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LOL US PAIRS
Caydeeee and John interview - read all about how she saved him from retirement, how they are totes gonna be competitive with V/T, and also their possible quad twists!!!!!!!!
Caydee Denney and John Coughlin are an unlikely pair, and yet they seem to fit perfectly on the ice.
Sure, Denney was searching for a new partner after her partner of three years, Jeremy Barrett, decided to retire following an injury that forced them to withdraw from the 2011 Four Continents Championships in February. But Coughlin, on the other hand, thought he was done with the sport.
He and his partner of four years, Caitlin Yankowskas, decided to end their partnership after the 2011 World Figure Skating Championships in May. The two were no longer happy together. And Coughlin, 25, was ready to retire after having skated a very tough season. His mother, Stacy, passed away in Feb. 2010, and Coughlin continued through one more season of emotional practices in order to pay tribute to his biggest supporter.
“Even before the season was over I had every intention of being done entirely,” Coughlin said. “My initial meeting with U.S. Figure Skating was, ‘Thank you so much for everything, worlds was a great cap to my career, goodbye.’"
Denney, 17, had just moved from her home state of Florida to Colorado Springs with her younger sister, Haven, who relocated to the Broadmoor Skating Club in order to skate pairs with Brandon Frazier under Dalilah Sappenfield.
Sappenfield, who is also Coughlin’s longtime coach, asked Coughlin to try out with Denney before he made any major decisions. Sappenfield believed that after a lifetime of skating Coughlin was finally reaching his potential and that he was capable of more.
Both skaters had proven themselves as being among the best U.S. pairs skaters in history with their previous partners. Denney and Barrett earned the title of national champions in 2010 and competed for Team USA at the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games. Yankowskas and Coughlin took the national title in 2011 and finished sixth at worlds, the best result by a U.S. pair in five years.
“They looked like they were meant to be together right off the bat, they just had this immediate click,” Sappenfield said of Denney and Coughlin’s tryout. “They just know when to move together, when to take certain steps together without talking to each other. I think a big part of it is their experience as well.”
And so, in mid-May, when neither really expected it, a superstar pair was born - one which Sappenfield said has a very commanding presence on the ice and a surprising chemistry.
Sappenfield was the clear choice. She has coached the national pairs champions in three of the last four years (Keauna McLaughlin and Rockne Brubaker took the title in ’08 and ’09). Denney and Coughlin’s 14-inch height difference gave Sappenfield a chance to take the pair further than they had each gone before when choreographing their short program to “East of Eden,” which they will debut at the Liberty Summer Competition, in Aston, Penn., July 12-16.
“The size difference that we have is gonna be very competitive with the Russians (world silver medalists Tatiana Volosozhar and Maxim Trankov) that stood on the podium this year,” Coughlin said. “The dynamic things like the triple twists and the big throws…are things that take its toll on your body regardless but when you have the size difference it makes it just a little bit easier.
“And I think there’s room in some of those triples for one more turn when we’re ready.”
Denney and Coughlin went to Marina Zoueva, coach and choreographer for Olympic and world champion ice dancers, for their long program, which is set to a Vanessa Mae/Jeff Beck version of “Nessun Dorma” - a selection that is much edgier than what both are used to.
Edgy seems to fit this new team.
“This is what I’ve called Caydee’s blossoming year and the spunky Caydee that we know is going to be very womanly this year,” Sappenfield said.
Denney, who turns 18 on June 22, said she no longer has control of her hair - Sappenfield is having her lose the bob of her past few seasons and grow it out.
“I don’t think either of us wants to try to be who we were with our last partner, it would just be an imitation,” Coughlin said. “No one will ever be Caydee and Jeremy, no one will ever be Caitlin and John. We just want to be us and I think doing something different for both us is the best way to do that.”
There is an almost eight-year age difference between the two, which is double the age difference Coughlin had with Yankowskas, who is currently in search of a new partner. But Coughlin says Denney is an old soul and is very much in tune with what he needs both technically and emotionally.
Denney returned the feelings when talking about her new partner.
“John is an amazing partner,” Denney said. “Having his hand in mine I feel very secure and very comfortable. That makes me enjoy skating.
“He’s very protective and he’s very positive so it’s a lot of fun to work with him.”
While the new partners have yet to compete - or even skate in public - they already have a clear set of short- and long-term goals, which include earning a national title in the upcoming season and making it to the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games in three years - and turning a few heads while they’re there.
Both skaters have competed on the international stage before and Denney has the knowledge and experience of competing at an Olympic Winter Games before - something the two are already joking about.
“You’re gonna love the cafeteria!” Denney, the quiet and composed one, let slip to Coughlin.
Though Denney and Coughlin have only been skating together for one month, the two are determined to achieve greatness by taking whatever risks necessary - and they even have a team motto.
“We were watching Dancing with the Stars and somebody threw out all their big tricks and the judge goes, ‘You’ve got to risk it if you want the biscuit!’ and we decided that was going to be our theme for the year,” Coughlin said.
lol I can't
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Caydeeee and John interview - read all about how she saved him from retirement, how they are totes gonna be competitive with V/T, and also their possible quad twists!!!!!!!!
