What's New at VSC

NEWS RELEASE - January 31, 2012

Liam Firus lands jr. worlds spot

6th place finish for North Van skater at sr. nationals

Caelen Dalmer and Shane Firus

7^th place finish in Junior Dance

NEWS RELEASE - January 24, 2012

VSC SKATERS LIAM FIRUS, CAELEN DALMER AND SHANE FIRUS SHINE AT THE CANADIAN FIGURE SKATING CHAMPIONSHIPS

MENS SINGLES SKATER LIAM FIRUS QUALIFIES FOR WORLD JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIPS IN BELARUS!

North Vancouver brothers Liam and Shane Firus excelled at this past weekend’s Canadian Figure Skating Championship in Moncton, New Brunswick with Liam placing 6^th in Senior Men’s singles and Shane and his partner Burnaby’s Caelen Dalmer placing 7^th in Junior Dance.

Liam, who skated in the final flight with 5 time Canadian and World Champion Patrick Chan, put on an impressive show qualifying him for the Junior World Championships in Minsk, Belarus February 28 to March 4, 2012.

19 year old Liam Firus is the 2010 Junior Men’s Canadian Champion, placed 3^rd in the Junior Men’s Grand Prix International in Sheffield, and recently captured the Silver Medal at the Skate Canada Western Challenge. This will be his second trip to Junior Worlds. He will then continue domestically as a Senior Man working towards a berth on the 2014 Canadian Olympic team. He is attending Capilano University, and training as a full time athlete.

Caelen Dalmer, 14, and Shane Firus, 17, were accomplished singles skaters before teaming up in 2008. Over the past two years they have made remarkable progress as a dance team and have attended 2 national championships placing 5th in Pre-Novice and 4th in Novice. In October 2011, as first year Juniors, they were selected to be part of Team Canada and competed on the ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating in Italy. They placed 9th in a strong field of international competitors.

This competition continues the strong showing from Vancouver Skating Club members with Port Coquitlam’s 14 year old Alexander Lawrence 7^th place finish in the Pre-Novice National final in Regina.

Founded in 1934, The Vancouver Skating Club is a non-profit organization with over 400 members from across the North Shore and Greater Vancouver. Figure Skaters from 3 to 18 years old train regularly at Karen Magnusson Arena, Canlan Ice Sport North Vancouver, the Vancouver Agrodome and Harry Jerome Recreation Centre.

VSC is going to Nationals!
(January 2011 – Victoria BC)
Liam - Senior Men
Qwynne (Sara) – Junior Dance
Caelen and Shane – Novice Dance
Eastern/Western Challenge results: Liam – Senior Men 4th
Qwynne – Junior Dance 9th
Caelen and Shane – Novice Dance 4th
Alexander – Pre-Novice Men 8th (national final for Pre-Novice) For a complete listing of all of the recent Competition Results please see our competition results page.
BC Provincial Team
The following skaters who are now members of the BC Provincial Team and will be advancing to Skate Canada Challenge event in Mississauga (Dec 1-5, 2010):

Singles
Senior Men - Liam (bye to Challenge)
Pre-Novice Men - Alexander (3rd at Sectionals and recipient of the Artistic Award)

Dance
Junior Dance - Qwynne (1st at Sectionals)
Novice Dance - Caelen and Shane (3rd at Sectionals)

