Canadian junior skaters in Chinese Taipei for the 2017 ISU World Junior Figure Skating Championships

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OTTAWA, ON: Skate Canada has eight entries, for a total of 12 skaters competing at the 2017 ISU World Junior Figure Skating Championships taking place from March 15-19 in Taipei City, Chinese Taipei. Canada will have two entries per discipline in pairs and ice dance, one entry in ladies and three entries in men’s. Competition begins Wednesday, March 15, with the men and pairs short programs.

Defending world junior silver medallist Nicolas Nadeau, 19, Boisbriand, Que., is the first of three Canadian men. This season, he placed 11th at the Golden Spin of Zagreb, fourth in senior at the 2017 Canadian Tire National Skating Championships and won the junior level at the Bavarian Open. Nadeau trains in Rosemère, Que., and is coached by Yvan Desjardins.

Roman Sadovsky, 17, Vaughan, Ont., is the second Canadian entry in men’s. This will be his third time competing at this event, having placed 13th in 2014 and 14th in 2015. This season, he placed fifth at the ISU Junior Grand Prix in Japan and won the silver medal at the Junior Grand Prix in Estonia. At the senior level, he placed seventh at the Golden Spin of Zagreb and ninth at the 2017 Canadian championships. Sadovsky is coached by Tracey Wainman in Richmond Hill, Ont.

Canadian junior silver medallist Conrad Orzel, 16, Woodbridge, Ont., will round out the Canadian men entries. This season, Orzel placed 10th at the ISU Junior Grand Prix in France and won the silver medal at the Junior Grand Prix in Germany. He also won the junior silver medal at the 2017 Bavarian Open. Orzel is coached by Eva Najarro and trains in Richmond Hill, Ont.

Sarah Tamura, 16, Burnaby, B.C., is the Canadian entry in ladies. Last year, she placed 13th at this event. This season, Tamura placed eighth at the ISU Junior Grand Prix in Slovenia and sixth in Germany. She also won the junior competition at the Bavarian Open and placed fifth in the senior level at the 2017 Canadian championships. Tamura is coached by Joanne McLeod in Burnaby, B.C.

Canadian junior champions Evelyn Walsh, 15, London, Ont., and Trennt Michaud, 20, Strathroy, Ont., are one of two Canadian pairs competing at this event. Earlier this season, Walsh and Michaud placed 11th at the ISU Junior Grand Prix in Estonia and fifth in Germany. They also won the junior competition at the Bavarian Open. Walsh and Michaud are coached by Alison Purkiss and Margaret Purdy, and train in London, Ont.

Canadian junior silver medallists Lori-Anne Matte, 17, Lévis, Que., and Thierry Ferland, 19, Lévis, Que., are the other Canadian junior pair entry at the event. Earlier this season, they placed sixth at the ISU Junior Grand Prix in the Czech Republic and fourth in Russia. Matte and Ferland also won the silver medal in the junior competition at the Bavarian Open. They are coached by Martine Simard in Lévis, Que.

Canadian junior champions Marjorie Lajoie, 16, Boucherville, Que., and Zachary Lagha, 17, Greenfield Park, Que., are the first of two Canadian ice dance entries. Last year, they placed 13th at this event. This season, they finished fourth at both of their ISU Junior Grand Prix assignments (Japan and Germany), and won the silver medal at the Bavarian Open in the junior category. Lajoie and Lagha train in Montreal, Que., with coaches Marie-France Dubreuil, Patrice Lauzon, Romain Haguenauer and Pascal Denis.

Canadian junior silver medallists Ashlynne Stairs, 16, Calgary, Alta. and Lee Royer, 18, St. Albert, Alta., will also be representing Canada in the ice dance discipline. This season, they finished seventh and fifth respectively at their ISU Junior Grand Prix assignments in France and Slovenia, and won the bronze medal at the Bavarian Open in the junior category. Stairs and Royer are coached by Megan Wing and Aaron Lowe in Burnaby, B.C.

Bev Viger of Abbotsford, B.C., and Manon Perron of Boucherville, Que., will be the Canadian team leaders at the event. Dr. Cole Beavis of Saskatoon, Sask., and physiotherapist Sylvia Ciurysek of Berwyn, Alta., will be the Canadian medical staff onsite. Leslie Keen of Vancouver, B.C., will be the sole Canadian official at the event.

Skate Canada NextGen Director André Bourgeois will also be traveling with the team.

