Question and Answer Page
Special thanks needs to go to Jodeyne Higgins and Sean Rice for providing the answers to the questions. Thanks you guys!! It really helped me!
Question:
Have Jodeyne and Sean designed a new lift this year?
Answer:
Yes. They designed another new lift this year that will be doing in
both our short and long program. It is called the Floringo. (Designed in
Florida, Jodeyne looks like an upside down Flamingo) It is a back overhead take off
(lasso).
Question:
Has Jodeyne ever been dropped by Sean?
Answer:
Only twice
Question:
Have Jodeyne and/or Sean ever been seriously injured?
Answer:
Yes, We fell into the boards while training for the 1996 Skate Canada International Championship.
Jodeyne had a serious lower back injury that caused her pain throughout the rest of the skating season in
1996. She also had to take time off to let it heal but unfortunately nothing helped. We were forced to
withdraw from an international in Russia. Then just before the Nationals in Vancouver Jodeyne saw a
special sports therapist named Doug Chase in Waterloo, Ontario and he slowly began to take the pain away
and heal Jodeyne back to clean performance at the Nationals. This was a big feat because not even two
weeks before the competition Jodeyne was still finding it hard to get through a program pain free.
We have had other little injuries but they seem to come with the territory of doing pairs. One of us always
seems to have a bruise or small cut, or an ache or pain somewhere. That is just pairs!
Question:
Which death spiral do Jodeyne and Sean find the hardest? The easiest?
Which is their favorite?
Answer:
The hardest death spiral is the forward outside death spiral - actually there are not many pairs that are able
to do this death spiral well if at all.
The easiest for us is the back outside death spiral.
We like to do death spirals so it is hard to chose which one would be the favorite.
I guess Back Outside would be our favorite because we do it the best out of all the death spirals.
Question:
What was H&R most thrilling experience in Figure skating?
Answer:
I think that the best moment of our career has to be when we were third at the Canadian Championships in
Hamilton, Ontario in 1993. It was a home crowd and we had made it to the World Championships for the
first time. It was a dream come true. Then actually going to the Worlds and finishing 10th, competing for
your country and hearing our names called as we stepped on to the ice, representing Canada, there is no
other feeling the same. We will always remember these special moments forever.
Question:
Does Jodeyne ever get scared when they do some lifts?
Answer:
Sure sometimes when we are trying a new lift for the first time it is kind of scary but I trust Sean with my life
when we are doing our lifts and other tricks. I know that he will keep me safe no matter what so there is no
need for me to fear the move that we are doing. Lifts are the closest thing to being able to fly. It is an
incredible sensation to soar across the ice at top speed.
Question:
Which pair move is Jodeyne and Sean's favorite?
Answer:
I think that our favorite move is the triple twist. It is such a great feeling when we do it well and it soars
across the ice.
Question:
Which is the SBS jump that H&R find the easiest? Hardest? Why?
Answer:
The easiest side by side jump would be the double Lutz because that is the jump that we have always done
well on our own. The double Lutz has the highest consistency rate out of all the jumps.
The hardest would be Triple Jumps - They have always been something that we have had to work hard at
and they have not come easily to us. We are continuing to work hard at them so someday soon they will be
automatic. Then there will be nothing holding us back from being at the top.
Question:
Will Jodeyne and Sean be doing any shows around the Toronto area any
time soon?
Answer:
No unfortunately not, unless we are invited somewhere. We are busy here in Florida right now working at
Busch Gardens and also preparing for the upcoming season. We are putting together our new programs
and we are also working on some new tricks for the programs. We would love to come home and do a
show if the opportunity should arise though.
Question:
I heard that Higgins and Rice did a lift called the Riggins. What is that?
Answer:
This is one of the most difficult lifts in the world. It involves changing positions over Sean's head four times. The lift starts out in a Back Overhead, swings around into a one hand overhead postion
to a one hand star with a lateral dismount. No one else in the world has done this lift before. We designed this lift all on our own and therefore, named it after ourselves.
Question:
What is the lift that Higgins and Rice did in their short program this year?
Answer:
We are the first pair to try this lift and have not named it yeat. It is a Hand to Hand lift take off. Sean tosses Jodeyne up in the air over his head and Jodeyne does a 1/2 turn and Sean catches Jodeyne in a platter lift position.
Then Jodeyne transfers her weight into a one handed platter/star position and then ends with a lateral twist dismount. This is a very difficult lift because Sean and Jodeyne lose contact with each other completely, two different times
during the lift. One time is during the take off and the other is on the dismount. Losing contact is hard because there is no room for error at any time by either of the skaters.
Question:
Why did Jodeyne and Sean change coaches?
Answer:
We changed coaches this past year because we both felt that we needed a
change. We had trained at the same club for 13 years and felt that we were not enjoying
training and skating anymore. Our skating was stale.The love of the sport was
gone and it was becoming evident in our skating performances. We knew that we
still had goals that we wanted to achieve but felt that we could no longer go after
them in the mode we were in. So we decided to move to Florida with Lyndon
Johnston. We had worked with him before when he had coached at Mr.
Leitch's and enjoyed his approach very much and thought that he could offer us a
lot, and we also grew up with Lyndon when he trained as well. So we went to
Florida for the coach, the weather was just a bonus. The change was a lot harder
than we first expected. We thought that we could just pick up and go and
continue everything down here, but leaving your family, friends, everything, takes
you out of your comfort zone and you are thrown into a position were you have
to make decisions for yourself and that is not always easy. We have made some
good ones and bad ones but having the freedom to choose where we want to go
is awesome. It is nice to have control over our own destiny. We are our own
people now. I think that we have finally started to become adjusted this past two
months and are really starting to enjoy what we are doing (which is the most
important thing) and we are really starting to excel again in our sport even though
our nationals result didn't show everything that we had accomplished this year
both personally and in the skating field.
Question:
Could you tell me what the Higgorice is?
Answer:
That is also another lift that we designed ourselves.
We took the same take off as the Riggins which is the back overhead and at the
top of the lift we change over to one hand, then Jodeyne transfers her weight on
to Sean's right hand and flips into a reverse, reverse hand star and then does a
summer-sault dismount. This I would say is the most difficult lift in the world in my
opinion.
Question:
What is their favorite color?
Answer:
Jodeyne - Blue
Sean- Deep Red
Question:
Are Higgins and Rice going to retire after this season? Or keep going for another couple of years?
Answer:
No absolutely not. We know that our result was not the best one that we have
ever had together but we feel that it did not show the improvements that we have
made over the course of the year so it would be a shame to give up now when
we still have something to prove. We are going to continue until the next Olympic
as long as the bodies hold out. We are still young and enjoy skating and that is
the most important thing in life is to enjoy what you do.
Question:
Why did Higgins and Rice skate to Reflections of Passion?
Answer:
The first time we heard the piece of music we absolutely feel in love with it and
knew that we just had to skate to it. It is one of those pieces of music that when
you skate to it or listen to it you can feel every note and emotion inside yourself.
We give Yanni great credit, it is an incredible piece of music to skate to.
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