Wester & Barantsev Online

Skaters Survive Admittedly Rough Season...

Injuries and illness were very familiar to Daniil and Jennifer this season. Despite a strong start in their monitoring competition back in September, beating the national #3 ranked team in both OD and FD to take the overall gold, the 2008-2009 season took a sharp turn off course when Jennifer came down with the Flu last October...

Two weeks prior to the first Grand Prix of Jennifer & Daniil's partnership, a case of the flu took Jennifer off the ice for 4 days with a 103 degree temperature in mid October, 2008. With a determined drive to compete, 5 days after falling ill, with a lingering up and down light temperature and deep cough, Jennifer attempted to return to training.

"After only 5 strokes, I felt like I was going to faint. It felt as if my lung capacity was at zero . I was dizzy, and exhausted from barely even skating down the rink but we needed to skate or we'd have had to withdrawl from our first Grand Prix assignment. We just couldn't do that. I couldn't let myself be the cause of that!" Jenn recounted.

She saw a doctor at a local clinic and was provided antibiotics to cure what was diagnosed as a case of Bronchitis that had followed her Influenza. Training was given a yellow light, but for Jenn that was as good as green.

J~"By Monday, I was able to make it down the rink but I was extremely weak. I'd never felt something like that before. We would try to do singular patterns of the Paso Doble and I would end up in the restroom coughing and wheezing for 15 minutes before I could return. As soon as we would get home from sessions, I would fall asleep for up to 3 hours.....from less than 20 minutes of a work-out!"

Unfortunately by the time Daniil and Jennifer arrived in Canada, the facts were obvious to the medical staff at the event; Jennifer was not just suffering from Bronchitis, but had come down with a case of pneumonia that was occupying a substantial portion of her lungs, x-rays revealed.

J~"The medical staff at the event actually came to me in the dressing room and told me to come see them. They could hear my coughing through the wall and suspected I was dealing with something serious."

Although the doctors at the event attempted to talk her out of finishing the already two-thirds completed competition, Jennifer resisted and finished the freedance placing 7th overall.

J~"The entire freedance felt like I was under water. My ears plugged during the warm-up and all I could think about was not loosing my balance and trying to breathe. I didn't tell Daniil or Angelika about my ears plugging until after the program. I knew they were worried as it was."

Upon return from Canada, Jennifer was put on another run of antibiotics as well as other medications. She rested for only a few days though because within 10 days she and Daniil were to compete in their 2nd Grand Prix assignment of the season.

J~"While we were in Canada, I was mostly in bed. If I wasn't on the ice, I was in bed. Even in the warm-up room, everyone was jumping around and I was sitting in a chair or on the ground. Still. I was just trying to mentally prepare myself to breathe and not exhaust myself before ever getting on the ice. As soon as we got home, I spent 3 days at home with not activity. I tried to let the medications help as much as I could before starting to prepare for France."

Although Jennifer and Daniil skated a fair bit stronger in France with her improved condition on medication, they placed 8th and had a rough go in the twizzle section of the freedance.

J~"Honestly, with the lack of preparation in the 4 weeks leading up to France (days when I was sick and in bed made up for almost half of that time), I think we just have to be happy that we had clean competitions. We had no major mistakes or falls, strong practices, and good learning experiences with how we pull ourselves together under tough circumstances."

When they returned to the states from France, following doctors orders, Jennifer stayed off the ice and away from any cold air or physical activity for 10 days.

J~"I returned to skating in preparation for nationals at the end of November."

....

J~"Going into Nationals, Daniil and I were really excited. We'd completely torn apart and rechoreographed our Original Dance. We'd gotten many run-throughs of our freedance under our belt during the month of December and were feeling really strong."

A great end to the 2008-2009 season, was not to be however.

J~"The morning of the freedance, we got on practice and Daniil was feeling a strong ache in his back. It had started nagging him after the compulsory dance but we really hoped it'd remedy itself before freedance."

With increasing backpain, just before the freedance event, Jennifer and Daniil were forced to pull out of the competitions.

J~"We were really upset to have to pull out of the competition. Neither of expected to have to withdrawl from an event. We'd skated through pneumonia for goodness sake! But it just couldn't be denied that the risk to Daniil's back was too large. Neither Angelika, Daniil, or I could justify continuing. It was a huge let down. We sat in the stands and watched the competition. I won't deny that I teared up multiple times but we were trying to cheer for our friends and competitors. I was really happy to see Meryl and Charlie pull out a wonderful skate to win the championship."

Jenn recalls that at the end of the freedance event, a few women seated near them asked if they were skaters.

J~" I could barely answer. I was so overcome with how difficult the withdrawl decision had been and the entire season for that matter. It felt like all of it was building up into this huge bubble of emotion. I literally ran away as soon as I got an answer out to the women. I may not have even gotten a full answer out, come to think of it. I got up and left, by the time I was in the stairway, tears were streaming down my face."

Without having completed the 2009 National Championships, Jennifer and Daniil had no chance to be assigned to any other events this season.

J~"A big factor in the withdrawl decision, and part of what made it so difficult, was the fact that we were not just withdrawing from nationals, we were withdrawing from consideration for all the events assigned on the basis of a nationals placement this season!"

As a result, Jennifer and Daniil will be on pins and needles waiting for next seasons assignments. With no national ranking this season, they will be coming from behind next year.

J~"It's a tough place to be. We really wanted to have a stellar year and go into next year focusing on making the Olympic team. We are not giving up hope, though we know it's now a steeper climb. We'll probably keep our freedance from this season for next year. It never got the showing it deserved. With any luck, which we've been admittedly running short on, there will be a high to balance out the lows of this past season in the coming year.

One thing I can be sure of; I'm never missing another Flu shot!"