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Seventh national senior title a given
That's as daring as saying night follows day.
The only way Bourne and Kraatz can lose in Ottawa is if they fail to show up, and they intend on driving north from their training base in Lake Placid, N.Y.
Competition begins in novice and junior events Wednesday. Bourne and Kraatz begin their event Thursday.
In a conference call on Friday, Bourne and Kraatz referred to the nationals as a launching pad to the new Four Continents meet in Halifax, Feb. 21-28, the Grand Prix final in St. Petersburg, Russia, March 4-7, and the worlds in Helsinki, March 21-28.
"Basically, what you want to do at nationals is experiment with what you want to do at the next meets," said Bourne.
Bourne, who turns 23 on Sunday, emerged from Chatham, Ont., to team with Kraatz in 1991. They won the national junior title their first season together.
Kraatz, 27, was born in Berlin and lived in Switzerland before the family moved to Vancouver.
A seventh senior championship will tie the world bronze medallists in the Canadian Figure Skating Association record book with Tracy Wilson and Rob McCall, who retired in 1988 after also winning world bronze.
For Bourne and Kraatz, the nationals shape up as a pep rally.
"We're lucky to have nationals that are so huge," Bourne said. "I don't think any other country is like Canada, crowd-wise.
"The crowds will be bigger than at worlds. It's always exciting to be at nationals. It's the best crowd. We know it'll be packed. It's always a fun event. It really builds our confidence."
They'll refine their original dance, an Irish waltz, and their free dance, a fast-paced techno-pop romp nicknamed Heart Attack by Christopher Dean, the former world and Olympic champion who helped devise it.
"We've been working hard to put mileage on our programs," Bourne said. "We've been doing things to enhance our free dance, spicing it up and letting it grow, but nothing drastic."
Feedback from the judges has been positive, said Bourne.
"Everybody seems to really love the waltz. Everyone says, 'Just keep going in the direction you're going.' "
They entered only one of the many open meets this season, in Kitchener, Ont., in early December, after filling their quota of two Grand Prix meets. So, they have not over-extended themselves skating for prize money.
"We didn't want to get too carried away," said Kraatz.
Complacency never is a problem for the two. They love what they're doing, and they work hard at it. They practice from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., and they are back on the ice in the evening, after off-ice workouts. In their scant free time, they often are found at a keyboard.
"We're both addicted to the computer right now," said Bourne.