In Vancouver, there are some people who go jogging or skiing in kilts… and even dragon boat paddling in kilts! But Sinead and John Kerr go to the World Ice skating championships, performing in their kilts.
A brother and sister team from Scotland, they are 5 time reigning British champions, winning their 5th national championship in January 2008 amidst some controversial scoring giving them many deductions.
At this past World Championships in Gothenburg Sweden, the Kerrs placed 8th in pairs.
According to a webpost for the 2005 Skate Canada event:
Bagpipes were invented to stir fear into Scotland’s
enemies. The strange sound of this strange instrument would travel in
advance of the kilt-attired marching soldiers. Poor unsophisticated folk
who had never heard such noise or seen such beings with their painted blue
faces would flee in terror before the battle even began.
The Kerrs didn’t mean to convey quite that
ferocity, but they did want to project their Scottish heritage, something
which has never been done before on the ice.It’s a pity the ISU rules
forbid men to wear skirts. John has always worn his kilt to functions and
skaters’ banquets and hopes to do so in an exhibition. He did, however,
have tartan as part of his outfit with tartan flares in his trousers. She
wore a turquoise and mauve outfit that had strings over a bare back and
part of the bodice with a tartan bow on one side and on her back.
Maybe the music scared the judges who dropped them from
sixth after the original to seventh overall. The British champions train
in the Deeside rink in northern Wales where their coach, Joan Slater, a
former British champion and world silver medalist, is based which is
several hours drive from their home in Livingston. When possible, she
comes up to Scotland to the Murrayfield rink in Edinburgh nearer their
home. Talking of how they performed their routine, John said, “It’s
not bad. There’s still a long way to go.
Check out this video with plenty of views of John Kerr's swirling kilt. It's probably the most looked under skirt since Katerina Witt's “Carmen” routine.
