The 1936 World Figure Skating Championships

Megan Taylor, Jeff Dickson and Sonja Henie at the 1936 World Championships in Paris. Photo courtesy National Archives of Poland.

Not only was 1936 an Olympic year, but it was also a leap year. On two consecutive Fridays and Saturdays (February 21 and 22 and February 28 and 29, 1936) the World's best figure skaters convened at the Palais des Sports in Paris, France for what was in many ways a grand finale to the long reigns of Karl Schäfer and Sonja Henie as figure skating's undefeated King and Queen. Let's take a look back at how things played out!

THE WOMEN'S COMPETITION

Karl Schäfer and Sonja Henie in Paris. Photo courtesy Bibliothèque nationale de France.

With telegrams from America tucked away in his suitcase, Papa Henie arrived in Paris with his famous daughter in tow. Everywhere she went, fans wanted their autograph books signed and reporters sought interviews of the three time Olympic Gold Medallist. Impresario Jeff Dickson even tried to convince the Norwegian star to sign a professional contract but perhaps more than ever, Henie assiduously made training her first priority. Although she had announced that these World Championships would be her last in Berlin at the European Championships, her quest to win a tenth World title wouldn't be easy. Although Cecilia Colledge, Maribel Vinson and many other key rivals from the 1936 Winter Olympic Games weren't in attendance, she still had formidable competition in long-time rival Vivi-Anne Hultén and Megan Taylor, who had been forced to watch the Winter Olympic Games from the stands after missing the British Olympic Trials.

Megan Taylor in Paris. Photo courtesy National Archives of Poland.

Sonja Henie unanimously won the school figures by almost nine points, with Taylor second and Hultén third. Although every judge had Henie first, her lead was certainly less than she was accustomed to. Under more pressure than usual to deliver in the free skate, she emerged in a white satin gown embroidered with gardenias with a mauve hood and performed superbly in front of twenty five thousand Parisian spectators. Six of the seven judges placed her first in the free skate, the notable exception being American judge Charlie Morgan Rotch, who placed her behind Hultén. In the February 23, 1936 issue of "Le Journal", one enchanted Parisian reporter remarked, "She was not skating. She was flying... In the floodlight, winds extended, she slipped like a swallow at night... How easy it is, my God, to skate like this, mademoiselle!"

Sonja Henie receiving a crystal from a French politician at the 1936 World Championships

Megan Taylor fell once in her free skate and finished fourth in free skate behind Hultén and Austria's Emmy Puzinger, but her result in the figures was strong enough for her to claim the silver medal ahead of the two. Gweneth Butler, who the majority of judges had outside of the top ten in the free skate, placed fifth on the strength of her figures. Yvonne de Ligne's ordinals in the free skate ranged from fifth to fifteenth. She placed eleventh overall. Japan's Etsuko Inada, the darling of the Garmisch-Partenkirchen Winter Games, took a tumble and placed tenth but made history as the first Asian woman to compete at the World Championships.

In her book "Wings On My Feet", Sonja Henie recalled, "It was not hard. I had my victory. Within thirty days I had signed a contract with Arthur Wirtz to give eight exhibitions in the United States, as a professional." Before setting sail from Le Havre to America, Sonja returned to Oslo with her family and Jackie Dunn. She collapsed and was ordered by her doctor to spend several days in bed recuperating from exhaustion.

THE PAIRS COMPETITION

Ilse and Erik Pausin, Louise Bertram and Stewart Reburn, Violet and Leslie Cliff and Maxi Herber and Ernst Baier in Paris. Photo courtesy "Skating" magazine.

If the pairs competition at the Olympic Games was close, it really wasn't in Paris. Germany's Maxi Herber and Ernst Baier delivered one of the strongest skates of their career to unanimously defeat Austrian siblings Ilse and Erik Pausin. Britons Violet and Leslie Cliff narrowly defeated Canada's Louise Bertram and Stewart Reburn and Americans Maribel Vinson and George Hill for the bronze.

Violet and Leslie Cliff

In stark contrast to the rampant national bias of the era, the British judge placed the Americans ahead of the Britons and the American judge had the Britons ahead of the Americans. The Cliff's bronze medal was the first British medal in the pairs event at the World Championships since Ethel Muckelt and Jack Ferguson Page's silver in 1924.

