Local figure skating star shines bright on provincial stage

"Passion, spirit, triumph."

This is the slogan used by Skate Canada to inspire its athletes, and for 15-year-old figure skater Zadia Larouche, they are words that she lives by every day.

Larouche is a teenager who has been dedicating her life to the sport for the last 11 years. Rising before the sun three days a week, she hits the ice at 6:30 a.m. to skate for an hour before heading off to Vankleek Hill Collegiate Institute, where she is a Grade 10 student.

"In a country that is so crazy about hockey, figure skaters don't always get the best hours for ice time," said Larouche.

Her evenings are often divided between homework and practice as she also skates two evenings per week, and on Saturday mornings.

"Sundays are her only day off," laughed Cynthia Martin, Larouche's mother and biggest fan.

Larouche learned the basics of skating at the Vankleek Hill Figure Skating Club at the age of four. She enrolled in the CanSkate program and progressed through all seven levels before the age of nine. It was during these early years that she was introduced to Lisa Latouzel, who would become Zadia's first coach.

"Lisa has always been one of my biggest influences," said the figure skater. "Along with help from her and my parents, I have become the person that I am today."

While taking private lessons with Latouzel, the two began to form a strong bond. Latouzel taught her star student how to spin, jump and twirl and helped her experience the thrill of a successful landing as well as the pain of countless falls across the cold, hard ice.

"Lisa was always there to wipe away the tears, and brush the snow off after a fall," recalled Martin.

While Vankleek Hill has always been her home club, Zadia also skated for three years at Les Quatres Glaces in Pierrefonds, Quebec, where she was guided by the helping hands of her coach Eric Therrien.

Growing weary of the travels, Larouche decided to make a switch to Russian coach Alexey Mouratov, who agreed to coach her in Riguad and St-Lazare.

Larouche has been competing for seven years and has reached the senior silver level in freeskate and dance. At a recent test day, Larouche caught the eye of the Skate Canada judges by skating a clean program and landing seven double jumps. She also reached the gold level in interpretive dance that same day.

"It's nice to win trophies and medals, but what I am most proud about is what being a figure skater has taught me," she said, pointing out that it has "forced a certain level of maturity" on herself.

Balancing her hectic practice schedule, competitions, school and two part-time jobs proves to be difficult for Larouche.

"I don't have much time for myself, but that's the price you have to pay."

In November of 2009, Zadia began to train with new dance partner, Frederic Arcand. Although they have only been together for a short period of time, the pair has caught the eye of local coaches and judges by qualifying for the provincial finals in senior silver level ice dance, which were held on March 13 and 14 in Kingston.

The pair skated a near flawless performance and placed fourth in all of Ontario. The top 3 teams from each of the four designated sections of the province - Northern, Southern, Western and Eastern - take part in the two-day provincial championships.

When asked about her thoughts on the performance, Larouche said, "I feel that we skated great and we represented Eastern Ontario very well."

Larouche's next competition will be held in Gloucester as part of the Gloucester Spring Skate Festival on April 9.