The 1949 World Figure Skating Championships

Held from February 16 to 18, 1949 in Paris, the 1949 World Figure Skating Championships marked the first time an international figure skating competition was held in France since the country had hosted the 1936 World Championships where Sonja Henie had won her tenth and final World title. The event was hosted at the glass-roofed Palais des Sports, an elegant indoor rink with seating for fifteen thousand.

Photo courtesy "Skating World" magazine

The American team stayed at the Hotel Napoleon, near the The Arc de Triomphe de l'Étoile. They had a difficult time making their way to the Palais des Sports, as many taxi drivers refused to travel across the Seine at night. Social events held in conjunction with the competition included a reception at the Hôtel de Ville hosted by officials from Paris' municipal assembly and a tour of the city.

A series of miscommunications led to Julie and Bill Barrett boarding a last-minute flight to Paris to participate in a demonstration of ice dancing, only to arrive and find that none of the ice dancers from other countries had arrived, save two Austrian couples whose efforts, Cyril Beastall remarked, "could only be described as a travesty of ice dancing - they would have been entertaining in [England] as ice comedians and nothing more." For whatever reason, the French crowd loved the Austrian couples and the only way that the Barrett's were able to get more that polite applause out of them was by performing their pairs program.

Photo courtesy "Skating World" magazine

Interestingly, the pairs and women's competitions were judged by a panel of seven and the men's event by a panel of five. As the 1949 Canadian Championships were scheduled at the exact same time, Canadian skaters didn't make the trip and the absence of Barbara Ann Scott (who had retired from competition) was certainly felt. 

The show went on without Canada's Sweetheart and the event turned out to an incredibly memorable one. Let's hop in the time machine and take a look back at the skaters and stories that made this competition so fascinating!

THE PAIRS COMPETITION

Andrea Kékesy and Ede Király giving an exhibition in England prior to the Championships. Photo courtesy "Skating World" magazine.

Twelve teams from eight countries contested the 1949 World pairs title, which got underway at nine o'clock at night before a packed crowd. Hungary's Andrea Kékesy and Ede Király. who trained in England with Arnold Gerschwiler, were victorious. In "Skating World" magazine, Dennis Bird remarked, "The Hungarians... had the misfortune to skate first and it is a measure of their greatness that they were nevertheless placed first by each one of the seven judges. Including in their difficult program Axels, a double Salchow, a one-handed death spiral, and many intricate steps, they were easily the best pair of the evening. It was annoying that the Press box was so situated that one could neither see the Hungarians' marks as they went up, nor hear them when they were called out over a megaphone."

Andrea Kékesy and Ede Király in Paris. Photo courtesy "Skating World" magazine.

The runners-up, American siblings Karol and Peter Kennedy, were huge hits with the Parisian crowd. Dennis Bird noted, "They opened with a startling lift and skated very steadily and neatly throughout their five minutes. They lacked the contents of the Hungarian, however, a fact which probably cost them the title."

Karol and Peter Kennedy

The top two teams were miles above the rest of the field and the battle for bronze proved to be a four-way race separated fittingly by exactly four points. Americans Anne Davies and Carleton Hoffner narrowly edged three brother/sister teams - Hungary's Marianne and László Nagy, Austria's Herta and Emil Ratzenhofer and Great Britain's Jennifer and John Nicks - for the third spot on the medal podium. In "Skating" magazine, Harold G. Storke remarked, "The real surprise of the evening... was the marvelous performance of the Anne Davies-Carleton Hoffner pair. Their sparkle, smoothness and speed left no doubt in the minds of the judges - or of the crowd - that their third place was richly deserved. A little more 'contents' and they will be serious contenders for the title."

The Kennedy's wouldn't have made it to Paris that year had it not been for the interest shown towards their skating by one General Mark Clark. On March 19, 1949, the "Spokane Daily Chronicle" reported, "General Clark, possibly in the interest of having the talented twosome skate for occupational soldiers [stationed] in Europe, arranged to have them flown to Paris via MATS (military air transport service)." Though the children of a successful dentist, the financial strain of having two kids in skating had forced the Kennedy's to approach the owner of a Washington state arena for help fundraising the cost just to get the siblings to D.C. to board the MATS flight.

THE MEN'S COMPETITION

Photo courtesy Österreichischen Nationalbibliothek

With the retirement of Hans Gerschwiler, the World title was really Dick Button's competition to lose. As the defending Olympic and World Champion, the Harvard freshman was a heavy favourite and he certainly didn't disappoint. In the school figures, Button was first on four judge's scorecards. Hungary's Ede Király was second, followed by Austria's Edi Rada, who had earned a first place vote from his country's judge, won the change-loop and performed his three-change-three so well he audience actually applauded. 

In the free skate, the judges were hard-pressed not to make Dick Button top banana. They unanimously gave him marks that once again led him to the top of the podium, including one 6.0 for manner of performance, and were impressed with his lively, athletic free program. After performing the first double Axel in competition the year previous, he'd added another trick to his arsenal - a double loop/double loop combination. In his 1966 book "Konståkningens 100-åriga historia: utveckling, OS-VM-referater, intervjuer och berättelser", Gunnar Bang praised Button's performance in Paris thusly: "What a flight, what color, what tone and rhythm. [Clearly] a guy with humor, in contrast to their competitors, who mostly seemed to be a tad [lacking] in this context." The silver medal went to pairs winner Ede Király (who gave the performance of his life) and the bronze to Edi Rada. In sixth and eighth places were a young Hayes Alan Jenkins and Carlo Fassi.

