DOWN in the bowels of the Moncton Coliseum Complex Jan. 22, North Vancouver teenager Liam Firus felt good about his upcoming performance in the senior men's free program at the Canadian Figure Skating Championships.
Coming off a career best score of 66.34 points in the short program, Firus was sitting in fifth position, placing him in the final group for the free skate. Nearby Patrick Chan warmed up, moments away from topping his own world record for most points under the new scoring system brought in after the 2002 Olympic Games.
Firus listened to music and got himself ready to hit the ice where he was about to attempt a triple Axel - the sport's toughest triple jump - for the first time in a competition.
"I felt good, actually," said Firus. "I felt like I was going to do a good performance and lay it down."
Once he hit the ice things started well - Firus hit his first three jumps - but then things got tougher. He went for the triple but didn't land it. At the end of the routine Firus felt as if he had left a lot of points on the ice.
"It was OK - it wasn't horrible but it wasn't great, which is what I was wanting to do," he said.
In the final standings he dropped one spot to sixth but still managed to score the highest combined total of his career - 187.78 points - despite his shaky long program.
At 19-years-old, however, Firus is still just a junior. His score earned him a spot in the Junior World Championships running Feb. 28-March 4 in Minsk, Belarus. His longtime Vancouver Skate Club coach, Lorna Bauer, said Firus is still on pace to become a world class skater if he continues to progress as he has so far.
"He's pretty much on target for the goals we've set for him," she said. A consistent triple Axel is the first order of business and then it will be time to look at adding a quad jump. His goal for 2013 is top3 at Canadian nationals. The following year his goal is to skate at the Olympic Games. Those goals are reachable, said Bauer.
"He's on track," she said. "At this moment he's just started landing a consistent triple Axel and with another year or two to get a quad jump he's quite capable of being there."
Sharing the ice with a skater of Chan's caliber is a great way to push yourself to be better, said Firus.
"Skating with Patrick is awesome," he said. "Right now he's untouchable, he's in a league of his own. He makes everyone push. . . . He's shown us what, almost, perfection can be."
Firus has spent time training with Chan, something coach Bauer is happy to see.
"(Patrick) is a nice guy, he works hard and obviously he's capable and he tends to all the aspects of his skating," she said. "He's a perfect role model for Liam."
When Firus travels to Belarus it will be his second shot at the world juniors - last year he finished 20th. This year he's hoping to crack the top 8. Bauer said he has the skill to be top 5 if he nails both his routines. He's put in the work - skating and off-ice training of more than four hours a day, five days a week - to set himself up for success.
"Skating is the kind of sport where you train so hard and you only get eight minutes on the ice total," he said. A former hockey player, Firus said one the big differences between the two sports is the number of chances you get. "In hockey you can have one bad game and come out three days later and have a great game."
Figure skating is all about being ready for that one shot.
"You've got to just be prepared - it's a very hard sport and you've got to train, train, train," he said. "It's all about the time you put in."
Liam wasn't the only Firus on the ice in Moncton. His 17-year-old brother Shane competed in junior ice dance with 14-year-old partner Caelen Dalmer. The pair placed third in the short program and dropped to seventh overall after the free program, missing a medal by less than two points in a very close competition.
Bauer coached both Liam and Shane until Shane switched to ice dance a year and a half ago. While they don't train together on the ice anymore, Liam and Shane work with the same strength coach off the ice and they're always pushing each other.
"He's starting to get to my size so it's getting more fun," said Liam with a laugh.
The brothers dream of both competing for Canada at an Olympic Games, something Bauer said is a dream that could some day come true.
"I think it's possible. I believe it's possible for both of them," she said. "It would be fabulous. They're such good kids. They're fabulous brothers, they have good camaraderie between each other.
. . . It's been a pleasure to coach them both. I've enjoyed them every step of the way."
