An untimely ailment prevented Ethan Adanac from bringing his best stuff to the 2024 BC Winter Games in February, but he can take solace in knowing he made the most of his circumstances.
The Whistler Skating Club (WSC) member injured his hamstring three weeks before the Games. He could hardly walk in his skates at first, and as days went by, the significance of the setback became obvious. Ethan knew he would be far from peak condition in Quesnel, and wondered if he would even go at all.
“Honestly, some days I was like: ‘I don't want to do this,’ and then other days, I was like: ‘screw it, I'll go,’” he admitted. “It was frustrating, but it was also knowing that hopefully I could do something that—given the circumstances—I was happy with.”
Ethan scored 16.50 points at the Games to finish seventh out of eight contestants. He had a crash course in how to manage injury and disappointment along the way, and still feels he managed to connect with his peers meaningfully.
“It wasn't my favourite performance by any sense of the imagination. I had to seriously tone it back,” he said. “But in reality, I went—I qualified and that's what matters.”
The finer details
When asked to describe her son, one word came to Stephanie Adanac’s lips right away: dedicated.
“The consistent commitment that he has to skating and his passion for the music associated with his time on ice is just incredible,” she remarked. “He's a 14-year-old in every way, shape and form, but put him on the ice and he is so focused, so intent on what he does and how he trains. It's amazing to watch.”
Having enjoyed skating since early childhood, Ethan found hockey to be a little too rough for his tastes. That’s when former WSC head coach Dianne Diamond introduced him to his first entry-level figure skating class. Needless to say, he’s stuck with it.
From a layperson’s point of view, figure skaters are at their most exciting when airborne. Ilia Malinin of the United States made history in December 2023 by being the first man ever to land a quadruple axel (four-and-a-half rotations) in an ISU Grand Prix short program, and controversial Russian Alexandra Trusova likewise turned heads with her maverick five-quad effort at the Beijing Winter Olympics.
Ethan, however, is more of an artisan. He relishes exploring the nitty-gritty of knee bend, footwork and edgework—details only experienced skaters and fans typically pick out. Therefore, he usually scores well on the interpretive and performative aspects of any given routine.
‘We’re so lucky’
As one of the few boys in the WSC, Ethan is accustomed to working with a predominantly female peer group. He also trains regularly at Champs International in Burnaby under the wing of male coaches like 12-year veteran Neil Wilson, three-time Canadian titleholder Emanuel Sandhu and three-time national teamer Ben Ferreira: all of whom he finds inspiring.
Having said that, Ethan will never take his home club for granted.
“We're so lucky. We have a bunch of really good coaches and the group as a whole is amazing,” he said. “I find when I go down to Vancouver to train, and when I was at the BC Winter Games, a lot of people are like: ‘oh, there's figure skating in Whistler?’
“The fact that we're able to push through the disadvantages of having only one sheet of ice, fighting back and forth with hockey teams and everyone wanting to use it, is pretty impressive. All the coaches—Dianne Diamond, Katia Barton, Morgan Wentworth and Emily Nichols [who is currently in Japan]—have contributed in their own ways.”
As he rehabs his hamstring, Ethan looks to enter the pre-novice division and master his double axel en route to what hopefully becomes a berth at the annual Skate Canada Challenge. Beyond that, his passion for the sport transcends any particular goal.
“Yes, I want to go to the Olympics,” Ethan said. “That would be nice, but [otherwise] I just want to skate because it’s fun.”
