‘Everyone’s shown a lot of improvement in the off-season’

Winnipeg figure skater David Howes is building back from an ankle injury that foiled his summer training plan and delayed his senior competition debut, but that hasn’t diminished his excitement about the season ahead.

“Spring of this year, everything was going really well. Then I had a significant ankle injury that took me out for a month, two months,” explained the 2025 national junior men’s bronze medallist.

“I was off (the ice) for all of May and part of June. Since then, we’ve just been working on rebuilding and regaining strength in my ankle.”

Howes, 18, competed earlier this month in the B.C. Summer Skate, finishing third at the junior level with a total score some 20 points shy of his personal best recorded at the nationals qualifier in Winnipeg last December.

The injury to his right ankle (his landing foot for jumps) has also impacted the toe-pick take-offs for the triple flip and lutz jump, and interrupted his progression in mastering his first quadruple jump — the toe-loop.

“Our goal is to be able to showcase my quad toe for nationals (in January.) That’s something I’m really excited to show, but sometimes life gets in the way,” the second-year, UBC sociology student said.

Howes reports that his coaches were pleased with how well the four-revolution jump had been progressing prior to his injury.

“I really enjoy doing it. It’s more fun than I expected a quad to be. It kind of just flies and goes up very easily. Once you get them going, they’re not really scary at all which is not what I expected.”

While Howes was back home in Winnipeg last week for a short break from his training site in Richmond, B.C., fellow Winnipeggers Ava Kemp and Yohnatan Elizarov competed in Latvia, posting a decisive win at the Riga Cup, the first ISU Junior Grand Prix event of the season.

A year ago, the reigning, two-time Canadian junior pair champs had to withdraw from their international assignments due to Kemp’s back injury.

Kemp, 17, and Elizarov, 21, looked calm, comfortable and confident in Riga. They earned a total score of 175.91, seven points higher than their previous international personal best and 15 points clear of their closest challengers from China and the U.S.

Elizarov pumped his fist in celebration while a look of delighted disbelief came over Kemp’s face as their points came up on the scoreboard.

“We’re happy with the win, but more than anything, we wanted to show that we’ve improved. We’ve learned from the competitions that didn’t go so well in recent seasons,” Kemp told the ISU media team in Riga.

The pair competes again this week in Ankara, Turkey. Another podium finish there on Friday would likely qualify them for December’s Grand Prix Final in Japan.

Come January, Kemp and Elizarov will graduate to senior competition for the 2026 Canadian Championships in Gatineau, Que.

Howes intends to move up to the senior ranks for the nationals qualifier in Calgary, while Dauphin’s Breken Brezden will aim for the senior women’s podium after finishing fifth at Canadians last season.

Athletes competing at the national championships in this Olympic season will find themselves immersed in an intense, high-pressure environment where the sport’s elite battle for the few, coveted berths available for the 2026 Milan-Cortina Games in February.

Canada’s best figure skaters earned just one men’s and one women’s entry for the Games — two for pairs and three for ice dance based on their results at the 2025 World Championships in Boston.

While Howes and Brezden lack sufficient international experience to be considered Olympic team candidates this time around, Kemp and Elizarov could enter the conversation should untimely difficulties befall one of the frontrunners.

“(Nationals) will be a really exciting event for me just to be part of. Everyone’s shown a lot of improvement in the off-season, and having (twice Canadian champion) Keegan (Messing) back as well, will be lots of fun,” Howes said, referring to the surprising news that, at 33, the fan favourite has come out of retirement in hopes of becoming a three-time Olympian.

“I’m just continuing to enjoy skating, showing off my programs and looking forward to having a really enjoyable rest of the season,” Howes added.