendance for the men's free skate - at over thirteen thousand, five hundred - broke a record for the largest-ever crowd at the U.S. Championships at that time, much to the delight of then-USFSA President Charles A. DeMore.
Photo courtesy "Skating" magazine
At forty-five dollars for an all-event pass or four to seven dollars for a single ticket, the cost of attendance was a bargain even in those days! The reasonable prices paid off for the organizers. Attendance for the men's free skate - at over thirteen thousand, five hundred - broke a record for the largest-ever crowd at the U.S. Championships at that time, much to the delight of then-USFSA President Charles A. DeMore.
That's not to say there weren't issues... Benjamin T. Wright recalled, "First there were the birds. There was a considerable flock of starlings inside the arena which had the tendency to swoop down on the ice in search of water. One of them even dropped a 'deposit' on the head of an unwary skater! They were disposed of late at night by the mechanism of putting the Zamboni in the middle of the ice with a pool of water on the ice in front of it. The headlights were then turned on and down came the birds. Blam! They were gone. There was press coverage and some environmentalists objected, but at least the menace and distraction they represented was eliminated. The other problem was the ice, which had been painted. With the refrigerant temperature running too high, the paint came through the ice in several places, causing difficulty for the skaters and risk for their blade edges. Eventually, with the coolant temperature lowered considerably, the surface was built up enough by the technical representative, the imperturbable Joe Serafine, to allow the competition to proceed unhindered."
Hop in the time machine with me, won't you? We're taking a look back at the stories and skaters that made this event from decades past so memorable!
THE NOVICE AND JUNIOR EVENTS
Nine teams vied for gold in the junior (silver) dance event. It was the second year a free dance was included in the competition and the inclusion hardly worked to the advantage of Renee Roca and Andrew Ouellette, students of Bernard Spencer hailing from the Columbus Figure Skating Club. The young team won the final phase of the competition but lost the title and the lone spot on the team for the World Junior Championships to Elisa Spitz and Stanley Makman, who took a tumble but claimed the gold on the strength of their compulsories. Robi Shepard and Kelly Witt took the bronze, ahead of Terri Slater and David Lipowitz.
A youthful duo from Foxboro and Stoneham, Massachusetts, Rosemary Sweeney and Daniel Salera, claimed the junior pairs crown. Jimmie Santee - yes, the brother of David - took gold in the junior men's event. Coming from behind, a young Paul Wylie overcame Scott Thompson and Christopher Bowman to win gold in the novice men's competition... after finishing fifth in the junior pairs event with partner Dana Graham. With an athletic free skating effort, thirteen-year-old Elaine Zayak earned a standing ovation and moved up from third to claim the junior women's title ahead of Jackie Farrell of Lakewood, Colorado and Lynn Smith of Walnut Creek, California. Elaine Zayak, an eighth-grade student from Paramus, New York, was the youngest entry in her class. The novice women's champion that year was Zayak's future rival, Rosalynn Sumners of Edmonds, Washington.
THE PAIRS COMPETITION
After Gail Hamula and Frank Sweiding turned professional, many thought it would be Sheryl Franks and Michael Botticelli's turn to move up to the silver medal position. Their free skate to "The Firebird" was well skated and included a novel move where Botticelli performed a double Axel while she did a spiral, but it wasn't enough to overcome another pair of young students of Nicks, seventeen-year-old Vicki Diane Heasley and eighteen-year-old Robert Wagenhoffer, who set the crowd on fire with a dazzling free skate to "Fogelberg - 2001" and "Other Side Of The Mountain" that ended in a series of pull Arabians. A young Kitty and Peter Carruthers placed seventh.
THE WOMEN'S COMPETITION
As in the pairs event, there was a definite favourite in the women's event that was going to be next to impossible to beat. Eighteen-year-old Frank Carroll student Linda Fratianne of Northridge, California had succeeded Dorothy Hamill and established herself as the next great American star of women's skating, claiming the 1977 and 1978 U.S. titles and the gold medal at the 1977 World Championships in Tokyo, Japan.