THE WOMEN'S COMPETITION

With no Barbara Ann Scott in sight, Austria's Eva Pawlik was a heavy favourite to take the gold in Paris. However, in the school figures Czechoslovakia's Ája Zanová took a commanding lead with first place ordinals from five of the seven judges. The Austrian judge placed Pawlik first and the British judge placed Jeannette Altwegg first. Eva's result in the figures was still commendable, considering she was still quite weak after a hospital stay immediately following the European Championships (which she'd won) due to a reported case of acute appendicitis. Ája Zanová's marks for the counter ranged from 5.4 to 5.8, giving a sense of the high standard of the time.

Yvonne Sherman, Helen Uhl and Virginia Baxter

Although American Yvonne Sherman held her own with Europe's best skaters, teammates Virginia Baxter, Andra McLaughlin and Helen Uhl found themselves buried in the standings. Though many of her American teammates opted to take advantage of the convenience of air travel, Virginia Baxter and her mother didn't care for flying, so they had come to Paris aboard the Queen Mary.

Left: Ája Zanová. Right: Edi Scholdan and Eva Pawlik boarding a train enroute to Paris. Photo courtesy "Skating" magazine.

Eva Pawlik's son Dr. Roman Seeliger explained, "The difference in points between Pawlik and Zanová was narrow, so Pawlik was still the favourite. Her strength had always lain in the free programme. She was only third in the school figures at St. Moritz one year before. It was the free program that earned her the Olympic silver medal."

While practicing following the figures, Pawlik's broke the heel of one of her skates. Dr. Roman Seeliger claimed, "The judges did not allow her to try the shoes of a companion to get familiar with a new feeling of skating. Sabotage was supposed but not proven. As a result of the shortages in Austria, Pawlik unfortunately had no second pair of skates, so she could not compete in the free programme. That was the greatest disappointment in Eva Pawlik's career."

Ája Zanová won the title with a very fine free skating performance that included a double Lutz jump and Yvonne Sherman moved up to take the silver ahead of Jeannette Altwegg and Jiřína Nekolová. In "Skating World" magazine, Dennis Bird remarked, "[Ája Zanová's]... first jmp will stay in my mind for a long time. It was an Axel, but such an Axel as I have not seen before. She went up about three feet and, like a slow motion film, turned so slowly and gracefully that one had the impression that she was not coming down until she wanted to. It was beautiful. After that, however, her performance was not quite what I expected. With so much at stake, there seemed to be something - was it nervousness? - that held her back. None the less she was very good, and her programme contained many difficult jumps, an Axel-sit spin, a high split, and a Schäfer-parallel." The wonderfully artistic Andra McLaughlin proved to be a huge crowd favourite and an emerging French star named Jacqueline du Bief who moved up from sixteenth to ninth gained attention for a different reason.

Jacqueline du Bief was a delightfully musical skater, whose performance to Rossini's "Semiramide" and Offenbach's "Orpheus In The Underworld" included double Lutz, double loop and double Salchow attempts. Her talent as a free skater unfortunately had the opposite effect, when the coaches of her rivals began to 'take an interest' in her. In her autobiography "Thin Ice", she recalled, "I began to feel the effects of my resistance to the instructors of the big foreign schools. These gentlemen could never see the pupils of other people do well without a certain amount of displeasure, and from that moment they began ‘to take an interest’ in me. When I say ‘in me’ I ought rather to say in my faults, in my mistakes, which they remarked on as forcibly as they could, pointing them out to anyone who might have failed to notice them for themselves. This was certainly not very nice for me but it was encouraging; it was a good sign, and more than any compliments it proved to me that I was beginning to take on some importance and was no longer considered just an uninteresting debutante. It was at the close of these competitions that I received my first invitations to give exhibitions abroad."

Ája Zanová receiving a congratulatory kiss from Dick Button

Most of the most extraordinary stories that came out of the women's event in Paris was that of sixteen year old Beryl Bailey. Though she placed an unlucky thirteenth, the fact she gave an excellent performance in the free skating made her the heroine of the British team - not because she'd skated so well, but that she'd taken the ice at all. Beryl, Joan Lister (who'd been forced to withdraw) and Jeannette Altwegg's mother had all either contracted the stomach flu or were suffering from food poisoning and had spent the last twenty-four hours in bed or 'la salle de bain'. Beryl, a student of Jacques Gerschwiler, had decided to skate at the very last minute and was so sick that she collapsed after performing. Cyril Beastall remarked, "The fact that Beryl... skated as well as before was a revelation - she was certainly not well enough to take the ice, but her actions marked her as a grand little sportswoman."

As all proper competitions do, the 1949 World Championships ended with a party at the Hotel George V. In his book "Dick Button On Skates", Dick Button recalled, "Following the tournament, Pierre de Gaulle, Lord Mayor of Paris, and brother of General Charles de Gaulle, gave a reception for Miss Zanová, Andrea Kékesy and Ede Király, pairs winners, and me."

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.

Worth The Hassle: The Nicole Hassler Story

Born in Chamonix, Mont-Blanc, France on June 1, 1941, Nicole Monique Marcelle Hassler was the daughter of Albert and Josephine Hassler and granddaughter of Ernest and Marie-Clémentine (Payot) Hassler. From an early age, Nicole and her brother Charles were no stranger to an ice rink. Their father was a decorated athlete who had competed in three Winter Olympic Games in two sports: speed skating and ice hockey. Albert Hassler played on the winning French team at the 1924 European Ice Hockey Championships.

Albert Hassler on the speed skating track

After retiring from competitive speed skating and hockey, Albert Hassler - who ran the Hôtel Beaulieu in Chamonix - became 'the original Suzanne Bonaly'. Despite having absolutely zero figure skating experience himself, he took it upon himself to coach Nicole as a figure skater for much of her career. Nicole's loyalty to her father's instruction actually proved to be a detriment as she was often not given the same attention in the French skating community as the students of Jacqueline Vaudecrane. Later in her career, she finally received formal instruction in the art of skating from no less a coaching great than Arnold Gerschwiler himself.

