Tag Archive for: Meet the Senior Pairs

Meet the Senior Pairs

MEAGAN DUHAMEL / ERIC RADFORD

Year in and year out, Duhamel and Radford continue to raise the bar for themselves and their sport. Showcasing signature elements, including stunning death spirals and a groundbreaking throw quad Salchow a year ago, the reigning world pair champions will go in search of their fifth consecutive Canadian title in Halifax. Radford loves music almost as much as he loves skating. He composed Tribute in 2006 after Paul Wirtz, his coach at the time, passed away from non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Tribute continues to help in the fight against cancer and is available at www.cancer.ca/EricRadford, with fifty per cent of all net sales going to cancer research at the Canadian Cancer Society.
The pair also used Tribute in their short program in 2013-14.

FUN FACT: The last time Halifax played hosted to the Canadian championships, Meagan Duhamel placed sixth – in women’s singles. Months later, Meagan shifted to pair skating, and has never looked back. Meagan also claimed the 2004 Canadian junior women’s championship.

LUBOV ILYUSHECHKINA/DYLAN MOSCOVITCH

Lubov and Dylan teamed up in 2014 and their first appearance at the 2015 Canadian Tire National Skating Championships was certainly a rewarding one, as they took home silver. The combination of Lubov’s incredible flexibility and Dylan’s powerful strength means fans can often see unique lifts and creative tricks during their programs. In the future, Dylan says he would like to study business at the University of Toronto, while Lubov has an interest in economics and law.

FUN FACT: In her own words, Lubov is “obsessed with cheese.” Dylan is an accomplished martial artist, and a certified Krav Maga instructor.

JULIANNE SÉGUIN/CHARLIE BILODEAU

Anyone who remembers Charlie’s moustache from their The Grand Budapest Hotel soundtrack short program last year probably figures the ‘stache was fake. Not so – he grew it for every short program, maintaining he wanted to “stay in character”, before shaving it off for the free program. The pair turned a lot of heads last year, winning two Junior Grand Prix events, the Junior Grand Prix Final, placing second at the World Junior Figure Skating Championships and, for good measure, taking bronze at the senior level at the 2015 Canadian Tire National Skating Championships.

FUN FACT: Charlie claims to be able to put a balloon up his nose and pull it out his mouth; Julianne is often offered a kid’s menu at restaurants.

KIRSTEN MOORE-TOWERS / MICHAEL MARINARO

Remember that photo of 4’11” Kirsten and 6’9” Boston Bruins defenceman Zdeno Chara that went viral during the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympic Games?

Well, a lot has changed since then. Kirsten and longtime partner Dylan Moscovitch parted ways after those Games, and KMT teamed up with Michael Marinaro. The duo earned their way onto the national team for the 2015-16 campaign, and earned their first Grand Prix medal together when they took home bronze at Skate Canada International in October.

FUN FACT: Michael is often told he looks like Craig Buntin; Kirsten can recite the alphabet – in sign language.

VANESSA GRENIER / MAXIME DESCHAMPS

Keep an eye on the 2014 Canadian junior pair champions: they train alongside reigning world pair champions Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford in suburban Montreal, under the watchful eye of coaches Richard Gauthier and Bruno Marcotte. A team on the rise, Grenier and Deschamps were seventh at 2015 Skate Canada International and followed that up with an 8th place showing at the Cup of China.

FUN FACT: Maxime was featured in a commercial for a drugstore, performing a triple jump. Vanessa won a contest and made three montage videos to demonstrate an athlete’s lifestyle.