The 12-year-old Connaught Skating Club member sat in 10th position following his short program at the recent 2018 Skate Canada Challenge in Pierrefonds, Que. That’s when Chiu made his move — skating a terrific free (long) program the next day that ranked second among the 22 entries from across the country. The performance vaulted him all the way up into the bronze medal position, behind only B.C./Yukon teammate Aleksa Rakic and Ontario’s Alec Guinzbourg.
It was at the same event a year earlier where Chiu competed in Pre-Novice and went from 10th to the silver medal thanks to his free program.
“It was just like last year. My short wasn’t very good and I wanted to make up for it,” smiled the Grade 7 student at Richmond Christian. “I landed my (triple) loop and got bonus points for it.”
Chiu’s coach Keegan Murphy wasn’t surprised to see one of his top students make a monster move for the second straight year.
Chiu was recognized for his ability when he received B.C. Yukon’s Male Youth Promise Award. Last summer, he was invited by Skate Canada to a national camp in Montreal exclusively for the top up-and-coming Novice skaters in the country.
“Wesley works really hard. There is no magic,” said Murphy. “The long program he did was good and I was very happy for him but I wasn’t in shock. It wasn’t any better than what he does in practice.
“That’s how he trains every day. I think that’s why he was able to pull that out because he knows very well with himself of what he is capable of.”
Unlike a year ago when Skate Challenge was the ultimate stage for Pre-Novice skaters, Chiu now moves onto the Canadian Championships, which just happens to be in Vancouver at UBC’s Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Centre — Jan. 8-14. Adding to the excitement of this year’s event is the Winter Olympic Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea being a month later.
Chiu will be in the same environment as the senior skaters who are trying to lock-up spots on Canada’s Olympic team. He also will be a medal contender among his own family and friends. The Novice Men’s competition is slated for the first couple of days of the championships.
He is now back training at Minoru Arenas and working on cleaning up his short program.
“There were no major mistakes, just little things and everything (error) is so expensive in a short skate,” continued Murphy. “We have some strategy for his short at Nationals. He still has room to improve his free skate too and now he has a really good idea of where he is in the country. I would think it’s very motivating because he knows it actually wasn’t even his best (and he still ended up third).”
Murphy concluded his own competitive career at the 2008 Nationals which also happened to be in Vancouver. Skating in your hometown can work against a skater if it takes him out of his usual routine for out-of-town competitions. That’s what Chiu will be trying to avoid.
“You have to plan and create ways to make it feel like he is away at a competition,” added Murphy. I think at home you sometimes can be too relaxed. Wesley will be ready.”
