Manitobans making mark on national figure skating scene

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This article was published 22/12/2023 (722 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It takes major sacrifice to become an elite figure skater and two of Manitoba’s best are living proof.

Dauphin’s Breken Brezden began skating at the age of four. She showed up in hockey skates since that’s what her family knew best at the time as her father, Brian, used to play for the MJHL’s Dauphin Kings.

It didn’t take long for Brezden to show her potential, even though she wasn’t wearing the correct blades.

“After a while, my very first coach in my hometown talked to my parents and said, ‘You need to get this girl figure skates,’” said Brezden, now 18.

When Brezden was around nine years old, the same coach recommended she train out of Virden under Patricia Hole — an expert in the sport who has coached at the world championship and Olympic stage.

The only problem was it takes two and a half hours to get to there from Dauphin. It’s a drive Brezden and her family would make several times a week for several years. In the summer months, they skipped going to their cabin in Duck Mountain to camp out in Virden so Brezden could train with ease.

“We ended up buying a camper. My dad was kind of laughing about that, the irony of owning a cabin but having to buy a camper and stay in Virden for the summer,” said Brezden.

“My parents were just very understanding and know I love skating. They knew I was working hard and wanted to get better, so, they were willing to make that sacrifice which I’m really, really thankful for.”

Travelling back and forth to Virden wasn’t going to work forever, so, Brezden made an even bigger move to help her training. Last year, she left for Hamilton, Ont., to work with another highly respected coach in Jen Jackson.

It paid off in a big way as Brezden finished in 10th place at last December’s Skate Canada Challenge, a national qualifier held at Winnipeg’s Seven Oaks Arena.

Her showing led to her advancing to the Canadian figure skating championships in Oshawa, Ont. She finished in seventh place in the junior women’s category and was selected to Skate Canada’s NextGen Team for the 2023-24 season. The team includes 45 skaters in total and Brezden was one of only a handful from Western Canada.

Now competing in the senior ranks, Brezden had another stellar outing at this month’s Skate Canada Challenge in Winnipeg. Despite being younger than many of her competitors, she claimed 11th place out of 33 senior women skaters.

Brezden will now head to Calgary Jan. 8-14 to compete at the WinSport Arena for the 2024 Canadian National Skating Championships.

“I’m very, very proud of the fact that I come from a small town in Manitoba. I’m happy that I can be an example of that putting in hard work, being committed, and making sacrifices can get you somewhere if you really have your heart in it,” said Brezden, who’s in her first year studying at McMaster University.

There aren’t many Manitobans on that stage as training just isn’t as accessible here as it is in other provinces.

Winnipeg’s Davey Howes, who turns 17 next week, was a student at Kelvin High School but is now in Vancouver at Magee Secondary School for his Grade 12 year.

Winnipeg has also produced Ava Kemp and Yohnatan Elizarov — pair skaters who earned silver at the 2023 Junior Grand Prix Final and ended up in sixth place at last year’s junior worlds. They now train out of Ontario and are the No. 2-ranked junior pair in the world.

“The amount of resources we get isn’t what it is in other provinces… We often don’t get as many high-level skaters. There’s also Breken who’s doing exceptionally well, but otherwise, we haven’t see the top level,” said Howes, who also qualified for nationals in Calgary after a third-place finish in Winnipeg earlier this month.

“For me, I found I had to use resources well. When I trained in Manitoba, every chance I got to be on the ice I tried to work as hard as I could because I knew I only got so much of it. I’m really grateful now that I’m here that we have a huge coaching team, a lot of ice time, and I’m able to attend a school with a sports program so I’m able to get more benefits from training.”

Howes won the novice division at last year’s nationals and is also on the Skate Canada NextGen team — also known as the junior national team — and hopes to one day represent the maple leaf at the senior level.

That wasn’t always the goal, as he originally started out playing hockey and used figure skating as a tool on the side to help round out his game. When he was around 10 years old, he decided to hang up the stick and gloves.

His mother, Tina Chen, has also played a role in his success as she has choreographed programs for him over the years.

“Well for one thing, hitting was about to start in hockey and I was a super small kid so I didn’t think it was going to go too well. But getting to perform in skating is something you don’t get to do in hockey, and I love performing, so I decided for the artistry over the physical skating,” said Howes.

The list of champion skaters from the Keystone Province is short, but Howes hopes he can help lead to that changing in the near future.

“It’d be a real honour to be a role model to all young skaters in Manitoba. The fact that I broke out with a few other skaters like Breken, Ava, and Yohnatan, it’s a true honour to start having more representation in Manitoba at the national level and such,” said Howes.

taylor.allen@freepress.mb.ca

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