THE MEN'S COMPETITION

If Herber and Baier had it somewhat easy, Karl Schäfer had quite a different experience in Paris. He won the school figures by only the narrowest of margins - 2.1 points  - in a three-two judging split with Great Britain's Henry Graham Sharp. In the free skate, his biggest competition came from a different Briton... the charismatic Jackie Dunn.

Karl Schäfer in Paris

Two judges placed Schäfer on top in that phase of the event, two placed Dunn first, and the British judge boxed himself in and put Schäfer, Sharp, Dunn and Austria's Felix Kaspar in a four-way tie. When the marks were tallied and the dust settled, Dunn's low figures scores and Sharp's low free skating scores helped Schäfer claim his seventh consecutive and final World title.

Canada's Montgomery 'Bud' Wilson, who had claimed the bronze medal at the Winter Olympic Games, failed to capitalize on the absence of Ernst Baier in the men's event and placed a disappointing fifth in what would prove to be his final trip to the World Championships. Robin Lee and Erle Reiter, America's two entries, placed eighth and eleventh.

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 Beissbarth Brothers

Photo courtesy Library and Archives Canada, Acc. No. R9266-2769 Peter Winkworth Collection of Canadiana.

Figure skater, lawyer, author and socialite Irving Brokaw has long been credited as the person who first introduced the Continental or International Style from Europe to New York City after travelling to the skating mecca of Switzerland and falling in love with the art. The role the well-connected Brokaw played in introducing and popularizing the style in North America was certainly instrumental, but it wasn't the first such attempt. Close to a decade before Brokaw made Continental cool among New York City's elite, two German brothers tried to do the exact same thing... and they weren't exactly well-received.

Identical twins Hermann and Henry Beissbarth hailed from the Bavarian city of Nuremberg. They arrived at Ellis Island on August 3, 1895, travelling from Hamburg via Southampton aboard the Augusta Victoria. They had initially planned to move to Hoboken, New Jersey and take up skating on the beautiful, mirror black ice there but instead moved to Brooklyn, where they rose before dawn every morning to practice at the Ice Palace while everyone else was still snug in their beds with visions of grapevines and three-turns dancing in their heads.

Brooklyn's skating community quickly took notice of the Beissbarth brothers and their passion for figure skating. "The Brooklyn Eagle" noted, "Each carries books on the sport about with him and they are the authors of many beautiful figures. They are never seen apart and skate together. Their skates are marvels of fine work and repose in buckskin bags. The brothers can be seen at the rink almost any day discussing in their broken English the skating topics. They do some fine skating together."

Yet, when Hermann and Henry attended a meeting of the great minds in late nineteenth century figure skating at the Claremont Rink on January 1897, no one really wanted to hear what they had to say about the 'way things were done in Europe'. "The Brooklyn Eagle" reported that at this meeting the Beissbarth's "stood up for the rule of large figures in skating which the Europeans follow in all their contests" and schooled the attendees, including champion skater Frank Swift (William H. Bishop), on the way European skating competitions were conducted, judged and which figures were skated. The reporter went on to note, "The Beissbarth's, to better illustrate their arguments had from time from time produced different books on the art and finally they fell to telling the manner and rules of holding the annual continental contests for the world's championships." Canadian skater George Meagher, who too had travelled to Europe, defended the German brothers but "the Americans loyally stood up for their own style." Whatever this new-fangled Continental skating was, the exponents of 'fancy' skating in America weren't interested at the time.

Hermann Beissbarth didn't give up that easily. He entered the 1897 Championships Of America at the St. Nicholas Rink, and lost badly - finishing seventh behind speedster George Dawson Phillips. Hermann wasn't alone in his defeat. Phillips also bested a Bostonian named Thomas Vinson at that event... the father of American skating legend Maribel Vinson Owen.

Competitors and judges at the 1897 Championships Of America

At an exhibition at the Claremont Rink, the Beissbarth brothers were pretty much booed off the stage. The May 1944 issue of "Skating" magazine recalled that the brothers "skated in such an exaggerated style... that the gallery yelled in derision." I highly doubt that an angry mob of skaters ran them out of town after this performance, but that's sadly where the Beissbarth brothers disappear from the historical record. Whether they simply gave up their efforts or returned to Nuremberg with their tails between their legs, we don't know. Sometimes people are just ahead of their time and people aren't ready for it yet.

