Keen contest for women’s artistic skating title

Press, 29 August 1979, Page 26

Keen contest for women’s artistic skating title

By

BOB SCHUMACHER

A new national senior women s artistic champion will be found at this year’s New Zealand figure skating championships at the indoor Centaurus rink from tomorrow to Sunday. Last year’s champion and representative at the world championships for the last two years, Katie Simmonds, formerly of Auckland, has remained in California for further coaching. However, the senior competition should be spirited. last year’s senior runner-up. Vanessa Lewis, of Auckland, has a good chance of taking the title, but she will have to repulse the challenges of . Kathy Lindsay (Invercargill) and Denyse Adam (Auckland), the 1978 intermediate cham-

pion and runner-up, respectively. Both Misses Lindsay and Adam have been training diligently: they have competed in an international junior competition in Italy this year and recently returned from the Australian cham-

pionships where Miss Adam finished seventh and Miss Lindsay eleventh in the junior event. While this trio is expected to dominate, it might be surprised by Julie Clark, of Christchurch, a former national pair skating title-holder. With the departure to Napier of Miss Clark’s part-

ner. Grant Walker, she has reverted to singles. Miss Clark’s last singles competition was in the national intermediate grade in 1975. She won the figures section and was placed third overall. In the senior men’s section, the title-holder, John

Walkingshaw, of Invercargill, might be hardpressed to retain it from the promising Auckland skater, Bruce Cochrane, who has been training in the United States for the past year. Walkingshaw competed in the Australian championships but was inconvenienced by an ankle in-

jury. It is hoped that he will not be so badly handicapped this week. Two Christchurch girls, Glynis Crompton and Jane Clifford, who have scored a win each this year, will be seeking honours in the intermediate women’s event, a competition

which will be enhanced by the entry of Heather Little, an Australian novice grade skater. The biggest entry is in the p r e-intermediate women’s championship which has attracted 11 competitors, five of them from Invercargill, the remainder from Auckland and Christchurch.

Entries in the dancing and pairs events are disappointing with only one senior dance couple, two pre-intermediate couples, and one pre-intermediat# pair skaters competing.