George Waddell (figure skater)

George Waddell (born 17 October 1998) is a British-Canadian ice dancer. With his skating partner, Sasha Fear, he is a two-time British junior national champion (2018, 2019) and has competed in the final segment at the 2019 World Junior Championships.

George Waddell
Personal information
Country represented Great Britain
Former country(ies) represented Canada
Born (1998-10-17) 17 October 1998
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Home townLondon, England, UK
Height1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
PartnerSasha Fear
Former partnerSabrina Bédard
Victoria Oliver
Kaitlin Stitz
CoachRomain Haguenauer
Karen Quinn
Former coachAlan Abretti
Andrew Hallam
ChoreographerRomain Haguenauer
Ginette Cournoyer
Émilie Josset
Skating clubAlexandra Palace London
Training locationsMontreal, Canada
London, United Kingdom
Former training locationsToronto, Canada
Began skating2000
ISU personal best scores
Combined total152.34
2020 CS Budapest Trophy
Short dance62.69
2020 CS Budapest Trophy
Free dance93.29
2020 CS Nebelhorn Trophy

Personal life

Waddell was born on 17 October 1998 in Toronto, Canada to a Canadian mother and a Scottish father.[1] He has a twin brother, Charles, who was formerly an ice dancer and a younger brother, Bruce, who competes for Canada in ice dance with Natalie D'Alessandro. Waddell is the grandson of NHL hockey star Leonard "Red" Kelly and his uncle Patrick Kelly is an Olympic speed skater.[2][3] He competed in ice hockey up through 2016.[2] Waddell can play the piano and enjoys darts, bird watching, and line dancing.[4] He was accepted into the Commerce program at Queen's University at Kingston.[2] Waddell holds British, Canadian, and American citizenship.[1]

Career

Early career

Waddell began skating in 2000 in Toronto, training in both hockey and figure skating. He began learning ice dance under Andrew Hallam at the Toronto Cricket, Skating and Curling Club and had a brief partnership with Kaitlin Stitz in 2012–13.[5] When his twin brother Charles quit skating, he took over skating with Charles' former dance partner, Victoria Oliver, during the 2013–14 season. Waddell/Oliver competed three seasons together, including two appearances at the Canadian Championships. Waddell teamed up with Sabrina Bédard in 2016 and moved to Montreal to train under her coach Romain Haguenauer.[2]

Waddell teamed up with British skater Sasha Fear in May 2017 to represent Great Britain; their families were already acquainted and the partnership tryout was initiated by Haguenauer.[2] He did not have to sit out a year of competition following his nationality transfer, due to having never competed internationally for Canada.

2017–2018 season

Fear/Waddell made their international debut at the 2017 Lake Placid Ice Dance International, finishing sixth. They finished seventh and tenth at their Junior Grand Prix assignments in Brisbane, Australia and Minsk, Belarus, respectively. Fear/Waddell won their first international title at the 2017 Leo Scheu Memorial.

Fear/Waddell won the 2018 British junior national title by over 20 points ahead of Emily Rose Brown / James Hernandez and Natalia Paillu Neves / Frank Roselli. At the 2020 World Junior Championships, they finished 21st, narrowly missing qualification to the free dance segment.

2018–2019 season

Fear/Waddell again opened the season at the 2018 Lake Placid Ice Dance International, finishing eighth. On the 2018–19 ISU Junior Grand Prix, they finished 11th in Kaunas, Lithuania and 9th in Ostrava, Czech Republic.

Fear/Waddell defended their national title at the 2019 British Championships, winning by over 40 points ahead of Lucy Hancock / Billy Wilson French and Paillu Neves / Roselli. They finished 18th at the 2019 World Junior Championships.

2019–2020 season

Fear/Waddell opened the season with a pair of eighth-place finishes on the 2019–20 ISU Junior Grand Prix in Lake Placid, New York, United States and Gdańsk, Poland. They won the junior titles at the Mezzaluna Cup and the Pavel Roman Memorial.

Fear/Waddell won silver at the 2020 British Championships, finishing around four points behind Brown / Hernandez. As a result, they missed the World Junior Championships for the first time in their partnership.

2020–2021 season

Fear/Waddell made their senior international debut at the 2020 CS Nebelhorn Trophy, which, due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, was attended only by European skaters.[6] They won the silver medal.[7] Attending a second Challenger, the 2020 CS Budapest Trophy, they won the bronze medal.[8] With the British Championships cancelled as a result of the pandemic, Fear/Waddell were named to the British team for the 2021 European Championships.[9] The competition was cancelled on 10 December 2020.[10]

Programs

With Fear

Season Rhythm dance Free dance
2020–2021
[11]
2019–2020
[4]
2018–2019
[12]
Short dance
2017–2018
[13]

Competitive highlights

CS: Challenger Series; JGP: Junior Grand Prix

With Fear

International[14]
Event 17–18 18–19 19–20 20–21
EuropeansC
CS Budapest3rd
CS Nebelhorn2nd
CS Warsaw CupWD
International: Junior[14]
Junior Worlds21st18th
JGP Australia7th
JGP Belarus10th
JGP Czech Rep.9th
JGP Lithuania11th
JGP Poland8th
JGP USA8th
Egna Trophy4th3rd
Golden SpinWD
GP Bratislava4th
Ice Star6th2nd
Leo Scheu1st
Mezzaluna Cup1st
Open d'Andorra5th
Pavel Roman3rd1st
National[14]
British Champ.1st J1st J2nd JC
TBD = Assigned; WD = Withdrew; C = Cancelled
Levels: J = Junior

With Bédard

National[15]
Event 2016–17
Canadian Champ.11th J
Levels: J = Junior

With Oliver

National[16]
Event 13–14 14–15 15–16
Canadian Champ.5th N14th J
SC Challenge3rd P13th J
Levels: P = Pre-novice; N = Novice; J = Junior

With Stitz

National[5]
Event 2012–13
SC Challenge5th P
Levels: P = Pre-novice

References

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