News
Phaneuf Celebrates 19th Birthday with Nationals Comeback
By Laurie NealinReporting for Skate Canada
HALIFAX -- All eyes were on Cynthia Phaneuf on Tuesday as Canada's 2004 women's champion made her return to competition after an 18-month layoff.
A very shaky warm-up had both the audience and Phaneuf on edge, but she pulled herself together and, in the absence of the medal favourites, topped the field in the women's qualifying event at the BMO Financial Group Canadian Championships. It was cause for celebration on her 19th birthday.
"Omigod!" Phaneuf exclaimed when asked about the problem-plagued warm-up. "It's so long since I've done a warm-up. I went on the ice and I was terrified. I didn't know what to do... My body was fine, it was my head that was not."
Although she practises the warm-up scenario as part of her training, Phaneuf said, in reality, practice is not the same at all. Her coach Annie Barabe calmed her down and told her to do what she does in practice.
The rules have been changed this year to allow the women and men who ranked in the top 12 in Ottawa a year ago to bypass the qualifying round. Of those 12, nine women and 10 men are back to compete this week. They, along with the top 15 women and 14 men in the qualifier, will begin the competition anew with the short program on Thursday and Friday, respectively.
As an added bonus, the athletes with a bye, including two-time champion Joannie Rochette and silver medallist Mira Leung, will skate in the final two groups of six for the short. Phaneuf also snagged a spot in the second to last group in the starting order draw.
Phaneuf, who came out of nowhere to win the 2004 title, scored 92.38 points in the qualifier, almost 18 points more than Mylene Brodeur, of Quebec, who claimed second, and Devon Neuls, of B.C., in third.
Phaneuf's last significant competition before injury put her on the bench was a 20th-place result at the 2005 World Championships.
"It was very hard," Phaneuf said of her comeback skate. "I'm proud of what I did."
Skating to a soulful violin piece, Phaneuf executed three clean triples -- two toe loops and a salchow -- and landed a triple lutz, putting her hand down to regain her balance. She also lost her balance mid-way through the combination spin, costing her several points.
Her goal this week is to finish in the top five and regain her membership on the national team. "I'm not here to compete with the other skaters, I'm here to compete with me. In my program, I don't have my (triple) flip and my loop and the second triple lutz so, for me, it's to say 'I'm back' and build my confidence."
Phaneuf is no longer the diminutive 15-year-old who upset veteran Jennifer Robinson in her bid for a seventh title. She has grown four inches since then. That spurt, combined with "sitting at home doing nothing", resulted in a considerable weight gain. She has since lost 20 pounds.
As for the injuries -- a stress fracture in her right ankle and an alignment problem between her right knee and hip -- she said, "Everything is fine. My body is perfect now." To remedy the alignment problem, Phaneuf underwent painful manipulations of her lower back. She also wears an orthotic device in her right skate to balance her body. It was only at the end of this past summer that she felt fit enough to contemplate a return to competition.
Amanda Billings, who was forced to withdraw from last year's nationals due to injury had a tough warm-up, as well, but also a rough competitive performance. Still, her high-scoring spins and footwork, combined with strong skating skills landed her in fifth place with 69.60 points.
Billings, fourth at the 2005 Canadians, notched just one triple jump, a salchow. She fell on the lutz and popped a loop and the first salchow. The Alberta skater reported she only resumed full-fledged training in June after breaking her right foot and tearing the ligament just prior to the 2006 Canadians.
Chipeur Riding Skate Canada Wave
In the men's qualifier, Vaughn Chipeur attracted lots of attention, having put himself on the sport's radar screen with his stellar showing as a last-minute substitute for Jeff Buttle at Skate Canada last fall. Chipeur, who ranked way back in 16th at the 2006 Canadians, turned a lot of heads with his short program performance on the way to a seventh-place result in Victoria in November.On Tuesday, Calgary-based Chipeur edged senior rookie Joey Russell by the slimmest of margins to top the 20-man field. Chipeur scored
117.94 points, while last season's junior champion Russell, of Newfoundland, collected 117.63.
Cedric Demers, of Quebec, was third with 109.50.
Asked if he approached this event differently, now that he is considered a podium contender, Chipeur said he tries not to think of it that way although he does appreciate the fact that he "opened a few people's eyes."
He added, "People know I'm out there, but I try not to focus on that.
"I feel well-trained, ready and confident," said Chipeur, who admits that, in previous years, training for skating was not his top priority.
Chipeur figures a top-five or top-six finish here would be "nice, reasonable." He intends to show a triple flip-triple toe in the short program. Previously, he opted for a triple-double. Executing a second triple Axel in his long program is also in the game plan.
That didn't happen on Tuesday but he'll likely get another shot in Saturday's finale. He did execute six triples, including one Axel in the qualifier, although a couple of landings were iffy.
"It's always tough to switch a level," said Russell, whose junior title was the first-ever national figure skating title for his home province of Newfoundland.
"I just wanted to belong. I was just thinking 'skate like a senior. Go fast. Do your jumps.'"
He did that. Russell nailed seven triple jumps including two triple-triple combinations. His triple Axel is not yet ready for prime-time.
"For me, today, there was no hesitation. Just go for everything no matter what happens... Today I was lucky and everything happened the way it should," Russell said.
The men skate their short programs on Friday.
Copyright 2006 Laurie Nealin - This article may not be reproduced in whole or in part without permission of the author.