Despite the fact she had little formal instruction early in her career, Nicole made a slow and steady rise in the skating world from the late fifties to mid sixties. After placing a dismal twenty third of twenty nine entries at the 1958 World Championships in Paris and sixteenth at the 1959 European Championships in Davos, she climbed her way up to win her first French title in 1960, dethroning two time French Champion Dany Rigoulot. That particular victory capped off a fierce battle between the two talented young skaters. Nicole beat Dany at the 1959 European Championships; Dany beat Nicole at the 1959 World Championships. The following year, Nicole lost to Dany at both the French and European Championships. Dany turned professional, leaving Nicole to reign as French women's champion the next five years.

From 1962 to 1965, Nicole enjoyed both thrilling highs and crushing defeats on the international stage. She thrice won the Richmond Trophy in England and at the 1963 World Championships in Cortina d'Ampezzo (where she won the bronze medal) the Canadian and French judges had her ahead of the winner Sjoukje Dijkstra in the free skate.

Sjoukje Dijkstra, Regine Heitzer and Nicole Hassler on the podium at the 1963 World Championships (left) and 1964 European Championships (right). Photo courtesy "Skating" magazine, BIS Archive.

Despite winning four consecutive medals at the European Championships, Nicole's reputation as a medal contender was marred by a particularly poor free skating performance at the 1965 World Championships in Colorado Springs. She placed a disappointing eighth overall at that event and two judges had her as low as thirteenth in the free skate.

Though considered her country's only hope for a medal in the women's figure skating competition at the 1968 Winter Olympics in Grenoble, Nicole ultimately chose to retire from competition in 1966. Three years later, she made history by becoming the first skater to pass both the Gold Figure and Dance tests of the Fédération Française des Sports de Glace. After this impressive feat, she opted to step away from the sport entirely for several decades to raise a family. She spent some time living in England and, of course, had ties to her family business.

Photo courtesy German Federal Archive

Though criticized for lacking the same attack in the jumping department as her competitior Sjoukje Dijkstra, Nicole was renowned as one of the finest spinners of her era. Denise Biellmann, Lucinda Ruh or Nathalie Krieg she was not, but as compared to many skaters of her time she was certainly a cut above the rest. Her talent certainly didn't go unnoticed. In her book "Patinage sur glace historique", skating historian Jeanine Hagnauer praised her effusively: "I can say Nicole Hassler is the most brilliant skater France [has seen] since the start of the women's French Championships in 1908, after Jacqueline du Bief." Following Nicole's retirement, another French skater didn't stand on the women's podium at the European Championships until Surya Bonaly won her first title in 1991 in Sofia, Bulgaria.

Around the same time Surya Bonaly burst on the scene, Nicole slowly re-emerged into the skating world. She organized a skating club at Plaisir, a commune in Yvelines in northern France, and taught there for several years until her father's death in September of 1994. Sadly, Nicole only outlived her father by two years, passing away on November 19, 1996 at the age of fifty five. Today, a gymnasium in the Salle Multisports in Yvelines which bears her name is sadly one of the few reminders of this largely forgotten French star of decades past.

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.

How The OSP Came To Be

Lyudmila Pakhomova and Alexander Gorshkov

"Skating is and will always remain essentially a dance." - Manfred Curry

Although we think of the development of the OSP as an international matter, the origins of the 'Original Dance' actually trace back to the roaring twenties when former German pairs champion, author and international judge Dr. Hugo Wintzer of Dresden, Germany submitted a failed proposal to the ISU for an ice dance competition, including an "original dance", to be included at the World Figure Skating Championships. Wintzer's "original dance" proposal was in many ways moreso a precursor to what we'd think of today as a free dance. He described it as a "dance of one's choice, 2 minutes" and stated that "the character must be that of a dance throughout. Thus figures appropriate to a pair or single skating should be considered incorrect; for example, separating figures, spirals, and successions of steps without a rhythmic repetition of movement. In senior dancing competitions, every series of dance steps must be skated at least three times in immediate succession."

Although Wintzer's proposal got absolutely nowhere, in 1928 at the USFSA's Annual General Meeting, the USFSA Governing Governing Council voted to adapt his 'Original Dance' proposal and include it at the 1929 U.S. Figure Skating Championships in New York in conjunction with compulsory dances. The judges were a bit all over the place but the Original Dance's debut was a success from a skater's standpoint. Among those competing in that first original dance competition were American skating legends like Maribel Vinson, Theresa Weld Blanchard and Nathaniel Niles. However, interest in the original dance in the United States soon fizzled.

In the thirties in England, a New Dance Competition at the Westminster Ice Rink in England  sponsored by the "Skating Times" encouraged ice dancers to develop new variations on traditional compulsory dances. Although dances like Eva Keats and Erik van der Weyden's Westminster Waltz, Reginald Wilkie's Quickstep, Argentine Tango and Paso Doble, borne of this movement, survived as compulsory dances, others like the Roquina Waltz and Argentina Foxtrot flopped. A set pattern dance conceived by George Muller in Colorado Springs that was discussed at the first International Dance Conference in London in 1948 gave further impetus to the OSP movement but its impact wasn't recognized until some time later.

The concept of an Original Dance was again briefly revived in Great Britain as an Exhibition Dance in NSA tests of the fifties but it it wasn't until the early sixties after the Sabena Crash that talk of an OSP started getting serious. In her book, "Figure Skating History: The Evolution Of Dance On Ice", Lynn Copley-Graves notes that in May of 1961, "Courtney Jones organized an Original Dance Competition sponsored by the Queens Ice Club to find new dances from competitions and club dance sessions. He secured an NSA permit, donated a trophy, invited amateurs and pros to open in an 'open' format and refereed. Seven judges judged nine original dances for originality of steps rather than skill of performance. Eight border dances suitable for club sessions, among them two sambas, two beguines, and a tango-bolero, a foxtrot, a polka, and a mazurka [were skated]. The ninth, a reverse waltz, was like the Three-Lobe Waltz in reverse. The entrants expressed a preference and need for Latin and South American rhythms. The judges' opinions varied widely because it was difficult to mark a dance high that was skated poorly but fit all the rules. The tango-bolero won, but not so overwhelmingly that the NSA adopted it... As a step toward the original set pattern dance, the ISU considered holding a New Dance Competition, similar to the one held at Queens in May, after the next Worlds, with a rhythm chosen from rhumba-bolero, polka, or Westminster-type waltz. The dance could not use movements permitted in free dancing but absent from the compulsories. The dance could proceed either clockwise or counterclockwise around the rink, but could not double back on itself."