For results and full entries please visit www.isu.org.

CANADIAN ENTRIES AT THE 2017 ISU WORLD JUNIOR FIGURE SKATING CHAMPIONSHIPS

Discipline Name Age Hometown Club Coach
Men Nicolas Nadeau 19 Boisbriand, Que. CPA Boisbriand Yvan Desjardins
Men Roman Sadovsky 17 Vaughan, Ont. York Region Skating Academy Tracey Wainman
Men Conrad Orzel 16 Woodbridge, Ont. York Region Skating Academy Eva Najarro
Ladies Sarah Tamura 16 Burnaby, B.C. Champs International SC Joanne McLeod
Pairs Evelyn Walsh / Trennt Michaud 15/20 London, Ont. / Strathroy, Ont. London SC / Prince Edward SC Alison Purkiss / Margaret Purdy
Pairs Lori-Anne Matte / Thierry Ferland 17/19 Lévis, Que. / Lévis, Que., CPA St. Romuald – St. Jean / CPA St. Romuald – St. Jean Martine Simard
Ice Dance Marjorie Lajoie / Zachary Lagha 16/17 Boucherville, Que. / Greenfield Park, Que. CPA De Boucherville / CPA St. Lambert Marie-France Dubreuil / Patrice Lauzon / Romain Haguenauer / Pascal Denis
Ice Dance Ashlynne Stairs / Lee Royer 16/18 Calgary, Alta. / Ft. St. Albert, Alta. Champs International SC / Champs International SC Megan Wing / Aaron Lowe

Canadian teams fifth and sixth at ISU World Junior Synchronized Skating Championships

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MISSISSAUGA, Ont. – Nexxice from Burlington, Ont., produced the third best free skate to climb from seventh to fifth overall on Saturday to conclude the ISU World Junior Synchronized Skating Championships.

Team Russia 2 took the gold medal with 168.83 points with Finland 1 second at 158.06 and Finland 2 third at 156.24. Russia 1, the leader after the short, experienced difficulties in its free skate to drop to eighth overall.

Nexxice delighted the home crowd with a powerful free skate to place fifth with 155.97 and move ahead of Les Suprêmes from St-Léonard, Que., which remained sixth overall at 154.36 despite the fourth best free skate. There were 19 entries.

‘’It honestly felt amazing,’’ said Emiko Marr of Nexxice. ‘’I can’t put into words the feeling, it was so overwhelming. When we hit that end pose, most of us were already in tears. It was a really good ending to the season. We did the best-ever performance of our long at the perfect time.’’

Also skating for Nexxice were Isabella Del Villar, Alycia Giro, Abbey Glumpak, Sarah Hayman, Taylor Johnston, Amanda Kauffman, Kaitlin Lees, Anna Ljunberg, Carolyn Matheson, Shayna McFadden, Jessica Morgan, Scarlet Panning-Stinson, Angie Qie, Nicole Suszek, Emily Van Berkel, Emily Wright and Olivia Xie.

It was also a great finish for Les Suprêmes.

‘’We didn’t quite reach the objectives we wanted to,’’ said Alessia Arsenault, team captain for les Suprêmes. ‘’But we are happy with our performance and with how well we prepared the past months for this event.

‘’The crowd was so supportive and we gave it our all out there.’’

Also skating for les Suprêmes were Jessica Allaire, Amélie Béland, Julia Bernardo, Véronik Boisvert, Rachel Cecere, Lynnson Ceneston, Alice Côté, Ariane Conn, Marie-Ève Deschênes, Olivia Di Giandomenico, Giulia Hart-Lewis, Jessica Iacono, Anélie Jalbert-Tousignant, Grace Le Touzel, Andréanne Paradis, Florence Poulin, Julia Spilak, Anne-Laurence Trudeau and Sarah Verville.

Full results: 2017 ISU World Junior Synchronized Skating Championships

Russia and Finland dominate, Canadians trail at ISU World Junior Synchronized Skating Championships

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MISSISSAUGA, Ont. – Russia and Finland’s two teams grabbed the top-four places in Friday’s short program at the ISU World Junior Synchronized Skating Championships while Canada’s entries are sixth and seventh.

Team Russia 1 stands first at 62.55 points followed by Team Russia 2 in second at 62.34. Team Finland 1 is third at 61.55 and Team Finland is fourth at 57.72.

