Danielle Gameliln and Alexander Gamelin

Danielle recovering nicely from an ankle injury

Unfortunately, Danielle injured her right ankle badly right after the Philadelphia Challenge Cup. She tore the paroneal tendon in her right ankle and ruptured a small ligament in her foot. She was off the ice for more than three weeks, but is recovering well. She's back training full-time now and is looking forward with great anticipation to competing at the 2010 U.S. Eastern Figure Skating Championships in Newark, DE on the 18th and 19th of this month. Wish her and Alex well.

Great pre-season for Danielle and AlexTwo Golds, a Silver and two Bronzes

One of the problems of neglecting to make frequent blog entries is when you get around to it, you don't know where to begin. So, instead of writing a short story here, I'll outline what's happened and fill in the details later.

• Both Danielle and Alex were inducted into the National Honor Society at their high school, Laurel Springs.
• We're spending three days a week in New Jersey training in Mount Laurel with Evgeny Platov in addition to three days a week with Alexander Esman in Syosset, NY. Mount Laurel is a few miles east of Philadelphia .
• Danielle and Alex are performing regularly with the Ice Theatre of New York and concluded a 6 show engagement in August at the new World Ice Arena in Flushing Meadows.
• At their first major competition of the season, the Lake Placid Ice Dance Championships held in early August, Danielle and Alex won a Gold and a Silver medal.
• At their first international competition, representing Team U.S.A. in Toronto on August 13-16, they won a Bronze medal, and
• they won the Gold for the free dance and the Bronze for two compulsory dances at the Philadelphia Challenge Cup in September.

Moving up a level and remaining on top is a great achievement and a testament to their training, coaching, their dedication to excellence and the generous support of family and friends; not to mention parents who remain steadfast in their support (and who are often overwhelmed by the experience).

So much for today. Hopefully, it won't be another 4 months before I make another entry.