SynchroNice / Fourth Edition / 2019

Watching a few of Pascal’s practice sessions with the Senior Snowflakes, his skating skills were obvious. Quite tall for a figure skater but nevertheless, very elegant and gracious moving around the ice, showing the Snowflakes some moves he expected them to perform. His passion for the sport is very obvious as well, making very long days on the ice, but always very patient with the skaters and keeping this enthusiastic smile on his face. Don’t you ever get tired Pascal? No, not if it concerns skating. Of course, I’m exhausted at the end of a long day’s work and probably happy to be in a chair, but skating is my life and it gives me back so much energy. It feels great to work with all these young and hardworking talents. My life is all about work, ever since I started skating, it’s been my passion and now­ adays as a coach and choreographer it’s very fulfilling but also 24/7 and I hardly take any vacation time. Next to this guest coaching here in Zagreb, the coaching of Ice dance couples, figure skaters etc., most of you will know Pascal as the coach next to the lovely Marilyn Langlois and Amélie Brochu, coaches of the successful and energetic Canadian team ‘Les Supremes’ who came in 5th at this year’s Worlds in Swedish Stockholm. What is your favorite part in coaching couples or Syn- chro teams? I started coaching in 2005 and since then I believe that for me it’s particularly the combination of all disciplines that works best. Change is good and keeps you creative. But, how about the level of Synchro Skating, will it ever be as professional as figure skating, pairs or Ice dance? It’s been said often already… it’s a matter of ice time and facilities - a money thing, if you will. Of course, is it worthy to be Olympic? Yes, I believe so. Of course you cannot compare it with figure skating, but being with 16 skaters on the ice doesn’t give you as much room to do the things a figure skater would do, but the skating skills we demand nowadays are on a very high level and still growing. Have you visited the Congress in Sevilla, did anything shocking come out of it? No, I didn’t, and I also didn’t really pay much attention at the outcome, I was swamped in work and too busy because of my fully booked coaching schedule. We have a lot of skaters and teams at the mo­ ment, but I don’t believe there was anything extra shocking or was there? Nah…we probably would have heard. Did you get a chance to see the performances of teams Paradise, Surprise and Marigold IceUnity at last Worlds? If you were a judge, would you agree on the outcome? I believe if I was up there the outcome would more or less have been the same. Any competition that you favor more than others? No, not specifically. We did French Cup more often than others, but indeed the modern facilities in Helsinki Espoo are nice as well and so is the Leon Lurje Trophy. Will you always try to do 2 competitions per season? Not necessarily, but we try to make a balanced program throughout the season for everybody to be well prepared for Nationals and Worlds. What are Les Supremes missing… they are always on the second row… what must be done to make it to the podium? They are getting there, but we take it little steps at the time, but every year there’s clearly progression and Les Supremes will always fight hard for one of the spots on the podium. We’re working at it. Are you or is Marilyn leading during the coaching? I love to work with Marilyn… she’s a really great coach and we know each other very well so we also know each other’s strengths and weaknesses. Marilyn and I make a great team, but we shouldn’t forget the rest of our coaching staff, nowadays we also have Kassandra Patenaude and Cathy Dalton in our team, it’s always a team effort and we work very well together. Do you have goals set for yourself? Sure I do, but within reach. This here was one of my goals, to be able to work for a whole week with a motivated team in another coun­ try, and of course I would love to coach at the Olympics one day, but just as I didn’t lose any sleep over it so far, whether one of my skaters, couples or teams would be up on the highest podium…. I wouldn’t be bothered if it’s not going to happen. I also would like to make a difference once for some foreign country. Help them to get their skating to the next level or participate in any federation to see if I couldmake a difference for the good of the sport.  Pascal was born on May 20, 1975 in Repentigny, Québec, Canada, competed in Ice Dance for some 17 years with the same partner, Josée Piché. Together they were to be found at all major competitions and even came home with the Bronze medal at the Canadian Championships in the 1999-2000 season. Their best result at Worlds was a 23rd spot in 2004. Before he dedicated his life full time to coaching, he also skated one more season with a new partner, Martine Patenaude. SYNCHRO NICE 65