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.

#Unearthed: Linichuk And Karponosov's Road To Olympus

When you dig through skating history, you never know what you will unearth. In the spirit of cataloguing fascinating tales from skating history, #Unearthed is a once a month 'special occasion' on Skate Guard where fascinating writings by others that are of interest to skating history buffs are excavated, dusted off and shared for your reading pleasure. From forgotten fiction to long lost interviews to tales that have never been shared publicly, each #Unearthed is a fascinating journey through time. Today's 'buried treasure' is an interview with Natalia Linichuk and Gennadi Karponosov that originally appeared in the January 1979 edition of "Soviet Life" magazine. The interviewer was Andrei Batashev. At the time, Natalia and Gennadi were the reigning World Champions, looking to defend their World title in Vienna and compete for Olympic gold the following year in Lake Placid.

"THE ROAD TO OLYMPUS WASN'T COVERED IN ROSES" (ANDREI BATASHEV)

Gennadi Karponosov is the very incarnation of temperament, while Natalia Linichuk is serenity itself. But she has the knack of unobtrusively getting her femininity and lyricism to lead in their dance.

Q: How did you come to figure skate, and why did you choose ice dancing?

A from Linichuk: My parents used to to work in the morning, and to keep the 'baby' busy, they enrolled me in a figure skating group when I was seven. I skated alone at first, but my leaps were so bad that - this was in 1970 or 1971 - I was told: "Better start dancing or stop skating altogether." The latter was completely out of the question.

A from Karponosov: I was a sickly child, and the doctors advised my parents to keep me out-of-doors as much as possible. In those days - the late fifties - our figure skaters trained in the open, and so my parents took me to the rink. I didn't care for figure skating at all, especially singles. But during the European championship in Moscow in 1965, I saw Eva Romanová and Pavel Roman of Czechoslovakia skating and discovered that ice dancing was just the thing for me.

Q: What is peculiar to this form of figure skating?

A from Linichuk: The partners must be completely integrated, an ensemble. Each of them must, under the influence of the music, create a world of images. And they must fuse these worlds. Then the blend will turn out to be far more expressive than its individual parts. Of course, I'm speaking of
the ideal variant.

A from Karponosov: In ice dancing there must not be any blank spots, any "running starts," which are acceptable for singles and ordinary pairs. Complexity here is achieved by the pattern of the steps, turns and various tricks performed with filigree precision. The technique has to be refined to the point where the spectators won't detect it. And they often don't. Unfortunately, I once suggested that a well-
known singles performer dance to a pattern. He tried it and ended up by banging into the wall of the rink.

Q: Have you ever had a wish you couldn't realize?

A from Linichuk: My dreams have always come true.

A from Karponosov: When I was in the eighth grade, I was told that I ought to transfer to a school for mathematicians. It was a very tempting invitation, but when I went there the principal was out, and I never could muster up the courage to go back again. I'm not sorry now.

Q: Still, you got your degree in economics at Moscow University, so that you didn't avoid mathematics altogether.

A from Karponosov: I always liked math. I just didn't want to specialize in it. In the Economics Department you study both math and the humanities. I liked the combination. I'm now writing my thesis on the economics of industry.

Q: And what are your plans, Natasha?

A from Linichuk: I want to be a skating coach. This year I'll be graduating from the Central Institute of Physical Culture.

Q: Is there anything you don't like about yourself?

A from Linichuk: It takes me too long to learn new things.

A from Karponosov:I'm very short-tempered and don't forgive people easily.

Q: What qualities do you prize most?

A from Linichuk: The ability to forgive easily.

A from Karponosov: Industriousness and a sense of humor. The kids on our figure-skating home team are past masters at practical joking.

Q: What kind of jokes do they go in for?

