Today's program is a bit of a patriotic one, I'm afraid, because today's skater is Jenna McCorkell, the six-time British ladies champion who finished in ninth at the Europeans. Jenna recently had an article written on her at the Coleraine Times (Coleraine is her hometown, though she now spends her time in Belgium and Coventry). Now, an article on a skater isn't usually a big deal, but for Britain this is a pretty rare occurrence. Over here, ice skating gets almost no coverage in the media, unless it's an article about Torvill and Dean; and let's face it, it's been 25 years since their Bolero performance and STILL the UK hasn't moved on. So it is with great pleasure I present the article on Jenna.
"I've learnt a few things from the Euros in Helsinki – I put my neck on the line and took a lot of risks which meant I got no points for some moves and it cost me in the end," she said.
"In America I am going to rein a few things in and play it a bit safer, because in hindsight that is what I should have done in Helsinki.
"I obviously will be working on my free programme and rearranging things so the same mistakes don't happen again.
"Qualification for the Olympics is up for grabs – I think you have to be in the top 24 to secure your place in Vancouver but I should easily make it into the top 15.
"It used to be a lot stricter in previous Games but they have eased the reins. There is one more chance to qualify after the Worlds but I don't want to think about that because in many ways you have to win it to guarantee your place."
Look out for Jenna in LA; she's not going to get on the podium or anything but I saw her last year at Art on Ice skating with her husband, Kevin van der Perren, and she was great. I like her confidence and ability to know exactly what she needs to do.
Today's Program of the Day is Jenna's SP from Europeans this year, which left her in fourth. If she can get her long program up to the standard of this great short, she'll definitely be moving up next year.
Both Jenna and Kevin van der Perren have great websites, which are regularly updated with lots of personal pictures, so I would suggest you give them a look for mor information on the pair.
Oh, and thank you to Aaron over at Axels, Loops and Spins for the shout-out! Definitely check out his blog; he speaks frequently and knowledgably on all sorts of skating-related issues.
Another admin thing; thank you everyone who's reading my blog. If you've got anything you like or don't like about it, feel free to leave a comment. Constructive criticism would be great.
