Staff Photo By: Darcie Thom

Senior skating pair Paige Lawrence and Rudi Swiegers.

Staff Photo By: Darcie Thom

Paige Lawrence gets a lift from her skating partner Rudi Swiegers.

Staff Photo By: Darcie Thom

Paige Lawrence and Rudi Swiegers during a practice at the Wawota Arena.

By: Darcie Thom

Rudi Swiegers and Paige Lawrence are familiar names in the Kipling and Kennedy communities and with good reason!

These household names returned from Gomel, Belarus scoring 8 out of 11 in their competitions which led them to compete in Shefield, Great Britian amongst 12 other countries with a final position of 5th place out of 20. “You have to deal with nerves, you learn to use those nerves to help instead of making it worse,” said Lawrence of the thoughts that go through their heads prior and during an event, “you have to stay focused and do your job, you can’t control what goes on around you”.

Lawrence (18) who has been skating since she was 4-years-old and Swiegers (21) who has been skating since he was 10, have both made a move to Brandon and continue their intense training for upcoming events with their personal trainers 5 days per week, skating 6 days per week and full time ballet 1 to 2 times per week.

This pair skate in Brandon and Virden for the most part but do make a trip to their ‘home ice’ in Wawota where they seem to find some of the best support. During the summer months, the pair train in Whitewood at the “Cutting Summer Skating School” and maintain their workout schedule all year long.

This 4-year-old team agreed that skating as a pair was very different from skating as an individual stating together that “we have to work together, it’s nice to have the support, but you rely on someone else. There are highs and lows and pairs have to be in a focused state for each other”.

This duo is well known for their strengths in throws, especially the ‘triple Lutz’, which they have managed to throw for 15 feet. “Everything is challenging in its own way,” says Swiegers.

Both agreed by stating that the hardest part in figure skating is taking each element one at a time. “You have to re-focus right away,” says Lawrence, “if you fall, you have to get up and get right back into your routine”.

Swiegers and Lawrence recently became the only Senior Pair in Saskatchewan and are hoping to compete in the Sectionals (Skating Provincials) in mid-November followed by a Senior challenge in Toronto in December. Their main goal is to make it to this season’s Nationals in Saskatoon.

“We’ve been asked if training in a small town is an obstacle but it’s a good thing because it gives us a lot of support and gives us our strength,” said Lawrence when asked her thoughts.

Patty Hole, their skating coach and mentor has been with this duo before they were a duo, since the first day that they tied their skates for figure skating. “It’s been a challenging year for them,” said Hole, “they are just entering competition at senior level and she’s going to University”.

“This is a great sport to get into, start young, have fun and stick with it if you enjoy it,” said Lawrence for inspiration to the youngsters who might want to skate.

Swiegers kept it simple but inspirational, “follow your dreams and work hard at them”.