I was hoping to travel to the World Figure & Fancy Skating Championships held in Plattsburgh, NY, on 12/31/2020 and 1/1/2021, but with all the public health officials advising against travel due to the pandemic, it didn’t seem like a good idea. Instead, I skated the championship at home, mostly on my backyard rink.
The ice was new and very thin in spots, and the temperature was iffy—hovering around freezing when the ice needed sustained cold for proper maintenance. This meant I had little opportunity to practice and ice that left much to be desired. It’s probably a good reflection of what the first figure skating competitions were like.
Here’s what I managed to do.
Update, 1/1/2021: I made the videos of sets 1 and 2 on the 29th, before the Championship started, because a snowstorm followed by 40-degree F weather were on the way. A cold night on the 30th meant I could skate a little on the 31st, but the ice was very rough. On New Year’s Day, it was slightly better, and I did sets 3 and 4 on the right day. The ice was still bad, and the wind didn’t help, but back in the day, that’s how competitions were. It was fair because everyone had the same terrible ice. The practice videos of sets 3 and 4 and the fancy skating segment were filmed on the 28th (with better ice). The skating surface at the alternate rink that I used for fancy skating was unsuitable after the snowstorm.