'I have it in me to have a really good season'
There's something about feeling prepared and ready for a big event. And as the Grand Prix Series draws closer, Maddie Schizas feels like she's right where she needs to be.
It’s an old motivational line from years gone by, and perhaps you’ve heard of it: “Success occurs when opportunity meets preparation.”
While Maddie Schizas may not have exactly had that thought in mind during a productive summer of training at her home rink in Milton, Ontario, she would certainly find a lot of belief in it (you’ll find several versions of that quote over the years, if you have a look). Ask the two-time Canadian champion about the biggest lessons she learned coming out of a 2023-24 that fell short of her expectations, and she’ll point right to that very topic. In her mind, few things are more critical than just being ready.
“The big thing was preparedness coming off tour,” said Schizas, who spent two weeks in the spring criss-crossing Canada with the Stars On Ice tour. “That was a big learning lesson, just because getting to September and not feeling ready really sucks. That was a big one, just knowing that I needed to be organized coming out of the tour.”
One might suggest she had little choice in the matter. Skate Canada had let its national team skaters know back in the spring that it expected each of them to find a summer competition opportunity (and we’re choosing that word to reinforce our earlier point). And so it was that Schizas needed to have two programs ready to roll for the Cranberry Cup International, the leadoff event in this season’s Challenger Series, which was held during the second weekend of August just outside of Boston.
“It was halfway through tour, and it was clear I was going to need to do a summer event,” said Schizas. “So I was much more organized, and I think that’s going to set me up for more success this season.”
Understand now that one has to take the placement part of the summer competitions with a healthy grain of salt — nobody’s exactly peaking at that point of the, well, pre-season — so take the 21-year-old’s sixth-place finish in Norwood for what it’s worth. But it was also a head start for what should be a busy fall season. She’s at Nebelhorn Trophy this weekend in Oberstdorf, Germany. Three weeks from now, it’s off to Hungary for Budapest Trophy. All of it a bit of a warmup for two Grand Prix events: Skate Canada International and Cup of China (Schizas is the lone Canadian woman with two GP assignments).
That’s five competitions that she’ll have under her belt before she heads to Laval, Quebec, in January, aiming to regain the national title that Kaiya Ruiter took away from her at the beginning of this year in Calgary. It’s an equation of preparation and opportunity that Schizas hopes will translate to more success in the new year, when the biggest events hit the calendar.
“I don’t think it hurts anything,” she said when asked about the importance of her busy early season schedule. “The (2021-22) Olympic season, I competed a lot and then the past two years, I’ve competed a little less frequently for various reasons. But it seems like a good time to go back to that, to compete a lot before the (Grand Prix) season starts even if it’s not all perfect.
“My summer event was not perfect, but I think it was important to get out there. We were warned well in advance that we were going to be expected to do a summer event this year. So I was ready for that, and I think it was important to get out there, even if it wasn’t perfect.”
And as any skater will tell you, mileage truly matters (ask Roman Sadovsky about that. More on him in a bit). Sure, everyone racks up plenty of that in practice, but doing it in front of judges and an audience is a different animal altogether. So while Schizas’ start in Oberstdorf wasn’t exactly top notch — a fall in the opening triple Lutz-triple toe combo has her sitting in sixth place in a field of 22 after the short program — it’s another opportunity (there’s that word again) to get the kinks out early in the season.
(to add a little perspective … while her 60.61 score is more than nine points shy of her personal best, it’s less than a point back of Isabeau Levito of the United States. Even World silver medallists have early season rust to shake off, as you can see).
Schizas is also working with two brand-new programs this season, and they’ll have had two competitive test runs by the end of this weekend (the women’s free skate final at Nebelhorn is on Saturday). There’s plenty of time still to refine and perfect them, before the really big stuff arrives in January and beyond. Plenty of run-throughs to be done on a pair of routines that she feels fit naturally with her personality and skating style.
The short program, choreographed by Alison Purkiss to a trio of tunes from “The Lion King” soundtrack, had its genesis during Stars On Ice, when many a suggestion was made that it should have more life beyond that tour.
“I kept having people tell me or ask me if it was my (new) program, or ask me if I was going to use it because it was really good. It was kind of an easy decision to keep it for the season, and I really enjoy performing it,” she explained. “I get excited to skate it every single day. The music is really fun, and it just suits my personality really well.
“It’s mature, but it’s something that I genuinely enjoy skating to, so it’s a really good mix. I think having 15 shows under my belt performing it was really helpful in being prepared for the season. I just feel so comfortable with the music; it’s almost like coming into it with a second-season program without having had to do it all last year. I like that one a lot.”
There’s a different feel to her free program, which was crafted by Madison Hubbell, Scott Moir and Adrian Diaz at the Ice Academy of Montreal’s southwestern Ontario satellite school near London. And it turns out that “Danse Macabre,” by Camille Saint-Saens (the version she’s using is performed by Yevgeny Sudbin, the Orchestra symphonique de Montreal, and Kent Nagano), is something right in her wheelhouse.
“We were looking for something a little bit more classic and a little bit more true to the style that I’m most comfortable with,” she said. “There was a little bit of back and forth (on that choice). We did a day of “(The) Firebird” (the much-used piece of skating music by Igor Stravinsky) and then bailed on it … I was like, ‘oh, I’m not sure I want to do this.’ But it was my coach (Nancy Lemaire) that suggested this music, and I really enjoy it and it’s true to the style that I’m most comfortable with.”
For sure, Schizas should be plenty comfortable with it by the time the calendar flips to 2025. And while it might not be front of mind for any skater just yet, once we get to February, it’ll be a year out from the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics. It’s a thought that will move into clearer focus when the planet’s best gather in Boston of the 2025 World Championships — the event that will largely determine the allocation of spots for Milan. But there’s lot of road, er, ice that needs to be covered before then.
