Chan comes to Vancouver for a change of scenery
Days after missing the Skate Canada International podium for the first time in eight years, and with only a few months left in his competitive career, Patrick Chan felt stuck.
He craved a change of scenery, and a better sense of balance. So he headed west.
“I felt like I had the blues a bit, I just couldn’t push myself to go to the rink and get really good work done,” Chan said.
The three-time world champion was fourth at Skate Canada in October in Regina, plummeting from second after an error-filled free skate. He withdrew from NHK Trophy in Japan a couple weeks later, which automatically eliminated him from December’s Grand Prix Final.
Chan, who turns 27 on New Year’s Eve, spent a good week and a half off the ice, travelling to Tofino and Bowen Island. He’s been in Vancouver since, where he plans to stay at least through next month’s national championships.
“The lifestyle of Vancouver does seem to really draw me towards there,” Chan said.
Chan said Marina Zoueva, his coach in Canton, Mich., supported the move. He said he and Zoueva speak every week or two. But for now, his training is a team effort that includes Elizabeth Putnam, a former pairs skater who writes training plans for many of the top skaters in Vancouver’s Lower Mainland, plus Skate Canada physiologist Kelly Quipp, among others.
Chan was flying from Toronto to Edmonton on Monday to work with Ravi Walia, coach of world silver medallist Kaetlyn Osmond.
Walia, who used to be a caller — a specialist on the judging panel who identifies and calls a program’s elements, and their level of difficulty — has already been instrumental in rejigging a couple of jumps in Chan’s free program.
“He’s been great, he has a very analytical mind,” Chan said. “He mentioned my element order was a bit off, so we had to switch things around.”
Chan’s coach at the national championships, Jan. 8-14, is still to be determined, but “whoever is going to be at nationals is going to be at Olympics, that’s for sure,” he said.
Chan talked about the mental and physical grind of his sport.
“Looking back at it, it feels like, especially now, I spend about two years in one place training, and after two years, it’s like a real challenge, because the first year is like the honeymoon phase,” he said. “Whether it’s just the rink, or outside the rink, you get into a routine and you lack inspiration, you lack the energy to push yourself.”
His move west, he said, has been that energy boost he needed.
Japanese star Yuzuru Hanyu, who won gold ahead of Chan at the 2014 Sochi Games, announced Monday he wouldn’t skate at his national championships after injuring his ankle.
“It’s been a weird year, we’ve all had our ups and downs, our own challenges, we deal with them our own way,” Chan said.
“It makes for an exciting Olympics. Anything can happen, which is awesome.”