Lynn Copley-Graves also noted that during the 1966/1967 season, "The ISU Ice Dance Committee revived the USFSA idea from the late 1920's of adding an original set pattern dance to competitions. The Sportclub Riessersee organized a trial event for the DEU under ISU supervision and invited ISU member countries to send two couples; those whose dance teams placed in the top ten at the 1966 Worlds could send three couples. The ISU wanted to ensure that the original set dance would not be a free dance. It would be scored as a compulsory with one mark from each judge."

This test event took place in the first week of September, 1966 at the Olympia Eisstadion in Garmisch-Partenkirchen. Although nine couples were initially entered, Americans Lorna Dyer and John Carrell and the French team of Brigitte Martin and Francis Gamichon both withdrew. Seven teams remained to skate compulsory dances, the new original set dance and the free dance. Janet Sawbridge and Jon Lane of Great Britain skated a Paso Doble, Gabriele and Rudi Matysik of West Germany opted for a Mambo, Brits Vivienne Dean and Michael Webster selected a Tango and Czechs Milena Turnova and Josef Pepek chose a Fox-Polka. Three teams settled on straight up interpretations of the polka: West Germans Angelika and Erich Buck, Czechs Jitka Babická and Jaromir Holan and Brits Mary Parry and Roy Mason. Sawbridge and Lane's Paso Doble got the nod in the original dance with average marks of 5.5 and "Skating World" magazine noted that the original set dances were "all exceptionally good, and we are in for a treat in future years if these dances are anything to go by."

At the 32nd Biennal Congress of the ISU in Amsterdam, West Germany in 1967, delegates voted to introduce an "original set pattern dance", effective September 1968. The regulations were as follows:

a) This dance shall not be a free dance.
b) Each couple may choose their own music and tempo.
c) Only regular dance rhythms with constant tempo may be used.
d) The choice of steps, connecting steps, turns and rotations is free, provided they conform to the rules of the ISU.
e) This dance must be composed of repetitive sequences. The sequences must consist of either a half or a whole circuit. Altogether, the dance must complete three circuits of the rink, i.e. six or three sequences, according to the arrangement. Reverse direction is permitted provided it is constant.
f) The dance sequence must not cross the middle axis of the rink.
g) It is permitted to change the dancing hold three times in the sequence if this takes a half circuit. If it takes a full circuit, six changes are permitted.
h) Hand-in-hand positions with outstretched arms are not permitted except at the start of a sequence and must not exceed seven steps.
i) Separations of partners must not exceed the duration of one bar of music.
j) Toe steps are not permitted.
k) ISU Rule 358 must be observed with regard to dress.

Skaters were also required to submit the type of music and rhythm they had selected as well as a brief description to the judging panel prior to the OSP. Some coaches, including the indomitable Gladys Hogg, expressed concerns over whether or not judges would penalize couples who chose a rhythm they weren't partial to. Miss Hogg and Alex Gordon initially both expressed their belief that judges should be able to come to a conclusion as to which couple was the strongest based on the compulsories and free dance alone. In November of 1968, Janet Sawbridge and Jon Lane, who'd won the original set dance in Garmisch-Partenkirchen in 1966, competed in one of the first competitions to ever include the OSP - that year's British Championships - but lost to Diane Towler and Bernard Ford. Both couples were coached by Miss Hogg.

With free reign to select a concept and music of their choosing, skaters went a little crazy that first season. From "The Sailor's Hornpipe" to "The Peanut Polka" and more than one honky tonk country hoe-down, the judges were left a bit bewildered both in national and international competitions that first year. Copley-Graves noted that at the World Championships, "Towler/Ford skated an exciting, controversial OSP with perhaps more than the six allowed changes of hold... Pakhomova/Gorshkov beautifully executed a waltz OSP to haunting music in a minor key with 'absolutely no tempo', according to Alex [McGowan], to the orchestrated music 'Beryozka,' named for a small birch tree that is common in Russia." The 'one mark' judging system tested at the 1966 international event in West Germany was retained in the OSP's infancy.

As one of Henri Meudec's final tasks as ISU Ice Dance Committee chair, the 'free for all' OSP's were quickly put to bed. At the 1969 ISU Congress in Maidenhead, England, it was decided that the rhythm for the OSP would be set by the Ice Dance Committee. The first rhythm selected was the Polka and by the 1971/1972 season, all sixteen teams at the World Figure Skating Championships were skating Samba OSP's. In 1975, vocals were prohibited in the OSP.  Since the seventies, the OSP has varied in form and constantly evolved. It's been known as the Original Dance and Short Dance and may soon become the Rhythm Dance, a term previously used at the World Professional Championships in Landover, Maryland. Although much has changed over the years, I think it's always good to Rocker Foxtrot back to your roots.

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: A Letter From Little Cecilia

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. This month, we'll learn about the early career of Olympic Silver Medallist, World Champion and three time European Champion Cecilia Colledge through a letter purported to have been written by her at eleven years of age describing how she first became involved in the sport and her off-ice training regimen. The piece, printed by the United Press in conjunction with the 1932 Winter Olympic Games in Lake Placid, is interesting in that the language and writing style is slightly advanced for an eleven year old... suggesting that perhaps it was written not by her, but by her mother. Whomever the author, it certainly offers a unique perspective on this fascinating star's early years.

