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Schmidt hopes quad lifts him above crowd
Schmidt, a 23-year-old Orleans resident who trains at the Minto Skating Club, has already landed one quad jump successfully in a qualifying event this season. He's hoping to land a couple more at the Canadian championships this week -- one in the crucial senior men's short program Thursday and another in his free skate Saturday.
"You sort of go up, pull as hard as you can and hope you can make it," Schmidt said of the quad, which he has been landing consistently in practice sessions of late.
Schmidt knows he'll need the quads to stand out in a men's event that, after the top three of Elvis Stojko, Emanuel Sandhu and Jeff Langdon, is wide open. His goal is to make the top five, to earn national team stature and the funding that goes with it. It would also guarantee him a chance to take part in international competitions next season, opening up the opportunity to make prize money.
"That is my goal, to make sure I make that top five," he said. "My parents have been paying for all my skating, and after 14 or 15 years, it has gotten pretty expensive."
So expensive that, after following coach Peter Dunfield down to New Jersey last season yet failing to even make the Canadian championships, he returned home to work with Marina Zoueva and Alexei Tchetveroukhin.
"Last year was a hard year because I didn't even make it to Canadians," said Schmidt, who had qualified for the 1996 and '97 nationals. "I had to think really hard about whether I wanted to come back and put myself through that again."
So it is crucial for a couple of reasons to get results this week. But with the quad, and a home Ottawa crowd on his side, Schmidt is confident he can break through.
"If I'm able to do anything like I do in training, I'm going to be fine.," he said. "I remember three years ago (the 1996 Canadians in Ottawa) looking up into the crowd and you know half of the people. It makes it a little more enjoyable."