An Okotoks-area figure skater had just enough time to give his mom and dad a hug over the Christmas holidays before heading back west to prepare for the national championships.
“I just got here and I’m leaving on Boxing Day,” said 19-year-old Thomas Williams on Dec. 24 from his DeWinton area home. “I have to get back to get ready for nationals in January.”
Williams and his skating partner Nicole Orford won the BMO Skate Canada East/West Challenge in the Junior Dance category in Mississauga, Ont. in December. The pair will now compete in the Junior National Championships in Victoria, B.C. on Jan. 17-20.
He’s cautiously optimistic the pair can do well at the nationals.
“It will be mostly the same people who were competing at the East/West challenge,” Williams said. “I am confident, because my partner is very good.”
Williams has competed in the nationals before with different partners. His highest finish was ninth place.
However, he nearly quit the sport last year due to the expense of competing and not having a partner.
He found Orford through correspondence on the internet while he was living in Ontario. When the two met, it wasn’t her skating ability that impressed him. It was her drive.
“She was just as focused as I was,” Williams said. “That’s what I was looking for in a partner.”
Williams moved to Vancouver in the spring in order to train with Orford.
They also have talent, after all East/West Challenge championships aren’t just given away. That talent is combined with a work ethic that has Williams and Orford spending more hours on the ice than a Zamboni.
Williams gets up at the crack of dawn to be at practice at 6:30 a.m. He often doesn’t get home from the arena until after 10 p.m. because of training both on and off the ice. That includes stretching, working on his choreography as well as skating.
He also literally has to work on the ice.
“I do quite a bit of coaching so I can help pay for my skating,” Williams said. He also lives with family friends in Vancouver to help with the cost of living while competing at a high level.
However, when he steps on the ice for a competition, he realizes the commitment and sacrifices he has made for skating are worth it.
“I enjoy being on the ice and competing,” Williams said. “I’m just focused on my program and what I need to do… I focus on what I have to do next. If I fall or either one of us makes a mistake, I have to put it behind me right away.”
Williams and Orford are coached by Megan Wing and Aaron Lowe, who competed in the Ice Dance competition at the Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy in 2006.
Williams said he would like to follow his coaches’ example. He said his and Orford’s goal is to qualify for the Olympics in either 2014 or 2018. Canadians Scott Moir and Tessa Virtue won the gold medal at the Ice Dance competition at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.
His more immediate goal is to do well at the Nationals in order to qualify for the Junior World Championships in Korea in March. He also plans to finish his high school education in the new year.
He is attending high school on-line and is maintaining an average in the high 80s despite his rigourous schedule.
The Junior Dance competition begins at 7 p.m. MST with the short dance on Wednesday, Jan. 19 in Victoria, B.C.
The long skate — the free dance — begins at 6:30 p.m. MST on Thursday, Jan. 20.
To watch on-line go to www.skatecanada.ca and click on Skate Buzz at the bottom of the home page.