Megan Taylor and Cecilia Colledge

"THE EARLY YEARS" (CECILIA OR MARGARET COLLEDGE)

Being a champion figure skater is not as nice sometimes as you may think.

Sometimes when I see the American girls at play up here in Lake Placid, I would like to join them. But right now I can't for I have to think about the world's championship which I have made my mind up to win. Of course, I don't practice and train all the time. I have some spare time, and I most of it I spend playing with dolls.

I started to skate when I was about seven years old about three and a half years ago. I was skating at the London Ice Club in 1928 when Sonja Henie, who was then and is now the world's champion figure skater, and [Maribel] Vinson, the American champion, saw me and said that if I were trained I might become a champion.

I skated all of 1928 and took the bronze medal. I skated at the Richmond Ice Rink in 1929 under the instruction of Phil Taylor, father of Megan Taylor, now British champion, who is here with me. Then I was placed under the tutorship of Jacques Gerschwiler, director of athletics at Lyceum Alpineum at Zwoz, Switzerland, two miles from St. Moritz.

I started working under him in Switzerland in 1930 and remained there until June. I skated at Hammersmith's in London all of that summer alone and then in December I again went to Switzerland under Mr. Gerschwiler and entered various competitions, winning three cups.

Returning to London, I won the silver medal and was third in the British championships. I trained hard and passed for the gold medal on April 22, 1931, at the age of ten years, with the highest mark ever attained by an English skater. I stopped skating on July 2 and went to Belgium for a long rest. Returning to London on September 9, I went into training for the Olympic trials, in which I finished second, after obtaining the highest marks in school figures. I came over to America in January, landing in New York on the 13th. I hope that will bring me good luck, I mean the 13th.

Mumsy and Mr. Gerschwiler came with me. My father, Dr. Lionel Colledge, a surgeon, and my brother Manie are in London.

You may want to know my daily schedule. I arise at 6:30 and take a cold shower. Then comes breakfast and I have it with Mumsy and my trainer. I am told just what to eat and not to eat.

Mr. Gerschwiler is very stern and I must do everything just so and when I don't - Well, I will not speak of that. Then I skate all morning under the direction of my trainer. Then comes lunch, under supervision of course, then I either skate again or dance. I love dolls and when I am skating Mumsy sits on the side lines and makes dresses for my dolls. I go to bed promptly at 8 o'clock every night.

My education? It goes right on. When I am home, I am taught privately and that and skating and a bit of dancing takes up all my time.

Do I like America? Very much indeed and everyone is very kind to me.

I love your American songs; the one I like best of all is the one that says, 'Ninety-nine out of a hundred want to be kissed. Why don't you?' It is wonderful to skate to it.

I am here with Megan Taylor, representing Great Britain, and we are going to do our best, and as you would say, then some. Wish us luck.

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.

Gold In Alexandra: The Sadie Cameron Story

Photo courtesy National Library Of New Zealand, used under Creative Commons New Zealand BY-NC-SA licence.

Born on Hallowe'en in 1913 in Alexandra, New Zealand, Helen 'Sadie' Cameron was literally raised surrounded by gold. The small town where she and her brother Gillies grew up was founded during the Central Otago gold rush of the 1860's and both her maternal and paternal grandparents were amongst the area's earliest settlers who arrived in search of gold. Sadie's father Samuel was a member of Alexandra's Borough Council and worked as the manager of the Perseverance gold dredge and her mother Jean was one of the small town's most beloved residents, known for her generosity and charity work. Her grandfather Thomas Brown was a stonemason who helped build the Alexandra Bridge.

Sadie Cameron and Corinne Gilkinson at the 1939 New Zealand Championships. Photo courtesy National Library Of New Zealand, used under Creative Commons New Zealand BY-NC-SA licence.

Sadie, an athletic young woman who excelled at doubles tennis, first took to the ice at the age of twelve at Lanes Dam, Bridge Hill. She fell in love with the sport instantly, and was unphased by a nasty fall caused by an errant twig on the ice that left her with a grazed temple and her skating partner, Fritz Backholm, with a fractured nose.

Skaters on the Manorburn Dam in 1939. Photo courtesy Alexander Turnbull Library.

Enthusiasm aside, she was far from a seasoned skater when she entered the very first New Zealand Figure Skating Championships at Manorburn Dam in 1939. Despite her inexperience, she defeated three other women from Alexandra and Dunedin. Rhona Whitehouse, who penned the New Zealand Ice Skating Association's fiftieth Jubilee history book in 1987, noted, "Until 1934, when the Manorburn Dam was built, she had skated two or three times on what one might call rickety ice. The competition consisted of a forward outside eight, forward inside eight and change of edge, as well as back outside edges in the field. The only tuition she had was from an elderly Swedish gentleman who told her to 'lane ophir' (lean over). She said skaters had no idea about legs, body or shoulder positions. Her first lesson by a professional was from Norinne Calder from Australia." Later the same summer after she won her National title, Sadie bested three other skaters to win the Central Otago women's title, held at Idaburn Dam under the auspices of the Oturehua Winter Sports Club. She represented the Alexandra Winter Sports Club.

Photo courtesy National Library Of New Zealand, used under Creative Commons New Zealand BY-NC-SA licence.

Unfortunately, during World War II the early efforts of the New Zealand Ice Skating Association and the Alexandra Winter Sports Club ceased. There were no artificial or indoor rinks in the country at time and gas rationing made trips to the back country, where good ice was plentiful, limited. Yet in July 1943, Sadie impressed a crowd of six hundred at an ice carnival on Manorburn Dam which featured a relay race, hockey game, and exhibition skating. The July 21, 1943 issue of the "Alexandra Herald And Central Otago Gazette" noted, "There were no dull moments." Proceeds from the event went to the Patriotic and Parcels fund. She continued to perform exhibitions in these informal ice carnivals throughout the War.

