McCorkell ready for European test

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Posted: Monday 19th January 2009 | 16:03

JENNA McCorkell has fond memories of the European Championships and the British No.1 skater believes she is ready to make the step up into Europe's elite this week.

The 22-year-old from Belfast chalked up British crown No.6 last week in Nottingham with consummate ease and set season's personal best along the way.

McCorkell claimed a career-best eighth-place finish at the European Championships in Zagreb with personal best technical marks - rivalling those of the medallists.

And McCorkell insists she has added a new-found mental toughness to skating which she believes is sure to pay dividends in Helsinki when the competition gets under way on Tuesday.

"I've been building towards the Europeans all season," she said. "This is the one competition that really matters for me this year and all my training has been done with it in mind.

"I feel like I've grown so much more as a skater in the past 12 months and hopefully that was reflected at the British Championships and hopefully it will be in Helsinki.

"A lot has changed in my personal and professional life - I've got married, I'm based in Belgium and everything is going well for me at the moment.

"I did well at the Europeans last year after a good national's performance so hopefully history will repeat itself and I can do even better this time."

One of those changes includes a split from coach Vera Vandecaveye and a teaming up with Yuri Bureiko - a Russian, Coventry-based coach.

And Bureiko, who also coaches GB's men's representative in Finland Elliott Hilton, believes McCorkell's progress of late has been astonishing.

"Jenna is like a different person," he said. "The change in attitude has been remarkable and that is really showing in her performances in competition.

"Hopefully she will be rewarded with a good showing in Finland because she deserves it with the way she now approaches her skating."

Also competing in the ladies' singles will be Karly Robertson who, thanks to her impressie showing at the British Championships in the short program, made the grade.

And the Dundee-based skater revealed she will head to her first-ever international competition determined to enjoy herself after a number of sleepless nights.

"It was difficult for me because I had to wait for so long to see if I was actually going to get to go," she said. "I even had to wait for the least day to see if any of the juniors got the necessary score.

"But now that I'm going I'm over the moon. It's my first senior Great Britain appearance and it'll be a great experience for me what happens."

GERARD MEAGHER