The following skaters who have also earned spots on the Provincial Development Team
Caelen, Lisa, Angela and Stefan
Liam won Bronze medal in Sheffield England , and 5th place in Romania
Congratulations Liam on your recent 5th place finish in the Junior Men's singles event in Romania, and even more congratulations on your very recent podium finish at the Junior Grand Prix in Sheffield England. The event in Romania took place from September 8th to 12th, and in England from September 29th to October 3rd. Visit Skate Canada website for more details from Romania and England.
Vancouver Skating Club Christmas Gala
VSC held its Christmas Fundraising Gala on December 18, 2010 at Karen Magnussen Arena. The Gala made its way to the North Shore News that wrote a story about this Vancouver Skating Club event. Photos are available as well.
Congratulations Liam! Junior Grand Prix assignment to Romania - September 8-12, 2010
Liam! Good Luck from everyone at the Vancouver Skating Club
Liam is heading to Brasov, Romania with his coach Lorna Bauer. The event will run from September 8-12, 2010 at the Olympic Arena. Canada will have a total of three entries, one in men’s (Liam), one in ladies (Alexandra Najarro, Richmond Hill, ON) and one in ice dance (Abby Carswell / Andrew Doleman, Toronto, ON / Dundas, ON). This is Liam's second year on the junior circuit. He is also the current Canadian Junior Champion.
Caelen at The Golden West Competition
Caelen will be part of the BCYT Team that is heading to the 2010 GOLDEN WEST CHAMPIONSHIPS in Culver City, California, September 2 to 5. This international development competition will give Caelen an opportunity to get some valuable experience skating with some very talented US skaters at the Novice Ladies level. Caelen is 13 and has been skating since she was 2 1/2. She has been a member of the Vancouver Skating Club since 2002 and is coached by Tina Leininger and Zdenek Pazdirek. Caelen was the 2008 Juvenile Ladies Champion of BC and represented BC at the Junior National Championships. She also competes in ice dance and along with her partner is currently ranked 5th in Canada.
Thanks Tasha!
A big thank you goes out to one of Vancouver Skating Club’s generous Comp B skaters. Tasha recently celebrated her birthday and in lieu of receiving birthday presents from her guests, she asked that they all make a donation to the Vancouver Skating Club. The club is most grateful for this thoughtful donation. The club has not used the money yet, but it has been ear-marked to go towards a new video camera for the Dartfish system. This purchase and most generous donation will certainly benefit all of the VSC skaters.
Shane selected to attend the 2010 Skate Canada National Development Camp!
Skate Canada is bringing in nine up-and-coming skaters from across the country to Toronto for the 2010 Skate Canada National Development Camp. "The skaters in attendance have aspirations to compete on the national and international levels and Skate Canada wants to make sure they have the skills going forward to be successful" said Mike Slipchuk, Skate Canada Director High Performance.

Skaters have been selected based on their progress over the past competitive season. The purpose of the camp is to educate skaters and coaches on incorporating Performance Enhancement Training into their daily plan. Skaters will be fitness tested, and attend off-ice sessions on nutrition, psychology, dance, and on-ice sessions in technical skill development and basic skating skills.

Brian Orser, Ellen Burka, and Anne Schelter will coach the on-ice sessions, with Jennifer Burak, Vladimir Iablakov, Jason Vescovi, and Dr. John Philpott involved in the various off-ice sessions.
Liam Firus - 2010 Canadian Junior National Men's Champion - Video
Pacific STARSkate Championships in Kamloops - Paige, Zara, Tasha and Coach Deneen
2010 Olympic News
- Several VSC skaters participated in the Figure skating events at the Pacific Coliseum: Flower Retriever, Alexander Lawrence, and Ice Patchers Lisa Nakajima, Stephanie Marshall-White, and Stefan Dawydiak. That was a fantastic opportunity!
- On February 8, Elizabeth Hughes carried the Olympic torch in Langley, BC. Have fun during 2010 Winter Olympic Games!
- Do you Believe? - Several VSC skaters appeared in a "Do you believe" commercial airing on CTV this past year and Competitive B skater Annika Ng has also appeared in another CTV "Do you believe" commercial skating at Grouse Mountain and in print ads. We Believe!
Liam International assignments to Belarus and Istanbul
Skaters going to Challenge in Mississauga ON
Robson Square skating rink opening. VSC skaters and parents meet Jeffrey Buttle
Skaters selected to go to BC Winter Games
From the Archives

Alumni VSC skater and coach Marilyn Wood has contributed to the Club archives. This crest, not an official club logo, was created by her aunt and was worn by several skaters in the 1950's. Marilyn was also Tina Leininger's coach!
Alumni and club members with stories, photos or programs that they would like to add to the club archives please contact the Vancouver Skating Club. Many thanks!