One of Canada’s top ice-dance duos is now getting world-class instruction from one of the nation’s greatest skaters.
Born and raised in B.C. but now living in London, Ont., Haley Sales and Nikolas Wamsteeker said they moved east for a variety of reasons, but mainly because it would make their professional skating lives easier.
Along with reduced travel times to North America’s east coast and Europe, the energetic and upbeat duo are now being coached by former national and Olympic champion Scott Moir.
“It’s been in the back of our minds for a couple years now,” Sales said. “We wanted to experience (living out east) and it was a great decision.
“We’re loving the skating out east; it’s exactly what we need right now. We miss home, but the skating is good.”
The two also said that with COVID-19 forcing the sport into lengthy shut-down periods, it didn’t take them long to remember their passion for skating.
“The first couple of months were fun because we got to relax and relearn why we loved it so much,” said Sales. “But as the months went on, being a performing sport, we were really hungry for an audience, hungry for someone to watch.
“It was hard, but having the hope in the back of our mind that, maybe, we’d be able to compete in the season. That helped us keep going, but it has been a challenge.”
“During the season, you don’t have time to work on the basics,” added Wamsteeker. “It was a good opportunity to go back and rework things, focus on weaknesses and things.
“So there were obviously negatives, but there were some good things.”
Sales added, “we’d train with the assumption that maybe we’d have an event to go to, maybe do something virtual. We ended up having two virtual competitions, but it’s not quite the same (as performing live).”
Now the two are facing being challenged by a great coach.
“We were fortunate enough to be with him on the (national) team for two years,” said Sales. “We got to know him as a friend, as a competitor and as an athlete. It was an honour.
“But I think having him as a coach is really cool because he’s so fresh off the competitive circuit. He has such a fresh set of eyes and his perspective on the sport is different than other coaches.”
Wamsteeker said Moir “is such an approachable person, too. A classic Canadian small-town boy who has all these accolades behind him. But when you meet him, it’s hard to equate those two together.
“It’s just fantastic to work with someone like that.”
Last week, Sales and Wamsteeker, who call the Kelowna Figure Skating Club their home club, were in the Okanagan last week to visit family. While in Kelowna, they also took time to hit the ice for some training.
The two are back in Ontario and are gearing up for the season.
“The season has slowly started,” said Sales. “We’re back in competition, the Junior Grand Prix series is going and the senior (series) is prepped to go.
“So we’re competing, and that’s great, but there’s still a bit of uncertainty, so we’re preparing for that.”
Long-term, the two say their goal is to compete in the Olympics.
“We were alternates for the last Olympics,” said Sales, noting their past two seasons were their first on the national team.
“We weren’t expecting that. Going into this Olympics, we’re definitely in the running. That’s our goal. We want to be there.
“I would like to go to two Olympics. That’s my long-term goal.”
Wamsteeker agreed with a big grin: “That sounds good to me.”
While the two may now live in Ontario, the two plan to represent B.C. and the Kelowna Figure Skating Club.
“Moving out east really highlighted that for us,” said Sales. “We’re B.C. at heart.”
Still, the two love living in London, with Wamsteeker saying the people are friendly and the scenery, like Pinery Provincial Park, is great. They also enjoy the area’s history.
“We love being out east,” said Sales. “We’re big on hiking and trails, so we’ve been scoping out the lakes and the hikes, and provincial parks.”
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