Caelen Dalmer

Caelen Dalmer (born June 29, 1997) is a Canadian ice dancer who represents Canada internationally. She and Shane Firus, her partner of five years, are the reigning 2013 Canadian Junior Ice Dance Bronze medalists.

Career

Dalmer was born in Victoria, British Columbia and began skating at the age of two. She started in the at the Oak Bay Figure Skating Club. When she moved to Vancouver with her family she joined the Vancouver Skating Club, where she worked with her primary coaches Tina Leininger and Liz Goepel, as well as Rod Mackieand Victor Kraatz to develop her early skating skills. The other primary part of her coaching team was former Czechoslovak Champion (1974–75), Zdenek Pazdirek who competed in the 1976 Winter Olympic Games.^[1]

Dalmer has worked with Audrey Weisiger, who was instrumental in helping Dalmer land her triple jumps. She is a triple GOLD test medalist in freeskate, skills and dance and also has her Junior Competitive tests in singles and dance, all achieved by the time she was 13. She is also an accomplished singles skater as well as ice dancer. She competed in singles at the Junior level and in 2012 was 6th^[2] at the 2012 BC Championships and won the Musicality Award for both Junior and Senior Ladies. She represented BC at the 2008 Canadian Junior Figure Skating Championships^[3] as the BC Juvenile Ladies Champion.

In 2008, Dalmer and Firus teamed up at 11 and 14 years old to ice dance. Their coaches Rod Mackie and Shae Zukiwsky saw them through to a fifth-place finish at the Canadian Challenge event.^[4] After 11th and seventh-place finishes in their compulsory dances they had a wonderful freedance, which placed them fifth-overall. The Challenge event is the Canadian Championships for Pre-Novice.

In 2009, Dalmer and Firus switched coaches and have been with Megan Wing and Aaron Lowe^[5] since then. Wing and Lowe's strong work ethic and determination to create a western ice dance school has paid dividends for both Dalmer and Firus and ice dance in Canada. They passed their Novice and Junior Competitive Dance tests together and are currently working completely their Diamond dance tests.

In 2010, BC ice dance teams swept the novice podium at the Minto Summerskate competition. A few months later Dalmer and Firus were in third going into the freedance and missed the podium by a few points at the 2011 Canadian Figure Skating Championships, a position they would be in, in subsequent years.

Based on their strong performances they were chosen to represent Canada^[6] on the 2011 Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating and went to Milan, Italy where they placed ninth. They participated at this event without their coaches as Wing and Lowe delivered their twins on same weekend as the competition. Firus was sick at this event with a case of bronchitis that required antibiotic treatment once he arrived home. In 2012 they again represented Canada on the 2012 JGP and placed sixth^[7] at the event held in Bled, Slovenia. In January 2013, after three years of missing the podium they became the reigning Canadian Junior Ice Dance Bronze medalists^[8]

Personal life

Dalmer was born in Victoria and lived there until she was five years old. She moved with her family to Burnaby, a community within the Greater Vancouver area. She speaks both French and English fluently.

Programs

Pre-Novice: Prince Medley

Novice: Caravan

Junior Year 1:

• Short Dance: ChaCha: Della Reese, Hey Daddy and Mambo: Bandelero Boys, Chihuahua
• Freedance: American in Paris

Junior Year 2:

• Short Dance: Swing: I've Got a Woman by Ray Charles, Blues: Don't Cry Baby by Etta James, Swing: I've Got a Woman by Ray Charles
• Freedance: Macavity (from "Cats") by Andrew Lloyd Webber, Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer (from "Cats") by Andrew Lloyd Webber, Prologue: Jellicle Songs for Jellicle Cats (from "Cats") by Andrew Lloyd Webber

Competitive highlights

• 2013 Canadian Championships^[9]
• 2013 Skate Canada Challenge – 6th
• 2013 BC/YT Provincial Championships – 1st
• 2012 JGP Bled, Slovenia – 6th^[10]
• 2012 Lake Placid Championship – SD 3rd, FD 2nd
• 2012 BC Summerskate – SD 2nd, FD 1st
• 2012 Canadian Championships – 7th^[11]
• 2012 Canadian Challenge – 7th
• 2011 JGP Milan, ITA – 9t^[12]
• 2011 BC Summerskate – 2nd & 3rd
• 2011 Minto – 4th & 6th
• 2011 Canadian Championships – 4th^[13]
• 2011 Canadian Challenge - 4th
• 2011 BC Provincial Championships – 3rd
• 2010 BC Summer Skate: 3rd
• 2010 Minto: FD 3rd/ CD 3rd
• 2010 BMO Skate Canada Western Challenge – Pre-Novice Dance – 5th
• 2010 BC Sectional Championships – Pre-Novice Dance – 3rd
• 2009 Octoberfest – Pre-Novice Dance - 2nd
• 2009 Wild Rose – Pre-Novice Dance – 1st
• 2009 BC Sectional Championships – Juvenile Dance – 4th
• 2009 BC Coast – Juvenile Dance – 3rd

References

^{[14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] [21] [22]}

External links

• Caelen Dalmer and Shane Firus
• Videos of Dalmer and Firus can be found on YouTube
• Vancouver Skating Club. "Profile at Vancouver Skating Club". Retrieved April 1, 2013.