Video courtesy Archives New Zealand - Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, used under Creative Commons New Zealand BY-NC-SA licence. 

Sadly, during the War both of Sadie's parents passed away within weeks of each other and the man in her life, David Lawrence (Tam) Cooney, a fellow skater and member of the New Zealand Army Service Corps who served with the Mechanical Transport Company, was captured a Prisoner Of War.

After the War, Sadie reunited with Tam. They married and had two daughters, Marie and Pamela, and ran an orchard in Alexandra together for many years. In her spare time, she attended a Presbyterian church and enjoyed playing golf, flower arranging, gardening and volunteering with the Girl Guides.
Although she didn't initially return to competitive figure skating when free skating events were added to the New Zealand Championships in the late forties, Sadie won a couples ice dancing trophy with her husband - who served on the Alexandra Winter Sports Club's Skating Committee - in 1959.  For many years, she remained active in the country's skating community as a judge and mentor to up-and-coming skaters. Many of the young skaters she worked with called her 'Gran'.

Sadie passed away in Alexandra on November 11, 1992 at the age of seventy nine, three years before her husband. Her obituary from the "Otago Daily Times" noted, "Friends described her as a vibrant outgoing person with a wonderful sense of humour." Though she may not have had a long, distinguished competitive skating career, she will go down in history as the first woman in New Zealand to strike gold on the ice.

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 1943 U.S. Figure Skating Championships

Hosted by the Skating Club of New York, the 1943 U.S. Figure Skating Championships were held on March 6, 7 and 8, 1943 - a Saturday, Sunday and Monday. School figures and the preliminary rounds of the dance events were held at the Iceland rink, with finals contested downstairs at Madison Square Garden.

Unlike in Europe where in many countries figure skating's development had slowed to a standstill due to World War II, amateur figure skating in America was evolving at a rapid pace and enjoying a boom in media coverage, largely due to the explosion of professional skating tours and big budget motion pictures starring Sonja Henie.

The Iceland rink in 1942. Photo courtesy "Skating" magazine.

At the same time, the USFSA was asking skaters to donate trophies and pins containing pewter for war equipment manufacture. Numerous clubs donated carnival proceeds to the War effort. "Skating" magazine even donated typewriters. The USFSA held the Annual Meeting of the Governing Council a month early to coincide with the U.S. Championships in New York. They voted to continue "Skating" magazine the next winter despite the War, but to postpone publication of the next rulebook and yearbook and publish rule changes in "Skating" instead. Despite the impacts of the War, engineer Heaton Ridgway Robertson, who was USFSA President at the time, recalled, "The competitions were continued all through the War, as were most of our other activities. This was at first considered to be impractical and perhaps not even patriotic. It was later agreed that competitions should be run wherever there were suitable entries, and other activities followed a similar course. As it turned out, there were plenty of entries in all but the Men's Senior class, and the wartime competitions were otherwise remarkably successful."

One of the highlights of the 1943 U.S. Championships was a gala benefit organized by the American Flying Services Foundation, an organization whose goal was to "keep 'em flying". The A.F.S.F. devoted itself to funding medical services for young men who were refused entry to the United States Army Air Corps due to 'correctible physical and educational defects'. Another highlight of the event were the exciting skaters who took part. Let's take a look back at the stars and stories that made the 1943 U.S. Championships so memorable!

THE NOVICE AND JUNIOR COMPETITIONS

The novice men's and women's titles were won by G. Austin Holt of the St. Moritz Ice Skating Club and Ann P. Robinson of the New Haven Skating Club. A young Bob Turk placed fourth in the novice men's event. Eddie LeMaire of the Skating Club of New York, the son of famous professional skaters Maud Reynolds and Francis LeMaire, bested a pair of Californians - Marcus Nelson and Jimmy Lochead Jr. - to claim the junior men's title. In junior pairs, Betty Schalow and Arthur Preusch of St. Paul emerged victorious over Ruth Flint and Lyman E. Wakefield Jr., Karol and Peter Kennedy and Donna Jeanne Pospisil and Jean-Pierre Brunet. Wakefield was a Lieutenant in the Navy and Brunet was the son of Olympic Gold Medallists Andrée (Joly) and Pierre Brunet. Hildegarde Balmain of Kew Gardens topped eleven others in the junior women's event. LeMaire and Balmain's wins helped secure the Bedell H. Harned trophy for the most points earned by a skating club for the host Skating Club of New York.

The Bedell H. Harned Trophy. Photo courtesy "Skating" magazine.

Willie Frick and Bud Wilson's students Dorothy L. Glazier and Lyman E. Wakefield Jr. of the Skating Club of Boston made history as the first U.S. junior dance champions, defeating Nancy Blair and Michael McGean, Kathie Mehl and Allan Van Alstyne and six other teams. Dancers performed the Continental Waltz, Three-Lobed-Eight Waltz, Tango and Fourteenstep. A year earlier, the event the juniors competed in would have been the equivalent of senior dance.

THE PAIRS AND ICE DANCE COMPETITIONS

Doris Schubach and Walter Noffke. Photo courtesy "Skating" magazine.

No fours competition was held, but Doris Schubach and Walter Noffke of Holyoke, Massachusetts managed to defend the senior pairs title they'd first won the year prior in Chicago. Interestingly, Arthur Preusch - who had won the junior pairs title with Betty Schalow - finished second in senior pairs with a different partner, Janette Ahrens. The bronze went to Jimmy Lochead Jr. and Marcella May of the Skate and Ski Club in California. Doris and Walter later married. Looking back on her skating career years later, she recalled, "I was always afraid to perform alone and consented to enter competition only when my father suggested that Walter and I perform as a pair... We had many compliments on the originality and imaginative quality of our programs."

