They can get overshadowed on an Island better known for producing ample loads of Summer Olympians. But there are athletes in winter sports here, too, and they are doing alright — especially in figure skating.
There is a thriving skating community on the Island as evidenced by the large crowds that turn out at Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre whenever Skate Canada International or the national championships are held here and when the Winter Olympians of Stars on Ice make their annual pilgrimage to Blanshard.
So it’s not surprising that a healthy contingent of Island figure skaters have advanced to upcoming competitions.
Chief among them are the Victoria brother and sister ice-dance duo of 21-year-old Leonardo and 19-year-old Pilar Maekawa, who have qualified alongside the world’s big guns for the prestigious 2014 Four Continents from Jan. 20-26 in Taiwan.
Victor Kraatz Arena in Parksville is named in honour of Kraatz, who with Shae-Lynn Bourne, won a world title and placed fourth at the 1998 Nagano and 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics. The Maekawas are the next thing in ice dance out of the Island and recently went to Detroit to receive their choreography from Marina Zueva, who coaches and choreographs the 2010 Vancouver Winter Games champion Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir. It was a heady experience to be with the world’s best.
“Tessa and Scott have such a human spirit,” said Leonardo Maekawa, who trains with his sister at the UVic Ian Stewart Complex with the Racquet Club of Victoria.
The Maekawas are the national champions of their birthplace Mexico and narrowly missed qualifying for the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics.
“We’re still very fresh [in the established order of world ice dance],” noted Leonardo, who with his sister have set their sights on the 2018 Winter Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea.
Kraatz spent his formative years training under Jean Westwood on the Oak Bay Rec Centre’s ice sheet, which is now home to Amanda Wright. The 17-year-old Oak Bay Figure Skating Club performer is another Island skater on the rise and is one of four skaters to have qualified out of the recent B.C. championships in Richmond in the women’s Novice division for the Skate Canada Challenge, which runs today through Sunday in Regina. The top-18 from Regina advance to the junior division of the Canadian championships Jan. 9-15 in Ottawa.
“Amanda is a beautiful, elegant skater and she has charisma,” said Daniela Keller, who coaches Wright, along with Jamie and Katrena McGrigor.
“Amanda is also a very strong skater. She’s got the whole package. Now she has to show all that off there [Regina]. We believe she will do very well.”
As an indication of the level at which the McGrigors operate, Jamie is judging this week at the Grand Prix Final in Fukuoka, Japan, while Katrena will be working the Olympic figure skating venue next year at Sochi with the broadcasting unit, identifying the skaters during competition for the various nations’ TV feeds.
Meanwhile, others qualified for the Skate Canada Challenge in Regina this week include the Pre-Novice pairs duos of Tessa Jones and Matthew den Boer from the Racquet Club, and Sarah Kedves of Fuller Lake and Lucas Pallard of Nanaimo. Also qualified is the Pre-Novice dance team of Karlissa Lem from the Racquet Club and Le Vu from Juan de Fuca.
They were part of the Island group Deena Beacom, Racquet Club director of skating, took recently to Edmonton to skate with Canadian women’s champion Kaetlyn Osmond and Osmond’s coach Ravi Walia.
“These skaters are all like-minded in their focus and their goals,” said Racquet Club coach Matt Willis, who will coach all the Island Pre-Novice skaters in Regina this week before guiding the Maekawas next month at the Four Continents.
“They are thick as thieves and all get along well. That’s important in our sport, where tension is disruptive.”
