Young representative blades cut fine figures on the ice
Canberra Times
22 July 1999

A veteran at 18 years old, figure skater Stuart Beckingham will be the most experienced member of the ACT team when it journeys to the national championships beginning tomorrow in Adelaide.

Beckingham has competed at the junior level for three years, including representing Australia in the Junior International Grand Prix Series in Hungary and Slovakia in 1997, but he missed the past season after two shoulder dislocations.

He returns to his last junior nationals after only one prior competition, the state titles.

But Beckingham feels confident of a good finish having learned from his injury and getting considerable ice time training in Edmonton.

In '97, I had only one triple in my routine now I have four, and I've been nailing three out of four in he said.

If I do everything well, don't make mistakes, I'll finish well enough to make the Grand Prix Series again, because the artistic side of my skating has always been good. But it all has to culminate together.

Beckingham's coach, Sally Patton, said that her charge had proved he was one of the up-and-coming skaters in Australia but he is returning on a short phase of training. [But] I think the injury has been a positive, because if you take an athlete out of competition for six months, you see if they want to hang in she said.

Beckingham is the best shot at a top placing for the ACT team, which also includes Katie Allen, who returns at novice level after a break from competitive skating, and Annika Field at intermediate.

The entry level primary division includes the team's youngest representative in ten-year-old Amanda Howe, Kacie Shelley and Jared Dean, as well as ice dancing pair Antoinette Mattes and Stephen Renner, who have been dance partners for only the past year.

This ACT team is one of the smallest in years, with tougher standards imposed on young entry competitors contributing to the decrease in the size of the team.

Patton said the nationals provided a different level of pressure than these skaters were accustomed to.