Keegan Messing lived the best of times and the worst of times, all within a couple of months; married in a charming Alaska-style wedding in August, then stunned by the loss of his younger brother, Paxon, in a motorcycle accident in September. Life seemed to stop. In his heart, you could hear a moth pass. […]
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Corey Circelli, Artist and Meniscus Manager
Corey Circelli isn’t the norm. He’s a junior skater who stands 6-foot-1 in his socks. And he seems to be an overachiever, energetic enough to compete in both dance and men’s singles at high levels. Throw all of that into the mix with a bum knee, and it’s astonishing that the 17-year-old skater was […]
Remember the name: Kaiya Ruiter
Kaiya Ruiter bounces into a room and beams like a spring sun, with eyes bigger than loonies. She seems delighted with life. And why not? Ruiter (rhymes with writer) just won the junior women’s title at the Canadian Tire National Skating Championships in Mississauga, Ont., in her first crack at it. And not only did […]
Fast rise to success: junior dance champions
(Photos to come) Flash of lightning: that was Emmy Bronsard and Aissa Bouaraguia waking up the sparse crowd in their rhythm dance at the Canadian Tire National Skating Championships on Jan. 6, upending Carol Lane proteges Nadiia Bashynska and Peter Beaumont, the elegant red head. There seems to be a bit of a rivalry emerging […]
Gabby Daleman: Bumpy Times
For two years, Gabby Daleman has been treading the quaking edge of a bog, trying to find her way out of it, sliding back in. Two steps forward, three steps back. Or is it three steps backward and one step forward, fortified by spirit alone? Always, no matter what happens, Daleman has no intention […]
“Keegs”
What a night. Keegan Messing finished third in the men’s short program at Skate America. But he won much more than a placing. About a month ago, his younger brother, Paxon, a father of three little ones, was killed in a motorcycle accident in Alaska. I heard the news by text in the waiting room […]
Moore-Towers and Marinaro Seek New Milestones
What a difference five years makes. The first time Kirsten Moore-Towers and Michael Marinaro competed at Skate Canada International in Kelowna, B.C., it was their first Grand Prix event together, they had just formed a partnership and they had no idea just how difficult that would be. It was a rough start for the pair. […]
Lubov and Charlie: Dreamy Future
It was dreamy, the way Lubov Ilyushechkina and Charlie Bilodeau swept about the Espoo ice, her hair back in a whiff, picked up by the wind, his body movement curving around a French Canadian tune. Together seven months, they could not stop smiling. There was shine on Ilyushechkina’s costumes, but more on her […]
Nam Nguyen: Growing is Believing
Somehow Nam Nguyen has grown to be 5-foot-11, sometime after that bustling childhood, when as a tiny one, he set all sorts of records: youngest to be pre-juvenile, juvenile, novice, and junior champion of Canada. Now he’s 21. At 20, he finally began to find his footing in matters other than physical growth, all of […]
Moore-Towers and Marinaro: A new beginning
Everything is new, at least for Kirsten Moore-Towers and Michael Marinaro, pairs skaters who describe themselves as “definitely mom and dad now.” “We’re old for sure,” said Moore-Towers, who like her partner is 27. “We enjoy our leadership role.” Now Canada’s top pair team, they are surrounded by newness. And it’s working for them. […]