A from Karponosov: I once forgot my cap on a bus. I went back and asked if anybody had picked it up. The answer was No. That evening we gave an exhibition performance. As always, the ice was sprinkled with flowers and notes from the audience. They were mostly for Natasha. But suddenly a
large package "For Karponosov" came hurtling down. I was pleasantly surprised, anticipating something interesting. Back in the dressing room, our team gathered around me, saying: "Aren't you the lucky one!" But when I unwrapped the package, there was my cap.

Q: Natasha, have you any bones to pick with your partner?

A from Linichuk: He's very obstinate. Even if he knows he's wrong, he won't ever admit it.

Q: And you, Gennadi?

A from Karponosov: I want to thank Natasha for making me a world champion.

A from Linichuk: We're both indebted for our victory to coach Yelena Tchaikovskaya. She found the form and the music that enabled us to express our natures and temperament in the dance.

A from Karponosov: Usually coaches offer their skaters the same program with a few variations. Tchaikovskaya finds a style to suit each pair.

Q: What do you wish for most?

A from Linichuk: To enter the Olympic Games at Lake Placid.

A from Karponosov: To enter and win. And to skate well enough to please our audiences.

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 Magical Melitta Brunner

Photo courtesy National Archives Of Poland

"Melitta, who possessed a speedy, spacious, easy and powerful style that was typically Viennese, combined this with a warm and sparkling personality designed to 'draw' the public and she made herself a remarkable personality in the skating world." - Jacqueline du Bief, "Thin Ice"

Born July 28, 1907 in Vienna, Austria, Melitta Brunner grew up in an athletic family. Her father was the President of a local rowing club and an avid ice skater. He taught Melitta and her only brother how to skate on the frozen Danube River when she was seven. After five years of skating for pleasure, she became a member of the Wiener Eislaufverein. After only a year of formal instruction in figure skating from coach Pepe Weiss, she entered and won her first competition. Her prize for winning was a silver brooch.

Melitta Brunner and Ludwig Wrede. Photo courtesy National Archives Of Poland.

A graceful skater, Melitta supplemented her on ice instruction by studying dance and rhythmic gymnastics at the Festspielhaus Hellerau in Dresden. After entering an endless stream of smaller international competitions in Berlin, Troppau and Vienna, she teamed up with Ludwig Wrede - eleven years her senior - and placed third in the 1922 Austrian Championships. Competing concurrently in both singles and pairs, Melitta always seemed to find herself in the shadow of the grand dames of Austrian skating at the time, Herma Szabo and Fritzi Burger.

Melitta made her debut in 'the big leagues' at the 1928 Winter Olympic Games in St. Moritz, Switzerland. She placed seventh in the women's competition and won the bronze medal in the pairs event with Ludwig Wrede. In both events she received ordinals as high as second. At the World Championships that followed in London, she placed fifth in the women's event and again, third in pairs. The following year, she won an international figure skating competition for women held in conjunction with the European Championships in Davos. At the World Championships in Budapest, she medalled in both the women's and pairs competition. In the women's event, Finnish judge Walter Jakobsson had her in first place, ahead of both Sonja Henie and Fritzi Burger. In fact, she only lost the silver medal at that event to Burger by one ordinal placing.

During her competitive career, Melitta studied textiles at the Vienna College Of Design and often sewed dresses for fellow skaters. She got on well with many of her competitors, maintaining friendships with Sonja Henie, Fritzi Burger and young Hilde Holovsky.

Photo courtesy "Skating" magazine

In her first overseas trip, Melitta won the silver medal in the pairs event behind the reigning Olympic Champions and placed fifth in the women's event at the 1930 World Championships in New York City. Gunnar Bang felt she got lost in the shuffle at this event: "Her free skating is so uniquely beautiful and artistic... Her musicality... her stylish jumps and pirouettes... Yes, I would go so far [as to agree with what] Miss Blanchard says: that whatever Miss Brunner showed was exactly contrary to what [the North American women] showed." That event proved to be Melitta's swan song in the amateur ranks. She retired from the competitive scene an Olympic Bronze Medallist and four time Medallist at the World Championships in two disciplines.

In 1931, Melitta headed to Switzerland, where she taught skating for a time before heading to England to teach at the Westminster Ice Club. While there, she won the World Professional title and started seeing a German skater named Paul Kreckow who placed second in the pairs competition with partner Trudy Harris. Paul and Trudy debuted their creation at that event, the Harris-Kreckow Tango, which later became known as the Tango compulsory dance. In December of 1932, Melitta and Paul married in London. Their marriage was short-lived and Paul was rumoured to be hauled off by two men from the Home Office as a suspected spy.

