Saskatchewan Figure Skating Duo heads to 2018 Canadian Tire National Skating Championships

Two young people, one of whom resides locally, will be representing Saskatchewan at the 2018 Canadian Tire National Skating Championships.

Raine Eberl, 18 and Emi Swanson, 15, will be going as a pair to the National Championship in Vancouver, British Columbia, to be held on January 8-14 to vie for the national title. Raine is a resident of Moose Jaw but practices in Regina with Skate Regina while Emi is from Fairy Glen, Saskatchewan.

Raine has been skating since he was 3-years-old and has big plans for his future in figure skating. “I’ve been on the ice since I was 3 and I’ve been figure skating competitively since I was about 10-years-old. Figure skating is definitely a passion of mine. After I’m done competing, I’d like to skate in some shows that travel around Europe and maybe some cruise ships, as well.” Raine was part of the Moose Jaw Skating Club for most of his years of skating, until he moved on to Skate Regina earlier this year where he trains. He said he is looking forward to competing at Nationals.

Emi is a Novice skater on the Saskatchewan Competitive Team and has been skating since she was 6-years-old. She has traveled across Canada to compete in major competitions, including 4 times to Skate Canada Challenge. This year, both Emi and Raine are representing Skate Regina. Emi skates in two disciplines: Novice Singles and Novice Pairs. She loves pairs and the challenge that pairs bring to her skating.

Raine and Emi are looking forward to competing in Vancouver. “The past competition that we qualified for in Montreal, they chose the top 12 teams across Canada who will go on to compete in Vancouver. There are persons competing in singles and pairs,” said Raine.

The two have been practicing as a pair since March. “I’ve been talking about starting pairs for a while now—about a year. This spring we decided to pair up and Emi has been great. She’s able to do all the tricks. We started with stroking. We were a little rough in the beginning but we started improving quickly and we received a lot of great feedback from judges and technical specialists. We’re excited to be skating at the Nationals. We’ve done six competitions together and so far, it has been great.”

“It is going to be a really good atmosphere there in Vancouver. We’re thankful for the support we’ve been getting from our past competitions and this one going forward,” Raine added.

The duo is coached by Dave and Vicki Schultz.