In the history making first Gold dance event at the U.S. Championships, six couples skated the Continental Waltz in a preliminary round, then performed the Three-Lobed-Eight Waltz, Blues, Quickstep and Westminster Waltz in the Finals. Pairs medallists Marcella May and James Lochead, who had only been skating together for eighteen months, took top honours. Marjorie Parker Smith and Joseph K. Savage finished second and Nettie Prantell and Harold Hartshorne third. Parker Smith, Savage, Prantell and Hartshorne had all won U.S. dance titles prior to the War. At the time of their medal wins in New York in 1943, Savage was sixty three and Hartshorne was fifty one. In her book "Figure Skating History: The Evolution Of Dance On Ice", Lynn Copley-Graves recalled, "At times the music belched... giving forth 'shrieks when music was called for and even at its best could only labelled canned'. Another relic of these pre-Zamboni times was the water wagon system used to maintain excellent ice throughout the competitions."

THE MEN'S COMPETITION

Arthur Vaughn Jr. Photo courtesy "Skating" magazine.

Eugene Turner and Bobby Specht, the winners of the senior men's titles at the two previous U.S. Championships, had both turned professional. Nineteen year old Arthur Vaughn Jr. of the Philadelphia Skating Club and Humane Society, who'd lost to both Turner and Specht at those Championships, took a slim four point lead in the school figures over St. Paul's Arthur Preusch and then - according to "Associated Press" reporters - "ran off with the title" in the free skating. The bronze medal went to William Nagle, the perennial last place finisher from Brooklyn who just wouldn't stop competing. Turner, Specht and Vaughn would all go on to enlist in the U.S. Army.

THE WOMEN'S COMPETITION

Defending champion Jane Vaughn had married and retired, leaving seventeen year old Gretchen Merrill of the Skating Club of Boston - the runner-up to Vaughn in 1941 and 1942 - as the heavy favourite. She took a slim lead in figures thanks to first place ordinals from judges from Boston (her hometown) and California (where she went to school). The other three judges had her second, fourth and fifth.

Over five thousand spectators watched the final phase of the women's competition. Fifteen year old Dorothy Goos of New York, who was only fifth after figures, won the free skate but still finished seventeen points behind Merrill overall, as figures counted for sixty percent of the overall score. Janette Ahrens moved up from fourth to third, while Ramona Allen of Oakland and Phebe Tucker from New York, who had been second and third after figures, dropped 'off the podium'. Associated Press reporters noted, "Issue was taken with the judges on the ground that they rated Miss Merrill's free skating clearly better than Ramona Allen's and Jane Zeiser's. Both Miss Allen and Miss Zeiser [of St. Louis] presented superbly organized material in flawless fashion, while the new champion was a bit rocky in spots on the Garden's fast surface." The day after the event, Gretchen's mother told reporters, "Gretchen already has an attractive Hollywood offer, but she will not consider it." The reason her mother gave was that was 'coming out' as a debutante that November and "wouldn't have time for pictures".

USFSA President Heaton R. Robertson presenting Gretchen Merrill with her trophy 

Maribel Vinson Owen, who coached both Gretchen Merrill and novice men's champion Austin Holt, told reporters, "It's so much more nerve-wracking to have your pupil competing than it is to compete yourself.... I get a special thrill out of teaching, for I've had some extraordinary pupils. Gretchen Merrill is a hard worker and a wonderful showman. She is never satisfied, so she will go on getting better and better."

Quoted in the March 29, 1943 issue of the "New York Post", Gretchen Merrill recalled her win thusly: "Gosh! I was the most surprised person there. I did all right in the school figures - loops, rockers, eights and things like that. But when I came to the free skating I was so close to getting that cup and so nervous. I was tightened up. So I fell. My gosh! I didn't think I'd won. I was sitting there so dejected. People kept telling me I'd won but I wouldn't believe it. Then finally it was official. And I was so happy - and so surprised - I laughed till I cried."

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.

Donald B. Cruikshank, Man Of Many Hats

Photo courtesy "Skating" magazine

Born July 16, 1907 in Ottawa, Ontario, Donald Babcock Cruikshank was the son of Dwight Phelps and Elizabeth (Babcock) Cruikshank. At the time of his birth, his parents were both American citizens. His father was a factory manager at the Library Bureau Company, which manufactured office furniture. He began skating at the age of seven in 1914, following in the footsteps of his parents and older sister Mimsi, who were regulars at the Minto Skating Club. Off the ice, he was educated at Andover and Deerfield Academies in his youth.

Though Donald took some lessons from Gustave Lussi, performed in several group numbers in the Minto Follies and competed in a few club junior events, it wasn't until 1931, when he was in his mid twenties, that he began to focus seriously on the competitive side of skating. In Donald's eyes, education and employment took first priority for a time. He studied at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire and worked at the Pittsburgh Steel Mills and Remington Rand in Buffalo, before returning to Canada to become involved in his father's business. Around this time, Dwight Phelps Cruikshank was the Minto Skating Club's President.

Robert Surtees, Naomi Slater, Aidrie and Donald Cruikshank - The medal winning Minto Four at the 1937 North American Championships in Boston, Massachusetts. Photo courtesy "Canadian Skater" magazine.

After winning the bronze medal in the senior pairs competition at the Canadian Championships with partner Kathleen 'Kay' Lopdell in 1933, Donald won the pairs, Waltz and Tenstep competitions at the Minto Skating Club's annual competition with three different partners: Lopdell, Frances Claudet and Frances Sharp.

Left: Kay and Eva Lopdell with Donald B. Cruikshank. Photo courtesy Minto Skating Club. Right: Aidrie Cruikshank. Photo courtesy "Skating" magazine.

