West Coast living reinvigorates Chan
VANCOUVER — Patrick Chan has found inspiration in the natural beauty of the West Coast.
The three-time world figure skating champion had a rough start to his final season, finishing off the podium at Skate Canada International in October for the first time in eight years.
The finish line of his illustrious career was in sight, but Chan was labouring. So he opted for a change of scenery, leaving coach Marina Zoueva and Canton, Michigan, in November to move to Vancouver.
“I felt like my environment was taking a toll on kind of my mental well-being, and I wanted to be in a place that I thought was once again inspiring,” Chan said.
“One of the biggest things that pulled me toward the West was first of all just being back in Canada and not feeling like such a stranger as I go about my life everyday. And also there’s a lot of things in B.C. that really attracted me. You guys all know I’ve always been a very outdoorsy person, and very much connected to the outdoors — and there’s no better place than British Columbia.”
Ravi Walia, who coaches Kaetlyn Osmond in Edmonton, will coach Chan at this week’s Canadian championships, where Chan is gunning for a record 10th national title. Walia and Oleg Epstein will coach Chan in Pyeongchang.
A coaching change so close to an Olympics tends to raise eyebrows. Much was made of Chan’s coaching change a month before the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, when he left Don Laws to work with Christy Krall.
Men’s singles will be one of the most hotly contested events at the national championships since Canada will have just two spots in that discipline at next month’s Pyeongchang Olympics in South Korea. Chan is all but guaranteed to lock up one spot. Kevin Reynolds, Nam Nguyen, Keegan Messing and Nicolas Nadeau will be among those battling for the second berth.
The senior events at the Canadian championships begin Friday at Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre. Canada’s Olympic team will be named Sunday.