Left: Melitta Brunner and Paul Kreckow. Right: Melitta Brunner

After continuing her dance training at the Kurt Jooss Ballet School at Dartington Hall in Devon, Melitta starred in Claude Langdon's lavish ice pantomime "Marina" before sailing to America from Southampton aboard the French Line's S.S. Paris.

Upon her arrival, Melitta took part in several club carnivals. The March 14, 1937 issue of "The Philadelphia Inquirier" raved, "A golden-haired fraulein, 26-year-old Melitta Brunner from Austria, proved to be an enchanting butterfly as she danced on skates last night at the Arena before an overflow crowd of 6300 which included standees. Striking the very keynote of Schiaparelli's latest motif for butterflies this spring, Melitta's interpretation was an evanescent and fragile as the winged messenger she personified... Fraulein Brunner selected a light blue shade for her costume that embodied her from neck to foot, fitting like a glove of her svelte figure. Her colorful wings, light and airy, seemed more of a part of her as she glided over the rink in the blue shadows of the spotlight that traced her movements." One of her signature numbers was a performance to Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov's "Scheherazade".

Melitta headed to Hollywood for a screen test, which didn't go so well. Instead, she joined The Black Forest revue, dazzling audiences at both the New York and Dallas Expositions. She helped with choreography for several of Sonja Henie's ice revues and her image appeared on the cover of "Sports Illustrated" magazine, which then sold for a quarter.

Left: Melitta Brunner and Karl Schäfer. Right: Melitta Brunner.

Heading back to Great Britain, Melitta appeared in the show "Winter Sports" at the Alhambra Theatre in Glasgow. Throughout much of World War II, she taught skating in Scotland in one of the handful of ice rinks in Great Britain that weren't commandeered for war purposes or damaged by bombing.

After the War, Melitta taught skating in London and took part in several of Tom Arnold's pantomimes. She later toured with a revue in Italy called "La Féerie de la glace" as a replacement for Olympic Gold Medallist Micheline Lannoy and performed in Egypt with the International Ice Revue, toured Sweden with her own ice show, travelled in India and returned to Tom Arnold's employ, starring in the "Ice Circus" show at the S.S. Brighton.

Photo courtesy National Archives of Poland

Moving to America, Melitta supplemented jobs coaching skating at the Philadelphia Skating Club and Humane Society, Princeton Skating Club and the Philadelphia Marriott Motor Hotel's ice rink by teaching interpretive dance, yoga and gymnastics in the summers. In December 1957, she remarried to U.S. army veteran Gale Leisure in Miami, Florida.

Keeping one skate in the fashion world, in 1964 she exhibited a line of custom lounge wear, après-ski clothing and sportswear at the New York World's Fair as part of a presentation by Hess' Department Store. Unhappy with many of the options available during her own days as a competitor, she also helped revolutionize skating costumes utilizing many of the new stretch fabrics available at the time.

Photos courtesy "Skating" magazine

Melitta retired from coaching in 1968 but skated well into her nineties. In a rare performance at age ninety one in the "Skaters' Tribute To Broadway" show at the First Union Center in Philadelphia, she performed to "Rhapsody In Blue". She quipped to reporter Bill Fleischman, "Old age has been merely a nuisance."

Photo courtesy "Skating" magazine

Living out her final years in a seniors apartment in Philadelphia, Melitta recalled her Olympic experience in the twenties with perspective, saying, "To take place in any Olympics is an honour. No matter if you take second place or tenth place." Inducted into Pennsylvania Sports Hall Of Fame, Delaware County Chapter in 2000, she passed away three years later on May 26, 2003 in Philadelphia of leukemia. At the time of her death, she was the oldest surviving figure skater who competed at the 1928 Olympic Games in St. Moritz.

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 1968 Canadian Figure Skating Championships

Pierre Trudeau was Canada's Prime Minister. Newspapers and radio shows chronicled the trial of Sirhan Sirhan, the accused murderer of U.S. Presidential Candidate Bobby Kennedy. Paisley and high-waisted pants were the grooviest fads and everyone was swinging and swaying to Tommy James and The Shondells' hit "Crimson And Clover".

