Canada envy of the figure skating world

Canada is in the enviable position in the skating world with strength across the board in all disciplines. Nowhere is this more evident than in the pairs and ice dance disciplines.

In both cases, with one team on the podium and another in the top 10, Canada qualifies the maximum three entries for the world figure skating championships taking place in Boston next March.

World pairs champions Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford have been hard at work, upping their technical ante to include two throw quads. They have been posting videos of their progress on their Facebook page.

By continuing to add to their technical arsenal, it tells me they are going to try to create as much separation as possible from their closest competitors. When I asked Meagan about her plan for sustaining their success, she stopped in her tracks.

"I don't think about it. I am trying to think about only now. I want to stay in the moment and I will think about things as they come up. When March comes, I will think about worlds."

As much as what you put on the ice is physical, you cannot deny that it is also a mental challenge.

Weaver, Poje take philosophical approach

Ice dancers Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje won every event leading up to worlds in 2015, where they came away with their second  world medal; this one a bronze. Their approach to the upcoming season is more philosophical.

 "I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel," Kaitlyn said in quoting the late American poet and author Maya Angelou.

While acknowledging the importance of the results, Kaitlyn and Andrew shared that they want to be the kind of skaters who are remembered for what they accomplished rather than how they did it.

Following this train of thought, their surprising choice of an Elvis Presley-inspired short dance makes perfect sense. It checks off all of the boxes as far as the elements are concerned and left me feeling energized.

Energy is an interesting thing.

From a skater's perspective there is energy to be gained from an appreciative crowd during their performance. There is also energy to be found in the relationships that the skaters have formed with each other. 

At Skate Canada's annual High Performance Camp Thursday, I observed the skaters watching each other from the stands. In the case of these two dynamic duos, there is support, respect, affection and pride in the other's accomplishments. 

This mutual admiration society is not a surprise to me. After all, they travel together, often compete at the same events and frequently act as each other's biggest supporters. This camaraderie led to an on-ice collaboration during the Stars on Ice tour that took place earlier this year.

All that's left for these two teams is for the season to begin.