Veteran team banking on throw quad Salchow
Marissa Castelli and Simon Shnapir
took a step forward at 2013 Hilton HHon- ors Skate America in Detroit, improving their score from their first competition by more than 11 points.
Tey also took a leap forward with the
execution of their throw quadruple Salchow. Castelli two-footed the landing on the huge throw but stayed on her feet. “Te plan is to do the quad in every com- petition, so down the road it’s something that Marissa is comfortable with,” Shnapir said. “I’ve never had any doubt that she could rotate it every time. If anything, she overrotates it.”
“I want to get as comfortable as possible
with this throw,” Castelli said. “It’s some- thing I do well; the Salchow is my thing. It’s hard to get your head wrapped around something that no one else can do. Only me and two or three other people in the world have ever landed it. It’s a little terrifying go- ing in knowing that. I want to get it as con- sistent as my triple Salchow. Te goal is to stand up on them, take little steps every sin- gle competition and get more mileage on it.” Te U.S. pairs champions finished fifth
in the short program at Skate America and sixth in the free skate en route to a score of 177.11 points and a sixth-place finish. “I think we were just fighting through it,”
Castelli said of the team’s free skate at Skate America. “It’s a step above Salt Lake (host of the U.S. International Classic in Septem- ber). Tis year is an important year for us and I just think we’re trying to figure out the right path to get there. I think we’re going to go home and train our long program even more for NHK (held Nov. 8–10) and put out more good stuff.” “Technically we did a lot of great
things,” Shnapir said after the free skate. “To get the scores we did with what we didn’t put out there still feels really good. Tere are definitely some positives here. Our side-by-side spins were a big plus for us in terms of not getting any negative marks there.” For their Olympic season, Castelli
and Shnapir are skating to “Black Magic Woman” and “Smooth” by Carlos Santana for their short program and music from the
Skyfall soundtrack for their free skate. In addition to the throw quad Salchow
in their free skate, they have a side-by-side triple toe-double toe combination and triple Salchows.
The throw quad Salchow (top photo) will play a major role in the team’s free skate this season. The U.S. champs work under the watchful eye of coaches Bobby Martin (left) and Carrie Wall.
32 DECEMBER 2013
JAY ADEFF/U.S. FIGURE SKATING
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