From January 9 to 14, 1968, many of Canada's best figure skaters convened at the Kerrisdale Arena in Vancouver to compete in the Canadian Figure Skating Championships for berths on the 1968 Olympic and World teams. It was the first time that British Columbia had played host to the Canadian Championships since 1951, and the chairperson of the event was Billie Mitchell, the first woman to serve on the CFSA's Board Of Directors and later, its first female President.

The event, which was well promoted and attended, was one of the first Canadian Championships to net a profit. For the first time in history, British Columbian skaters broke through the Eastern 'stronghold' and swept the gold medals in all four senior events... an especially sweet milestone as it occurred in their home province. Let's take a look back at the stories and skaters that made this event so memorable!

THE NOVICE AND JUNIOR EVENTS 

Photo courtesy Cynthia Miller

Multiple panel judging was used in the junior and novice singles events. Two young duos from the Unionville Skating Club, Debbi Jones and Michael Bradley and Janette D'Altroy and David Porter, took top honours in novice pairs and dance. The novice men's title was claimed by the Cricket Club's Steven Sugar. In the novice women's event, Madeleine Begg moved up from seventh after figures with an outstanding free skate to beat the winner of the figures, Karel Lathem. Both young women represented the North Shore Winter Club. The bronze medal went to a young Sandra Bezic, who forced to withdraw from the junior pairs event when her brother Val injured himself during practice.

Maureen Walker and Dick Shedlowski. Photo courtesy Cynthia Miller.

The junior pairs event was won by Maureen Walker of Brantford, Ontario and Dick Shedlowski of Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. Another youthful Toronto duo, Mary Church and David Falls, led the junior dance from start to finish.

In the junior women's competition, Judy Williams of the Guelph College Skating Club moved up from sixth after figures to narrowly defeat the early leader, Alana Wilson of Toronto. The junior men's event was won by four foot five Patrick McKilligan, the younger brother of senior pairs skaters Betty and John McKilligan. The bronze medallist, John McWilliams of the Upper Canada Skating Club, landed a triple Salchow in his free skate, which was absolutely a rarity in the junior ranks in those days.

THE PAIRS COMPETITION

Six teams vied for the senior pairs title in 1968. Siblings Betty and John McKilligan, who represented the Hollyburn Country Club, were the unanimous choices of all seven judges. Their winning free program was a brand new one for them that featured a one-handed reverse overhead lift, overhead Axel lift and a novel series where they began a death spiral, he separated and performed a solo Axel, then returned directly and finished the death spiral. Their only major error was a fall on a throw Axel. A unanimous second were Port Perry, Ontario's Anna Forder and Richard Stephens, who rebounded after a missed split double Lutz twist to execute a daring performance. The bronze medal went to another sibling team, Alexis and Chris Shields of the Cricket Club.

THE ICE DANCE COMPETITION

Joni Graham and Don Phillips. Photo courtesy Toronto Public Library, from Toronto Star Photographic Archive. Reproduced for educational purposes under license permission.

Joni Graham and Don Phillips made it two for two for the Hollyburn Country Club went they absolutely dominated the ice dance competition from start to finish, defending the Canadian title they'd won the year prior in Toronto with ease. They were first on every judge's scorecard in both the compulsories and free dance, and earned rave reviews for their dramatic free dance. The previous year's junior champions, Donna Taylor and Bruce Lennie of Toronto, took the silver over the junior dance champions of 1968 'skating up' in seniors, Mary Church and David Fells in a five-two split of the judging panel. Two other British Columbian teams, Sandi Kattler and Bryce Swetnam and Lorraine Hyne and Richard Madden, rounded out the five team field.

THE WOMEN'S COMPETITION

Karen Magnussen with her winning trophy. Tim Huntingdon photo.

