An Okotoks skater, who stepped on to the ice for the first time at the Murray Arena some 15 years ago, stepped onto the podium as a Canadian champion last week.
Thomas Williams, 19 of Okotoks, and his partner Nicole Orford won the Canadian Junior Dance championship in Victoria, B.C., on Thursday.
The pair turned in personal best scores in both the short dance on Jan. 19 and then the free dance on Thursday, Jan. 20.
“We had a pretty good lead after the short dance and all we said before the free dance was ‘Let’s do what we do every day in practice, this is what we have been working for,’” Williams said on Sunday from Victoria.
The hard work paid off. They turned in a score of 75.81 in the free dance. Their total of 130.31 (54.50 in the short dance) put them more than seven points ahead of Kelly Oliveira and Jordan Hockley.
“It was really exciting after the short dance,” Williams said. “We had a good lead and that gave us a little bit less pressure going into the free dance, but we still had to go out there and skate well.
“I just focused on skating free and not holding anything back just because we had the lead,” Williams added. “Nicole was great, we really connected with one another.”
The pair knew they had likely scored well enough to win the championship, but after a bow and a hug they had to get back to work; picking up more flowers than a florist on Valentine’s Day.
“I was thinking that we skated well enough to win but I wasn’t sure because I didn’t know how the previous teams had done,” Williams said. “We were kind of the home team, and it was the loudest cheer I ever heard from a crowd, which felt good and made me feel pretty confident that we had skated pretty well.
“We had so many flowers thrown on the ice that we had to go out and pick them up.”
A year ago, Williams wasn’t thinking of national championships. He nearly gave up his skating career in 2010 due to the sport’s expense, until Orford and coaches Megan Wing and Aaron Lowe sought him out.
Orford said while there was some initial trepidation when the pair first skated together last spring, she knew she had a solid partner.
“The first time we skated it was awkward, but not as awkward as it usually is for a new partner,” Orford said on Sunday. “I knew he was a good skater and after a week I knew he had good work ethics and we had similar goals.”
Winning the Canadian championship fulfilled one of their goals.
However, Williams wasn’t thinking about being a champion when he started figure skating as a four-year-old with the Okotoks Figure Skating Club.
“I didn’t have a lot of goals at four,” Williams said with a laugh. “But even after a couple of years I knew I wanted to go to the Olympics.”
His first coach was current Okotoks Figure Skating Club instructor Kerri Roberts.
Roberts said she is thrilled her former student won, but not totally surprised Williams is now a national champion.
“I’m amazed and so proud of Thomas,” Roberts said. “Even with us, he was talented and dedicated, I knew it all along that he would become a champion.”
While Williams’ parents still live in the Foothills area, Roberts said it is inevitable nationally ranked skaters like Thomas leave the club at some time.
“There is nothing but pride for Thomas from the Okotoks’ club,” Roberts said. “A skater like Thomas needs to be on the ice all day and we just can’t offer that.”
The pair skated in the Canadian championships exhibition Sunday and was selected Monday morning to compete for Canada at the World Championships in South Korea Feb. 28-March 6.
“We are going to take a break until Thursday and then it’s back to work to go to the Worlds,” Williams said.