With a firm lead after the school figures and the compulsory short program, all Linda Fratianne really had to do was stay on her feet in the free skate to take home the gold... especially since Priscilla Hill had withdrawn due to a sprained ankle. Like Tai and Randy, she most certainly didn't just phone it in. With a challenging free skate that included two double Axels, a triple toe-loop and a triple Salchow, she earned marks ranging from 5.6 to 5.9 and successfully defended her title. Lisa-Marie Allen, who repeated as the U.S. Silver Medallist, performed an almost equally challenging free skate that included a fine triple Salchow. Many thought she was lowballed on her artistic impression marks. Sixteen-year-old Carrie Rugh, who had placed fourth the year previous at the Nationals in Portland, moved up a spot to take the bronze ahead of Alicia Risberg.
THE ICE DANCE COMPETITION
An impressive roster of eleven teams vied for the senior ice dance title in Cincinnati. After defeating defending U.S. Champions Stacey Smith and John Summers at both the 1978 World Championships in Ottawa and the U.S. National Sports Festival at the Broadmoor Skating Club the previous July, Carol Fox and Richard Dalley found themselves chasing their rivals after the compulsories in Cincinnati. Both teams delivered outstanding free dances - Smith and Summers to a medley that included Russian folk music, "Summertime" and "It Ain't Necessarily So" and Fox and Dalley to a Latin and flamenco theme. The judges had their work cut out for them but ultimately decided to give Smith and Summers the nod. Michael Seibert, skating with partner Judy Blumberg, took the bronze ahead of Kim Krohn and Barry Hagan and Dee Oseroff and Craig Bond and was hailed in "Skating" magazine as "the best male dancer in the U.S.". After their win, Summers told a "Cincinnati Enquirer" reporter, "There are all kinds of dance. There is serious and light. We're out to entertain."
THE MEN'S COMPETITION
Defending World and two-time U.S. Champion Charlie Tickner had both a strong lead after the school figures and short program and reputation on his side when the judges overlooked a shaky triple toe-loop, doubled triple Lutz attempt and a step out on a triple Salchow and handed him his third U.S. title.
To Charlie Tickner's credit, he landed a triple toe-loop and triple loop late in his free skate to a medley of selections by Borodin, Beethoven, Khatchaturian and Tchaikovsky but it certainly wasn't his finest performance of all time. Still, he beat silver medallist Scott Cramer by seven points and ten places and bronze medallist David Santee by seven points and thirteen places. Robert Wagenhoffer was fifth. Without a doubt, the audience favourites were Santee, Scott Hamilton and San Diego's Allen Schramm.
In seventh entering the free skate, Schramm blew the crowd away with his unique style, earned a standing ovation and marks as low as 4.8 that were booed loudly by the crowd. Hamilton landed all of his triples, including the Lutz and was particularly disappointed with his result. In his 1999 book "Landing It: My Life On And Off The Ice", he recalled, "I had skated well in the long, and Scott [Cramer] had not. Still, the judges held him up. Did I think that Carlo [Fassi] may have had something to do with the results? I'm always going to wonder. But I'm not going to hold him responsible... I was bitter but I did learn something. You can skate great and lose, and you can skate lousy and win... All you can control is what you do, not what anyone else does." It was shortly after those Nationals that Hamilton parted ways with Fassi and went to train with Don Laws in Philadelphia. The rest, as they say, is history.
Charlie Tickner and Linda Fratianne. Photo courtesy "Skating" magazine.
Hop in the time machine with me, won't you? We're taking a look back at the stories and skaters that made this event from decades past so memorable!
THE NOVICE AND JUNIOR EVENTS
Nine teams vied for gold in the junior (silver) dance event. It was the second year a free dance was included in the competition and the inclusion hardly worked to the advantage of Renee Roca and Andrew Ouellette, students of Bernard Spencer hailing from the Columbus Figure Skating Club. The young team won the final phase of the competition but lost the title and the lone spot on the team for the World Junior Championships to Elisa Spitz and Stanley Makman, who took a tumble but claimed the gold on the strength of their compulsories. Robi Shepard and Kelly Witt took the bronze, ahead of Terri Slater and David Lipowitz.
Elaine Zayak. Photo courtesy "Skating" magazine.
A youthful duo from Foxboro and Stoneham, Massachusetts, Rosemary Sweeney and Daniel Salera, claimed the junior pairs crown. Jimmie Santee - yes, the brother of David - took gold in the junior men's event. Coming from behind, a young Paul Wylie overcame Scott Thompson and Christopher Bowman to win gold in the novice men's competition... after finishing fifth in the junior pairs event with partner Dana Graham. With an athletic free skating effort, thirteen-year-old Elaine Zayak earned a standing ovation and moved up from third to claim the junior women's title ahead of Jackie Farrell of Lakewood, Colorado and Lynn Smith of Walnut Creek, California. Elaine Zayak, an eighth-grade student from Paramus, New York, was the youngest entry in her class. The novice women's champion that year was Zayak's future rival, Rosalynn Sumners of Edmonds, Washington.