Les Suprêmes from St-Léonard, Que., is sixth at 55.53 and Nexxice from Burlington, Ont., are seventh at 54.78. There are 19 entries.

‘’The atmosphere felt really great and welcoming,’’ said Emiko Marr of Nexxice. ‘’That gave us the mindset to go out and perform the best we could. We persevered really well through the program and we want to keep that level of focus for the free skate.’’

Also skating for Nexxice were Isabella Del Villar, Alycia Giro, Abbey Glumpak, Sarah Hayman, Taylor Johnston, Amanda Kauffman, Kaitlin Lees, Anna Ljunberg, Carolyn Matheson, Shayna McFadden, Jessica Morgan, Scarlet Panning-Stinson, Angie Qie, Nicole Suszek, Emily Van Berkel, Emily Wright and Olivia Xie.

Les Suprêmes were world junior bronze medallists in 2015.

‘’Our performance felt great,’’ said Alessia Arsenault, team captain for les Suprêmes. ‘’The crowd gave us so much energy and it was really exciting. We want to improve for the final and keep working together. If we duplicate what we do in practice it will go well.’’

Also skating for les Suprêmes were Jessica Allaire, Amélie Béland, Julia Bernardo, Véronik Boisvert, Rachel Cecere, Lynnson Ceneston, Alice Côté, Ariane Conn, Marie-Ève Deschênes, Olivia Di Giandomenico, Giulia Hart-Lewis, Jessica Iacono, Anélie Jalbert-Tousignant, Grace Le Touzel, Andréanne Paradis, Florence Poulin, Julia Spilak, Anne-Laurence Trudeau and Sarah Verville.

Nexxice and Les Suprêmes earned their entries to the world junior championships winning gold and silver respectively at Skate Canada Central Ontario’s annual Winterfest competition in January.

Competition ends Saturday with the free skate at 3 p.m. (EST)

Full Results: 2017 ISU World Junior Synchronized Skating Championships

World’s top junior synchronized skating teams in Mississauga for the ISU World Junior Synchronized Skating Championships® 2017

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OTTAWA, ON: The best junior synchronized skating teams in the world will meet in Mississauga, Ont., this week for the ISU World Junior Synchronized Skating Championships® 2017, from March 10-11, at the Hershey Centre. Nineteen teams from 14 ISU member nations will compete for the title of World Junior Synchronized Skating Champion 2017.

Canada will send two teams: Nexxice junior, from the Burlington Skating Centre, and Les Suprêmes junior, from CPA Saint-Léonard, who earned their entries to the world junior championships winning gold and silver respectively at Skate Canada Central Ontario’s annual Winterfest competition in January.

Canadian silver medallists Nexxice junior will be the first Canadian entry. In 2015, they placed fifth at this event. Earlier this season, the representatives of the Burlington Skating Centre won the silver medal at the 2017 Mozart Cup. Nexxice junior are coached by Trish Perdue-Mills.

The 2017 Canadian champions Les Suprêmes are the second Canadian entry. They are the defending bronze medallists at this event and the 2016 ISU Junior World Challenge Cup champions. This season, Les Suprêmes junior won the gold medal at the Leon Lurje Trophy. They are coached by Marilyn Langlois, assisted by Pascal Denis, Amélie Brochu, and Kassandra Patenaude.

This will mark the first time Canada has hosted the event in its short history, with the inaugural event having been hosted in 2013 by Helsinki, Finland. The ISU World Junior Synchronized Skating Championships was a biennial event but it was recently decided at the 2016 ISU Congress that the event will become annual beginning with this edition. In 2015, Team Canada (Les Suprêmes) won the nation’s first medal at the championships, a bronze.

Tickets are available and can be purchased online at ticketmaster.ca, by phone at 1-855-985-5000 or in person at the Hershey Centre Box Office.

The competition will be streamed live for fans to watch the events from home. For more information, including schedule, results and full entries, please visit the official event website or www.isu.org. Fans can also follow along on social media and join the conversation using the official event hashtag: #WorldJSynchro.

 

Skate Ontario receives Ontario Sport Recognition

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Skate Canada and the newly amalgamated Skate Ontario are pleased to announce that Skate Ontario recently received Ontario Sport Recognition from the Ontario Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport. Skate Ontario is recognized as the single governing organization for skating in the province effective April 1, 2017.

For more information on this milestone announcement, please click here

Click here for up-to-date information on the transition to a unified Skate Ontario