Review of the 2018 season

1/9/2018

Judging with the 10.0 system - yes it's me :)

Today marks the end of an era, the end of my 2018 season, and the end of rollerskating judging as we know it.
As we start preparing for 2019, we say goodbye to the 10.0 judging system, where skaters performances are judged with an overall impression from 0.0 - 10.0, to RollArt, the judging system of the future, where all elements will be judged individually and receive a base value with an "Quality of Execution"(QOE) value.

Before starting with all on skates preparations for the next season, I always reflect on my past; this time, I would love to share my reflection with y'all!

2018 Free Dance

The 2018 season, was my comeback season; after a hiatus of one year, I decided to reenter the competitive "ring" - this year going for a different style of choreography; for my style dance we chose LaLa Land, I loved skating this program, it was fun, quick, intricate; It was a good example of how style dances are supposed to be in the new judging system.

My Free dance, is my absolute favorite, skating to Charlie Chaplin! Not only did we make sure it was PACKED with technical elements, this program was filled with some great moments to connect with the judges and the audience which was so much fun!

The season started off with the qualifying competitions for the Nationals, the first one in Zaandam (my hometown) and the second one in Mierlo, at the rink where the Nationals were held one month later. Sadly I had to miss the second qualifier, due to a knee injury, the first competition in my career which I have had to miss!

My fysio team worked non stop to get me into shape for the nationals, it took a few weeks, and left only 2 weeks to prep for nationals. With only 2 weeks, my coach and I have had to work very efficient to be ready for it.

It seems like the hard work has definitely paid off, I have skated my best national championships to date! Never before have I felt so secure, so in the "zone", so ready to attack!

It started off at Saturday afternoon with the Style dance event.
My mom and I arrived in Mierlo, immediately started with the off skates warming up. It felt so good, I couldn't wait to enter the rink, to start skating my program. The LaLa Land choreography was new, we made it specially for nationals and I am proud of how it looked! A great first event!

Sunday was the final day of nationals, I had the honor to be the last skater, the "grand finale" so to speak. After skating a good free dance (not great, there is ALWAYS room for improvement, I never say I skate great; to be honest, this was the first ever time I even said I skated good!)
Half an hour later, I was awarded my 27th solo national title, my second Senior title; a record number!

I kicked off the training season with a figure skating camp in Utrecht with the new coaching staff of my Amsterdam figure skating club; 4 days of hard work on ice, hours of ballet, off ice technique, theory lessons, video analyses, and stretching. I have to admit, the last day, was very difficult, but I managed to get through it!

Tuesday will be the first day in Wormer, on rollers. I am looking forward to it, we have so much great ideas for the choreographies, I have been listening to thousands of songs, and we were able to pick some GREAT ones! We will start working on the choreographies first thing, and I know for a fact, that these programs will knock off everyones socks! - I will not share the themes yet, but all I can say is that the free dance will be very exciting! The style dance rhythm for 2019 will be Spanish medley, my favorite style, so it won't be a problem to make something amazing, the music we have choses, is absolutely breathtaking!

As always, I will keep y'all up to date with my instagram stories.
Here is to a great season!