Oakville skater Madeline Schizas just lately gained her third, record-setting Canadian senior championship
It was a daring resolution that spoke to each her confidence and potential.
Shortly earlier than Christmas – already immersed in Olympic preparation ‘crunch time’ – Madeline Schizas and her Milton Skating Membership staff dedicated to a brand new slower-paced free program with seven triples.
Whereas the revamped skate to ‘Butterfly Lovers Concerto’ was higher suited to her type, introducing it so near nationals – and in an Olympic qualification 12 months in addition – was no simple job.
“That’s rarely done,” the 21-year-old Oakville Olympian stated of the transfer, which meant a heightened seven-week workload for longtime coach Nancy Lemaire and her technical crew. “But it was clearly the right decision for me. It’s clearly within my comfort zone and what I’m best at. It’s a really good vehicle for me and one that set me up for success.”
Madeline Schizas celebrates her newest nationwide championship victory with coach Nancy Lemaire. Skating Ontario picture
That was abundantly evident at Laval, Quebec’s Place Bell Place Jan. 18-19, with Schizas delivering a near-flawless efficiency in each rounds to reclaim the general senior girls’s gold she captured in 2022 and 2023.
Hopes for a three-peat met with middle-riddled lengthy program final 12 months.
Breaking her personal nationwide document within the free skate with a 133.87-point effort this time round, she beat her closest rival by a whopping 21 factors after a formidable 70-point quick program that was additionally ok for first.
“It was exciting. It felt really deserved,” stated McMaster College environmental science main, who – in contrast to at many main competitions lately – had her prolonged household available in Laval. “I really feel like I stepped up. It took a lot of work and sacrifice from everyone to get it together in time.”
The return to nationwide supremacy, famous Lemaire, is very encouraging after a publish 2022 Olympic season that met with a downturn in power and focus for the nonetheless maturing skater.
“You kind of worry if that’s (drop off) the norm, which of course it isn’t,” stated Schizas’ longtime coach, who was together with her for an 18th-place exhibiting on the Beijing Winter Video games. “She’s in a really good spot (now). Technically it’s all the same skills she was doing before; it’s just more consistency, more confidence.”
Canada’s three-time champ will want the total extent of each to maintain herself on the forefront of Olympic choice talks.
Now feeling rather more outfitted to deal with the worldwide surroundings than throughout her preliminary Olympic go-around, Schizas heads to Seoul in two weeks for the 4 Continents championships.
From there, she’ll look to nail down a top-10 end at her fifth world championships March 24-30 in Boston.
“I’m a lot more prepared now. There’s going to be a lot of strong competition, but if I skate the way I can I’m definitely in the mix.”