The retirement of Valerie Jones left the women's title ripe for the picking. In the school figures, Karen Magnussen amassed an incredible twenty two point lead over her former training mate Lyndsai Cowan and Toronto's Linda Carbonetto. When the nine women took their ice to skate their free skates, nearly four thousand spectators crammed themselves into the old rink. Magnussen didn't disappoint in the free skate, breezing her way through a walley/reverse walley/two walley combination and two double Axels and earning a standing ovation and marks ranging from 5.6 to 5.8. Cowan fell on a double Lutz attempt, but rebounded with a solid double Axel and double flip. Carbonetto stole some of Magnussen's glory with an elegant free skate that featured Axels in both directions and gorgeous spins. When the marks were tallied, Magnussen became the first woman in history from British Columbia to claim the senior women's crown at the Canadian Championships. Carbonetto managed to overcome the wide deficit between her and Cowan in the figures and move up to claim the silver. Cathy Lee Irwin of Toronto was fourth; Judy McLeod of the North Shore Winter Club fifth.

THE MEN'S COMPETITION  

Jay Humphry. Photos courtesy "Skating" magazine, Toronto Public Library.

Six worthy contenders representing clubs in three provinces vied for the senior men's title in 1968. As in the women's event, Donald Knight and Charles Snelling's decisions to leave the competitive ranks meant that a new champion would be crowned. Knight commentated the event for television after performing in Ice Capades at the Pacific Coliseum.

Jay Humphry, the favourite, amassed a strong lead over six foot tall Steve Hutchinson of the host Kerrisdale Club and Toronto's David McGillvray in the school figures. Humphry didn't disappoint in his free skate set to strains of Offenbach and Strauss, wowing the audience and judges alike with two double Axels, a triple toe-loop and a double Lutz. His marks for both technical merit and artistic impression ranged were all 5.8's and 5.9's. David McGillvray was also more than impressive, performing a double Axel with his hands on his hips and a split jump into a triple toe-loop in his free skate to Mikolov's "Romanca". Steve Hutchinson, who wasn't known for his free skating, faltered on both of his triple toe-loop and double Axel attempts.

Toller Cranston, fifth in figures, skated last and delivered what many believed was the performance of the night - a program jam packed with double jumps, expressive footwork and creative spins. His marks, which ranged from 5.4 to 5.9, were met with a chorus of loud boos. Humphry, McGillvray and Hutchinson took the medals, while Cranston was only able to move up to fourth ahead of Paul Bonenfant and Bob Emerson. Interestingly, in a 2013 interview with PJ Kwong, Cranston claimed that at this particular competition, "There were twenty competitors. I had marks from first through last. That is so controversial really, so cruel. It's really, really hard to digest. That event and what happened to me was the fuel that pushed me on for the next fifty years or something." Cranston's actual ordinals at this event were two thirds, three fourths and a fifth place overall. As he did not compete at that year's Olympic Games or World Championships and specified that this first through twentieth ideal occurred during the 1968 season, his recollection of the event may have been dramaticized for effect, simply referred to one section of this competition or a different competition entirely.

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 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.

A Jackes Avenue Juggler: The Jack Eastwood Story

Maude 'Jim' Smith and Jack Eastwood

John Coulter 'Jack' Eastwood was born March 7, 1908 in Toronto, Ontario. He was the eldest of John and Florence (Coulter) Eastwood's three sons and was raised wanting for little in a devout Presbyterian household on Lynwood Avenue in South Hill. His father was a successful salvage broker.

Clipping from "The College Times", Courtesy Jill Spellman, Archivist, Upper Canada College

Jack started skating as a young boy with neighbours that grew up to be skating legends. In 1944, Eleanor O'Meara recalled, "The Eastwood's (Jack's family) were next door neighbors of ours in town, and when I didn't even know what a figure skate was, I can remember Mommy calling me to look out our kitchen window which faced the Eastwood's back garden. There were Jack and Bud Wilson skating on the rink Eastwoods' yard and doing all sorts of things that to me were just sensational. I guess that was my first inspiration. It was certainly the first time I had ever seen figure skating, and now, as I think back, their efforts must have been somewhat frustrated by a small outdoor rink."

Left: Bud Wilson, Maude and Cecil Smith and Jack Eastwood. Photo courtesy "Skating Through The Years". Right: Carnival group in Buffalo, New York.