Caydee Denney and John Coughlin are an unlikely pair, and yet they seem to fit perfectly on the ice.
Sure, Denney was searching for a new partner after her partner of three years, Jeremy Barrett, decided to retire following an injury that forced them to withdraw from the 2011 Four Continents Championships in February. But Coughlin, on the other hand, thought he was done with the sport.
He and his partner of four years, Caitlin Yankowskas, decided to end their partnership after the 2011 World Figure Skating Championships in May. The two were no longer happy together. And Coughlin, 25, was ready to retire after having skated a very tough season. His mother, Stacy, passed away in Feb. 2010, and Coughlin continued through one more season of emotional practices in order to pay tribute to his biggest supporter.
“Even before the season was over I had every intention of being done entirely,” Coughlin said. “My initial meeting with U.S. Figure Skating was, ‘Thank you so much for everything, worlds was a great cap to my career, goodbye.’"
Denney, 17, had just moved from her home state of Florida to Colorado Springs with her younger sister, Haven, who relocated to the Broadmoor Skating Club in order to skate pairs with Brandon Frazier under Dalilah Sappenfield.
Sappenfield, who is also Coughlin’s longtime coach, asked Coughlin to try out with Denney before he made any major decisions. Sappenfield believed that after a lifetime of skating Coughlin was finally reaching his potential and that he was capable of more.
Both skaters had proven themselves as being among the best U.S. pairs skaters in history with their previous partners. Denney and Barrett earned the title of national champions in 2010 and competed for Team USA at the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games. Yankowskas and Coughlin took the national title in 2011 and finished sixth at worlds, the best result by a U.S. pair in five years.
“They looked like they were meant to be together right off the bat, they just had this immediate click,” Sappenfield said of Denney and Coughlin’s tryout. “They just know when to move together, when to take certain steps together without talking to each other. I think a big part of it is their experience as well.”
And so, in mid-May, when neither really expected it, a superstar pair was born - one which Sappenfield said has a very commanding presence on the ice and a surprising chemistry.
Sappenfield was the clear choice. She has coached the national pairs champions in three of the last four years (Keauna McLaughlin and Rockne Brubaker took the title in ’08 and ’09). Denney and Coughlin’s 14-inch height difference gave Sappenfield a chance to take the pair further than they had each gone before when choreographing their short program to “East of Eden,” which they will debut at the Liberty Summer Competition, in Aston, Penn., July 12-16.
“The size difference that we have is gonna be very competitive with the Russians (world silver medalists Tatiana Volosozhar and Maxim Trankov) that stood on the podium this year,” Coughlin said. “The dynamic things like the triple twists and the big throws…are things that take its toll on your body regardless but when you have the size difference it makes it just a little bit easier.
“And I think there’s room in some of those triples for one more turn when we’re ready.”
Denney and Coughlin went to Marina Zoueva, coach and choreographer for Olympic and world champion ice dancers, for their long program, which is set to a Vanessa Mae/Jeff Beck version of “Nessun Dorma” - a selection that is much edgier than what both are used to.
Edgy seems to fit this new team.
“This is what I’ve called Caydee’s blossoming year and the spunky Caydee that we know is going to be very womanly this year,” Sappenfield said.
Denney, who turns 18 on June 22, said she no longer has control of her hair - Sappenfield is having her lose the bob of her past few seasons and grow it out.
“I don’t think either of us wants to try to be who we were with our last partner, it would just be an imitation,” Coughlin said. “No one will ever be Caydee and Jeremy, no one will ever be Caitlin and John. We just want to be us and I think doing something different for both us is the best way to do that.”
There is an almost eight-year age difference between the two, which is double the age difference Coughlin had with Yankowskas, who is currently in search of a new partner. But Coughlin says Denney is an old soul and is very much in tune with what he needs both technically and emotionally.
Denney returned the feelings when talking about her new partner.
“John is an amazing partner,” Denney said. “Having his hand in mine I feel very secure and very comfortable. That makes me enjoy skating.
“He’s very protective and he’s very positive so it’s a lot of fun to work with him.”
While the new partners have yet to compete - or even skate in public - they already have a clear set of short- and long-term goals, which include earning a national title in the upcoming season and making it to the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games in three years - and turning a few heads while they’re there.
Both skaters have competed on the international stage before and Denney has the knowledge and experience of competing at an Olympic Winter Games before - something the two are already joking about.
“You’re gonna love the cafeteria!” Denney, the quiet and composed one, let slip to Coughlin.
Though Denney and Coughlin have only been skating together for one month, the two are determined to achieve greatness by taking whatever risks necessary - and they even have a team motto.
“We were watching Dancing with the Stars and somebody threw out all their big tricks and the judge goes, ‘You’ve got to risk it if you want the biscuit!’ and we decided that was going to be our theme for the year,” Coughlin said.
lol I can't
SOURCE