“(The Olympics) is so close but so far. It’s so close, but there’s so much that can happen in the next year and a half. Four years ago, I don’t know that I was hugely on anybody’s radar to be a person going to the Olympics, and then it all came together in the last 18 months (before Beijing),” said Schizas. “This season feels important … Everyone is kind of aware that this is the ramp up. But I’m just trying to focus on myself and my skating. I know that I have it in me to have a really good season, so I’m just kind of focused on one thing at a time. Worlds this year is obviously going to be really important, so it’s just about building for that.”
As she’ll tell you, preparation is an important part of that. It’s another one of those lessons Schizas carries with her from last season.
“I was ready for Canadians and I was ready for Worlds, just neither really came together for me,” she said. “That was another lesson for me, just be so ready that you cannot miss. That’s kind of how I was the Olympic season.”
Hey, if it worked once before, why not go there again, right?
Time for a change
Speaking of finding your comfort zone … Canadian champion Kaiya Ruiter had plenty of that the past two seasons, especially with her “Inspiration” long program that played a major role in her landing on the podium at back-to-back national championships.
But the 18-year-old was ready to turn the page, and she’ll put two new programs on display in two weeks at the Denis Ten Memorial in Astana, Kazakhstan. It’ll be a warmup for her lone Grand Prix event of the fall, Skate Canada International in Halifax near the end of October. She admits, however, it wasn’t entirely easy to let go of two programs that were good for her.
“It was hard to let go in a sense because you do get really attached (to a program). You practise it every day for hours and for sure, you get attached to those programs,” she said. “But at the same time, after two seasons, it really is exciting to move forward. I was looking forward to new programs and I really love these two. Excited for a new chapter.”
That chapter got an early test run in mid-August during a Skate Ontario Summer Series event in Waterloo, which Ruiter won easily. “It was a really great event,” she said. “I skated some really good programs that I’m proud of, and just to get the programs out there … I had a great time.”
Silver lining for world champions
World pair champions Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps had to settle for a silver medal on Friday in their season opening event, the Nebelhorn Trophy in Oberstdorf, Germany. The Canadian duo moved up from third in the short program but finished 12.20 points back of reigning World bronze medallists Minerva Fabienne Hase and Nikita Volodin of Germany in the Challenger Series event. But hey, it’s still very early, right?
Canadian teammates Lia Pereira and Trennt Michaud finished with a flourish in the pairs event, placing third in the free skate and fifth overall. It was a similar strong finish for Roman Sadovsky in the men’s competition. He placed fourth in the free skate and elevated himself to a fifth-place finish. Fellow Canadian Wesley Chiu, the reigning national champion, finished 16th in the free skate and 14th overall. They’ll both hit the Grand Prix circuit soon.
A golden day in Turkey
The sensational season continues for Jazmine Desrochers and Kieren Thrasher. The young Canadian pairs team, who train under coach Bruno Marcotte in Oakville, Ontario, wrapped up their first international gold medal on Friday with a convincing victory at the Junior Grand Prix series stop in Ankara, Turkey. The duo posted personal best scores for the short program (59.41) and overall total (159.77) to claim the gold, finishing nearly 12 points in front of Americans Olivia Flores and Luke Wang.
“We’re happy with how our long program went, although there were a few bobbles and mistakes along the way. I think we have a lot to work on, but overall, we’re happy with this event and it’s just getting better and better each time which is all we can really ask for,” said Desrochers, per a Skate Canada release.
For Desrochers, 18, of Mississauga, Ontario, and Thrasher, 20, of Amherstburg, Ontario, it’s their second medal of the season, having earlier mined silver at the Riga Cup in Latvia. The two results locked up a berth in the Junior Grand Prix Final for the second straight season. A year ago in Beijing, the Canadian duo came home with a bronze medal. They’ll try to improve on that in early December at the Final in Grenoble, France.
Another Canadian, John Kim of Mississauga, is in the hunt for a medal in the men’s event, sitting in third after the short program. Vancouver’s William Chan stands eighth heading into Saturday’s free skate final.
In the women’s event, Megan Woodley of Oro-Medonte, Ontario, wound up ninth in her Junior Grand Prix debut. She placed fourth in the short program.
In ice dance, the Quebec duo of Laurence Briere and Julien Levesque stands 12th heading into Saturday’s free dance final, while Sophia Gover and Billy Wilson-French are one spot behind them in their Junior Grand Prix debut.
Behind the boards
If you’re headed to Halifax for Skate Canada International in late October, you may (or may not) be aware of a rather significant scheduling change for the event. The competition is being spread out over three days, with two finals (men’s free skate and free dance) to be held on the Sunday (Oct. 27) at Scotiabank Centre. There will be no gala to conclude the event, as it’s been scrapped in favour of competition. Only two short programs (pairs and women) will be held on the Friday night, beginning at 6 p.m. local time. The free skates in those two events, preceded by the rhythm dance and men’s short program, fill out the Saturday slate. You can find the full schedule details here … Skate Canada plans to follow a similar scheduling format for the senior events at the Canadian Championships in January in Laval, Quebec … The Junior Grand Prix series heads to Gdansk, Poland, next weekend for the fifth of seven events on the circuit … The Challenger Series resumes Oct. 2-5 with the Denis Ten Memorial in Astana, Kazakhstan.
It’s going to be very interesting over the next 18 months to see who ends up going to the Olympics for senior Women. Kaiya scored a personal best with her two new programs in Waterloo in August. But Maddie is competing in more events. Looking forward to Halifax!