By Laura Reid

Novena, November 29 & 30, 2008 – The first Velocity@Novena Figure Skating Challenge this past weekend was everything a great competition should be – fun, friendly and fierce, said event organiser Jiyoung Wilson from the Singapore Ice Skating Association.

And the competition stayed on the ice, Mrs. Wilson said. Off the ice, the skaters, ranging from six to 21 years old, were a tight community of support for each other, she said. "We had some of Singapore's youngest competitors, some of its best and some of its most promising skaters."

Although the Velocity Challenge was not a ranking competition, people came away with a sense of achievement," said Mrs. Wilson. "In organising the competition, we very much took to heart the philosophy of the Singapore Sports Council's Let's Play campaign. Not every athlete will make it to the National team, but there should be good opportunities for everyone."

The Velocity@Novena Challenge certainly provided a much-needed opportunity for the skaters. "We had 35 eager competitors, just as many nervous parents, a mall filled with enthusiastic spectators, three very supportive ice skating clubs, and an extremely generous sponsor in Velocity@Novena. I couldn't have asked for a better corporate sponsor," Mrs. Wilson said. "We also had a guardian angel in the ´Let's Play' team from the Singapore Sports Council."

Chiming in their wholehearted agreement were first-time competitors Natalie Cheong and Lynn Seah, two nine year-olds from CHIJ Toa Payoh Primary School. "I was so nervous but I had such a great time," said Lynn. "I can't wait to go skating next week." Added Natalie: "I didn't get a medal, but I had so much fun and I got to watch the National team members skate. I'm definitely going to try this again!"

It was the first time that SISA had organised a competition with a special focus on skaters still relatively new to the sport. Judging from the resounding applause from spectators in the mall, the new kids on the ice were a huge hit. "I was so excited when people clapped and shouted for me," said eight year-old Shawnia Seah, who is in Primary 3 at CHIJ St. Nicholas.

However, the competition did have some veterans in the mix with skaters from the long-established Henry Park Primary School Enrichment CCA class and National Youth Team members Max Ko, Michelle Lee and Jasmine Mehaffey.

The competition was held in two parts, with a pure technical ´Jump & Spin' event in the morning and an Interpretive programme in the afternoon. A panel of three judges awarded points for each event. The scores were then tallied, and the three skaters with the highest points were awarded medals.

There were some standouts during the competition: Charmaine Lim from HPPS put down an expressive and well-timed Spanish programme, clinching first place in the Future Stars event.

Vidisha Agarwalla skated a fun programme to music from Hairspray and won the Rising Stars ´B' event.

In Rising Stars ´A', six year old Lauren Goh, who starts Primary 1 at Singapore Chinese Girls School next term, didn't win a medal but won over the crowd when she stopped her Hawaiian-themed programme to file an appeal with the judges that the wrong music was playing. Charlotte Lim, Charmaine's younger sister and another competition veteran, won the Rising Stars ´A' event.

The competition in the higher levels was even tougher with Cheryl Khoo from Republic Polytechnic, taking first place in the Elementary/Pre Primary event and Vanessa Leung from HPPS claiming second place.

In the final competitive event on Saturday, the three skaters in Primary/Intermediate presented the judges with a difficult time by skating three very different but powerful programmes. With a quirky jazz number that he choreographed himself, Max Ko skated off with first place in this event with Jasmine Mehaffey in second and Michelle Lee in third.

The Velocity Challenge was held over two days at the 6m x 15m temporary ice rink in the atrium at Velocity@Novena Square. Skaters from the Ice Skating Association of Ngee Ann Polytechnic ran the logistics for the show.

For both the competition on Saturday and the exhibition on Sunday, the ice rink was surrounded by rows and rows of spectators. People cheered from the upper balconies as well, creating a stereophonic sound effect.

Beginning at noon on Sunday, SISA held three exhibition shows, featuring solo, duet and group numbers from the All Stars Figure Skating Club and the Tropical Blades Ice Skating Club. Kicking off the noon performance were the youngsters from the TBISC, skating to ´A Warm and Fuzzy Christmas', choreographed by coach Elaine Toh.

The exhibition also featured programmes by Bramina Braet, another member of the SISA Youth Team, 18 year-old Cheryl Khoo from Republic Polytechnic, Casatrina Lee & Ricardo Lachika, Phoebe Wang, and a four-part, ensemble number by the All Stars Figure Skating Club to High School Musical 3, choreographed by coach Jonnansical Boo.

The All Stars number featured a wide range of skaters, from seven year-old Xan Skillen to 22 year-old Condrey Liu. "We had a lot of fun doing this group number," said Ms Boo. "While we had two leads in the piece (Sabrina Ho and Marc Tan), we got to show that everyone can be a star in skating."

Michelle Lee, Jasmine Mehaffey and Max also performed in the exhibition, with programmes that reminded everyone why they are National team members.

Competition Results

Rising Stars ´A'
1st Place: Charlotte Lim
2nd Place: Vernen Lim                    
3rd Place: Steffi Mutter

Rising Stars ´B'
1st Place: Vidisha Agarwalla
2nd Place: Sophia du Plessis
3rd Place: Matthew Mak

Future Stars
1st Place: Charmaine Lim
2nd Place: Claire Casey
3rd Place: Louise Sides

Elementary/Pre-Primary
1st Place: Cheryl Khoo
2nd Place: Vanessa Leung

Primary/Intermediate
1st Place: Max Ko
2nd Place: Jasmine Mehaffey
3rd Place: Lee Yin, Michelle