Having secured a short-notice invitation to the first ISU Grand Prix of the season, British pairs skaters Anastasia Vaipan-Law and Luke Digby headed to Texas last week to compete at the prestigious Skate America. Here they share some thoughts about the experience:
Achievements and challenges...
Our biggest challenge was ensuring we remained focused and
calm with the news of this invitation, as we were informed the night before our short programme at the Tayside Trophy - only a few days before the Grand Prix started itself. It was something we just needed to take on board but not think about too much (or get too excited!)
We both came out here with positive mindsets and didn’t let any doubts overcome us, despite the rush. We had been training very well at home before we left/during the practices here. Although in the competition we didn’t achieve exactly what we hoped for or showcase how we’ve been training! Being invited was just a huge achievement within itself for us both and we will continue to work harder in hopes we can get more opportunities like this in the future.
We would like to express our appreciation to US Figure Skating for the invitation and to British Ice Skating for making it possible on such short notice. Also, to Ice Dundee and Sport Scotland for their continued support in our journey.
A lively crowd
We both really enjoyed having such a great crowd out there, it created such a great atmosphere for us to compete in making us feel as comfortable as we could! Furthermore, competing in Texas and exploring the surrounding area was a really cool experience that we will remember for a long time.
Learning points
We feel we both have learnt a lot from the Grand Prix in Texas. Every competition we attend, we grow as a team and learn new things about ourselves and each other! Competing in such a high level event gives us the chance to learn how to compete with the different circumstances and pressures. We will definitely come away with positives and will use what we have learnt from this experience to push us further as a team.
Future focus
Our next focus is to return to training and get back to building consistency for the next events. We will be back to our normal training schedule for a few weeks, all in preparation for the Warsaw Cup in Poland. This will closely be followed by Nationals early in December!
With thanks to Anastasia Vaipan-Law and Luke Digby, who we wish all the best for the Warsaw Cup and beyond!
----- 2023 Humana Skate America
Credit Union of Texas Event Center
20/10/23-22/10/23
Vaipan-Law & Digby:
Short Programme: 50.60 (6th)
Free Programme: 83.24 (7th)
Overall: 133.84 (7th)