In the years that followed, Donald amassed three silver medals in pairs skating and two silver medals in fours skating at the Canadian Championships and won medals in both pairs and fours skating at the North American Championships. In an interview with Teresa Moore, he recalled of his fours skating days, "There was a real desire to do well, not just for yourself but for your partners. If you failed, you didn't just failed yourself, you failed the whole team."

Donald also amassed an incredible eight top three finishes in the waltz, tenstep and fourteenstep competitions at the Canadian Championships in a five year span. Four of them were gold. Although Donald at times went through ice dance partners like musical chairs, the woman who was usually at his side was Aidrie Main, a talented and feisty skater who became his first wife during the period they were competing together.

Aidrie and Donald Cruikshank. Photos courtesy "Canadian Skater", "Skating" magazines.

Donald was often criticized by judges for his interpretation of pairs skating, which some felt was a little too much in the vein of ice dance. At the 1933 North American Championships in New York City, American judge Joel B. Liberman chastised Donald and Kay Lopdell for a "lack of pair dances in either ballroom position or side by side". At a time when pairs skating and ice dancing were both trying desperately to define themselves, Donald just couldn't seem to please anyone or get consistent feedback from the judges.

Barbara Ann Scott, Donald Cruikshank and Mary Scott (Barbara Ann's mother)

In the forties, Donald served as Vice President of the CFSA, President and Vice President of the Minto Skating Club and Vice President and managing director of the Steel Equipment Company, Ltd. He was also a regular at the Royal Ottawa Golf Club. Though his final competitive appearance as a skater wasn't until 1949, it was also during this period that he first ventured into the judging world.

Donald's first international assignment was the 1947 European Championships in Davos, Switzerland. Realizing the considerable expense of Barbara Ann Scott attending competitions in Europe at a time when skaters had to conform to strict rules of amateurism, he spearheaded a fundraising campaign with Melville Rogers, soliciting funds from Ottawa businessmen to help finance Barbara Ann and coach Sheldon Galbraith's trips. They raised approximately ten thousand dollars in ten days.

Donald's first wife Aidrie (Main) Cruikshank. Photo courtesy Library And Archives Canada.

By all accounts, Donald was a fair judge who was unphased by peers that exerted obvious national bias. At the 1947 World Championships in Stockholm, he didn't bat an eyelash when the a bloc of four Scandinavian judges gave unusually high marks to Sweden's Britta Rahlen. Two of them placed her in the top three. He, along with the rest of the panel, had her tenth or lower. She placed ninth. He judged and refereed at numerous Canadian and North American Championships, the 1967 World Championships in Vienna, Austria and 1972 Winter Olympic Games in Sapporo, Japan.

The Cruikshank family on ice. Photo courtesy "Canadian Skater" magazine.

Perhaps Donald's most important contributions to the skating world occurred during the period of 1951 to 1953, when he served as CFSA President and played an important role in introducing centralized testing to Canada. He also pushed for changes in the judging world during this era. Teresa Moore recalled, "Cruikshank... felt Canadian judging needed to be improved. There were too few judges, and not enough experienced ones. When Cruikshank came into office, there was still no formal method of appointing judges, no trial judging and no system for selection. The promotion of judges was also unprofessional, in Cruikshank's opinion. Judges continued to be promoted because they were known by other judges. This method had been used since the Association first started promoting judges, but a country that had an Olympic champion and a blossoming skating community from coast to coast required more sophistication in the training, selection and appointment of judges." By calling out 'the elephant in the room', the CFSA began to slowly acknowledge and address its shortcomings in this department. Another of Donald's important contributions to Canadian figure skating included his suggestion that the CFSA develop a public relations campaign to improve attendance at the Canadian Championships.

Left: Donald B. Cruikshank and Mary Petrie McGillvray at the 1972 Winter Olympics. Photo courtesy Marie Petrie McGillvray. Right: Barbara Ann Scott and Barbara Ann Cruikshank. Photo courtesy "Skating" magazine.

With his first wife Aidrie, Donald had three daughters, Barbara Ann, Betsy and Susan, and a son, Bobby. Barbara Ann Scott, Donald's daughter's namesake, was her godmother. Donald later married a woman named Ted and settled in Cleveland Heights, Ohio.

Photo courtesy "Canadian Skater" magazine

Officially retiring from the skating world in 1982, Donald was given the Award Of Excellence by the CFSA at their Annual General Meeting, awarded by then CFSA President David Dore. In his acceptance speech, he read a poem he had penned, which was later reproduced in the July-August 1982 issue of "Canadian Skater" magazine:

"At Minto Club, I got my start
'Cause Mom and Dad said learn the art
Of making Eights and Threes and Loops
Your prize could be some brand new boots

To Dey's Arena, from school I went
The knee and leg must be bent
Those words from Poole and Chatté stayed
Deep furrows in my mind they made

Then came the competitions, tough
The judges made things very rough
I skated Pairs and Foursomes too
For fifteen years, and I was through

But then again that was not all
Revenge, I thought, could be a ball
Why not be a judge, I said
Forget the rules we all so dread

Those early days were really grim
I froze to death, rinks cold as sin
Until the ISU at last
Said skate inside, no wintry blast

And then my time arrived to show
If I did or did not know
To mark a skater up or down
Think hard my boy - don't be a clown

And so it went, through all those years
There're no regrets, I shed no tears
This tribute given by your hand
My thanks again, you're simply grand."

Charles Cumming, William de Nance, Norris Bowden, Donald B. Cruikshank, Nigel Stephens and Norman V.S. Gregory. Photo courtesy "Canadian Skater" magazine. 

Donald was later inducted into the CFSA (Skate Canada) Hall Of Fame in 1991, alongside lifetime friends Barbara Ann Scott and Sheldon Galbraith. He passed away in Cuyahoga, Ohio on March 13, 1992 at the age of eighty four. His first wife and longtime skating partner Aidrie lived to be one hundred.

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.