Paige Lawrence and Rudi Swiegers have something to smile about these days.
Though they just missed the silver medal at the Canadian Figure Skating Championships - and their chance at competing in the ISU World Figure Skating Championships in Japan this March - they recorded a personal best during their short program on Jan. 21 in Victoria. The dynamic duo also took the third place on the podium; last year they finished sixth.
"We were happy with our skate, but we just left a few points out there on the table that, if we had skated clean, we wouldn't have dropped in position," says Lawrence. "But that's just part of sports; those things happen. It was nothing major, so we have to focus on the good things from the program."
Twenty-year-old Lawrence and 23-year-old Swiegers were a crowd favourite at the 2011 BMO Canadian Figure Skating Championships Victoria, B.C. from Jan. 21 to 23. Skating to country-western themed music from "City Slickers," the duo rocked the seniors pairs short program, recording a personal best of 58.38.
A podium finished appeared promising for Lawrence of Kennedy, and Swiegers of Kipling, as they held second place heading into the free program. They came onto the ice late Saturday (Jan. 22) night with great intensity and passion, as they paid tribute to horror flick, "Van Helsing."
"It [a podium finish] was definitely our goal," says Lawrence, "so I did think we were capable of it if we had a good skate."
Lawrence and Swiegers, whose home skating club is Wawota, did end the night on the podium, with a bronze medal; however the third place finish meant they will not be going to Worlds.
That honour went to gold medallists, Kristen Moore-Towers and Dylan Moscovitch, and silver medallists Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford, all of Ontario.
However, Lawrence and Swiegers aren't ready to hang up their skates yet. Thanks to their bronze medal finish, they were assigned to the Canadian team for the ISU Four Continents Figure Skating Championships in Taiwan which takes place Feb. 15 to 20.
This is a huge honour for the pairs, who have began skating together in the Wawota Skating Club six years ago.
"It was one of our goals for this year," says Lawrence. "We wanted to make Worlds and Four Continents; Worlds is the top two and Four Continents is the top three at Nationals. We didn't make Worlds, but Four Continents was one of our goals, so we are looking forward to it. It's going to be a whole other experience because we've never gone before."
The duo will take the mishaps and the positive points of the feedback they received on their programs from Nationals, and work hard to perfect their skate for Four Continents later this month. Now living in Virden, they train out of the Manitoba community, but say they still represent Wawota.
In addition to training for their upcoming skate in Taiwan, the duo have set their sights on another goal.
"It is three years away now, and basically the next few years - this year included - are all working towards 2014," says Lawrence. "The Olympics are definitely one of our goals."
In the meantime, they are coaching part-time - something they both really enjoy.
"It's always fun to work with younger skaters," says Lawrence. "It's kind of a refreshing aspect to the skating world. We're usually so serious and so focused all the time, it's kind of nice to get back to [fun]."
On some level, the younger skaters help Lawrence and Swiegers keep things in perspective.
"They all wished us good luck, and when we came back they all said, 'Oh, we saw you on TV,' and they were excited about that. But then we started skating again and it was gone from their minds," says Lawrence. "So it's not a big deal."