As a teenager, Jack and his brothers Frank and Joseph were educated at Upper Canada College. While at the school, Jack played on the preparatory rugby team and was described as "a valuable member of the line" but his prowess on the ice at the Toronto Skating Club drew him far more attention. It's interesting to note that Montgomery 'Bud' Wilson and Stewart Reburn both attended Upper Canada College at the same time as Jack and went on to skate fours with him. In fact, Jack's first big success competitively was a win in the fours event at the 1926 Canadian Championships, and his partners were Bud, Cecil and Maude Smith.

Jack Eastwood, Cecil and Maude Smith and Bud Wilson in 1927

The following year, the 'Toronto four' (as they were known) repeated their win at the Canadian Championships and Jack handily finished third behind Melville Rogers and Bud in the senior men's event. That June, he graduated from Upper Canada College.

Competitors and judges at the 1927 Canadian Championships. Back: Miss Morrissey, Dorothy Benson, Margot Barclay, John Machado, Elizabeth (Blair) Machado, Cecil MacDougall, Mr. Sharp, Norman Mackie Scott, Evelyn Darling, Constance Wilson, Jack Eastwood, Maude Smith, Bud Wilson. Front: Kathleen Lopdell, Paul Belcourt, Frances Claudet, Jack Hose, Henry Cartwright, Isobel Blyth, Melville Rogers, Marion McDougall, Chauncey Bangs. Photo courtesy "Skating Through The Years".

The next month at the age of nineteen, Jack married Yolande Audrey Gooderham, the daughter of Norman Gooderham, a successful yachtsman who was related to U.S. President Harry Truman's Secretary Of State Dean Gooderham Acheson.

Jack Eastwood, Maude 'Jim' Smith, Cecil Smith and Stewart Reburn. Photo courtesy City Of Toronto Archives.

At six feet tall with brown hair and blue eyes, Jack was a striking figure on the ice who excelled in multiple disciplines. From 1926 to 1937, he amassed no less than fourteen medals in the Canadian Championships in singles, pairs, fours and the Tenstep. He competed at the North American Championships in 1927, 1931, 1933 and 1937, his best finish being a silver medal in the pairs event in 1933 with his first partner Maude Smith.

Jack Eastwood, Maude 'Jim' Smith, Cecil Smith and Stewart Reburn. Photo courtesy City Of Toronto Archives.

At the age of nineteen in 1928, Jack travelled to St. Moritz, Switzerland and represented Canada in the pairs event at the Winter Olympic Games and in 1930 and 1932, competed at the World Championships in New York City and Montreal. His many pairs and fours partners included Veronica Clarke, Margaret Leslie, Osborne Colson and Mary Jane Halsted.

Stewart Reburn, Maude 'Jim' Smith, Cecil Smith and Jack Eastwood. Photo courtesy City Of Toronto Archives.

After finishing fifth in the pairs event with Mary Jane Halsted at the 1937 North American Championships in Boston, Jack decided to draw an end to his long and rather illustrious competitive career at the age of twenty eight. He turned professional and took up residence on Jackes Avenue.
He taught during much of World War II at the Buffalo Skating Club in New York with Charlotte Walther. Continuing in the tradition of one his own coaches, Gustave Lussi, he worked diligently to keep the Buffalo club's tradition of lavish skating carnivals alive during wartime. One of his most successful efforts was the club's Eleventh Annual Carnival-On-Ice on March 28 and 29, 1941, a benefit for the Buffalo and Erie County Chapter of the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis. The two-day affair drew in massive crowds and featured a cast of over two hundred and seventy including Norah McCarthy, Edi Scholdan... and his old friend Bud Wilson.

Veronica Clarke and Jack Eastwood starring in a carnival at the Toronto Cricket, Skating And Curling Club

After the War, Jack devoted his time to judging and raising his four children. He passed away on March 22, 1995 at his home in Toronto at the age of eighty seven. Though he never performed triple or even double Axels, his longevity as a competitive skater was certainly remarkable. It was a different time and Jack's partner Maude Smith explained it best when quoted in "The Globe And Mail" on October 9, 1986: "We were much more graceful in our time. We didn't have any of that jumping or herky-jerky stuff. You have to be an acrobat now to be a skater." An acrobat he wasn't, but in terms of succeeding in multiple disciplines Jack Eastwood was a remarkable juggler.

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