One was the 2-time world silver medallist. Patrick Chan skated to his fourth consecutive Canadian men's title with ease, setting a Canadian record score of 285.85 points. Second place Shawn Sawyer was a whopping 56 points behind!
Chan landed 2 quads toes and skated a flawless performance to get positive grades of execution across the board. Even with the tendency to be overmarked at home, things look well positioned for Chan to contend for a world title in Tokyo.
The other was 11 year old Nathan Chen of Salt Lake City, who skated away with a second US novice title. Like Nam Nguyen of Canada, who we mentioned a few days ago on this blog, Chen beat out a field of skaters much older (and taller!) than him. He won by a margin of 36 points (huge at the novice level).
These young skaters have a bright future ahead of them. As an interesting comparison, here is a video of a 13 year old Patrick Chan winning the Canadian novice title in 2004. US nationals are broadcast on icenetwork but here is an adorable video of Chen's gala from last years nationals.
Chen will have plenty of time to grow and develop. He will only be 14 years old in 2014 so has his sights set on the 2018 winter olympics!
Meanwhile, Canada has also nominated it's national teams for upcoming ISU Championships. It's worth noting that the olympic champions Virtue & Moir have indeed been awarded tickets to Worlds and 4 Continents but that bronze medallists Paul & Islam have been (somewhat cruelly in my opinion) left off the list for both events. Perhaps Skate Canada aim to sweep the dance podium at 4 continents, which they have a good chance of doing if Davis & White DON'T attend.
Canadian Team - ISU World Figure Skating Championships, March 21-27, 2011 - Tokyo, Japan
Pair
Kirsten Moore-Towers, 18, St. Catharines, Ont. / Dylan Moscovitch, 26, Toronto, Ont.
Meagan Duhamel, 25, Lively, Ont. / Eric Radford, 25, Balmerton, Ont.
Ladies
Cynthia Phaneuf, 23, Contrecoeur, Que.
Myriane Samson, 22, St-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Que.
Men
Patrick Chan, 20, Toronto, Ont.
Shawn Sawyer, 26, Edmundston, N.B.
Joey Russell, 22, Labrador City, Nfld.
Ice Dance
Tessa Virtue, 21, London, Ont. / Scott Moir, 23, Ilderton, Ont.
Vanessa Crone, 20, North York, Ont. / Paul Poirier, 19, Unionville, Ont.
Kaitlyn Weaver, 21, Waterloo, Ont. – Houston, TX / Andrew Poje, 23, Waterloo, Ont.
Canadian Team - ISU Four Continents Figure Skating Championships, Taipei City, Chinese Taipei - February 15 – 20, 2011
Pair
Kirsten Moore-Towers, 18, St. Catharines, Ont. / Dylan Moscovitch, 26, Toronto, Ont.
Meagan Duhamel, 25, Lively, Ont. / Eric Radford, 25, Balmerton, Ont.
Paige Lawrence, 20, Kennedy, Sask. / Rudi Swiegers, 23, Kipling, Sask.
Ladies
Cynthia Phaneuf, 23, Contrecoeur, Que.
Myriane Samson, 22, St-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Que.
Amélie Lacoste, 22, Delson, Que.
Men
Shawn Sawyer, 26, Edmundston, N.B.
Joey Russell, 22, Labrador City, Nfld.
Kevin Reynolds, 20, Coquitlam, B.C.
Ice Dance
Tessa Virtue, 21, London, Ont. / Scott Moir, 23, Ilderton, Ont.
Vanessa Crone, 20, North York, Ont. / Paul Poirier, 19, Unionville, Ont.
Kaitlyn Weaver, 21, Waterloo, Ont. – Houston, TX / Andrew Poje, 23, Waterloo, Ont.
Canadian Team - ISU Junior World Figure Skating Championships, Gangneung, South Korea, February 28 – March 6, 2011
Pair
Brittany Jones, 15, Toronto, Ont. / Kurtis Gaskell, 20, Guelph, Ont.
Natasha Purich, 15, Sherwood Park, Alta. / Raymond Schultz, 20, Toronto, Ont.
Ladies
Alexandra Najarro, 17, Richmond Hill, Ont.
Vanessa Grenier, 18, Sherbrooke, Que.
Men
Liam Firus, 18, North Vancouver, BC
Andrei Rogozine, 17, Richmond Hill, Ont.
Ice Dance
Nicole Orford, 18, Burnaby, B.C. / Thomas Williams, 19, Okotoks, Alta.
Kelly Oliveira, 17, Toronto, Ont. / Jordan Hockley, 18, Whitby, Ont.
(Skate Canada)
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