THE PAIRS COMPETITION
Tai Babilonia and Randy Gardner
Simply put, there was Tai and Randy... and everyone else. Having won the last three U.S. titles and finished third at both the 1977 and 1978 World Championships, Tai Babilonia and Randy Gardner were practically shoo-in's to defend their title in Cincinnati. The eighteen and twenty-year-old students of Mr. John Nicks outdid themselves, nailing a throw triple Salchow, throw double Axel, split double twist and side-by-side double flips on their way to their fourth consecutive U.S. senior pairs title.
After Gail Hamula and Frank Sweiding turned professional, many thought it would be Sheryl Franks and Michael Botticelli's turn to move up to the silver medal position. Their free skate to "The Firebird" was well skated and included a novel move where Botticelli performed a double Axel while she did a spiral, but it wasn't enough to overcome another pair of young students of Nicks, seventeen-year-old Vicki Diane Heasley and eighteen-year-old Robert Wagenhoffer, who set the crowd on fire with a dazzling free skate to "Fogelberg - 2001" and "Other Side Of The Mountain" that ended in a series of pull Arabians. A young Kitty and Peter Carruthers placed seventh.
THE WOMEN'S COMPETITION
As in the pairs event, there was a definite favourite in the women's event that was going to be next to impossible to beat. Eighteen-year-old Frank Carroll student Linda Fratianne of Northridge, California had succeeded Dorothy Hamill and established herself as the next great American star of women's skating, claiming the 1977 and 1978 U.S. titles and the gold medal at the 1977 World Championships in Tokyo, Japan.
With a firm lead after the school figures and the compulsory short program, all Linda Fratianne really had to do was stay on her feet in the free skate to take home the gold... especially since Priscilla Hill had withdrawn due to a sprained ankle. Like Tai and Randy, she most certainly didn't just phone it in. With a challenging free skate that included two double Axels, a triple toe-loop and a triple Salchow, she earned marks ranging from 5.6 to 5.9 and successfully defended her title. Lisa-Marie Allen, who repeated as the U.S. Silver Medallist, performed an almost equally challenging free skate that included a fine triple Salchow. Many thought she was lowballed on her artistic impression marks. Sixteen-year-old Carrie Rugh, who had placed fourth the year previous at the Nationals in Portland, moved up a spot to take the bronze ahead of Alicia Risberg.
THE ICE DANCE COMPETITION
Stacey Smith and John Summers. Photo courtesy "St. Louis Jewish Light" Archives.
An impressive roster of eleven teams vied for the senior ice dance title in Cincinnati. After defeating defending U.S. Champions Stacey Smith and John Summers at both the 1978 World Championships in Ottawa and the U.S. National Sports Festival at the Broadmoor Skating Club the previous July, Carol Fox and Richard Dalley found themselves chasing their rivals after the compulsories in Cincinnati. Both teams delivered outstanding free dances - Smith and Summers to a medley that included Russian folk music, "Summertime" and "It Ain't Necessarily So" and Fox and Dalley to a Latin and flamenco theme. The judges had their work cut out for them but ultimately decided to give Smith and Summers the nod. Michael Seibert, skating with partner Judy Blumberg, took the bronze ahead of Kim Krohn and Barry Hagan and Dee Oseroff and Craig Bond and was hailed in "Skating" magazine as "the best male dancer in the U.S.". After their win, Summers told a "Cincinnati Enquirer" reporter, "There are all kinds of dance. There is serious and light. We're out to entertain."
THE MEN'S COMPETITION
Scott Hamilton
Left: Charlie Tickner. Right: Allen Schramm. Photo courtesy "Skating" magazine.
To Charlie Tickner's credit, he landed a triple toe-loop and triple loop late in his free skate to a medley of selections by Borodin, Beethoven, Khatchaturian and Tchaikovsky but it certainly wasn't his finest performance of all time. Still, he beat silver medallist Scott Cramer by seven points and ten places and bronze medallist David Santee by seven points and thirteen places. Robert Wagenhoffer was fifth. Without a doubt, the audience favourites were Santee, Scott Hamilton and San Diego's Allen Schramm.
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