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Jessica Dube and Samuel TetraultDube and Tetrault Do Double DutyJuly 13, 2003 Editors Note: Prior to release of this article, Jessica Dube and Samuel Tetrault ended their partnership. Jessica Dube now skates with Bryce Davison. Canada's junior pairs champions, Jessica Dube and Samuel Tetrault, had a lofty set of goals for their second season together. "We wanted to win Canadians, make the Junior Grand Prix Final, and make the top ten at Junior Worlds," Tetrault said. "And we did it," Dube added, after the couple finished second at the JGP Final and ninth at Junior Worlds in Ostrava, pulling up from 12th after the short. "Out goals for next season are to make the top five at Junior Worlds and the JGP Final," Tetrault continued. "Long term goals are to make it to the Olympics and Worlds." Dube began skating when she was four. "My mom put me in skating," she said. "My older sister and I skated together." Like many Canadian boys, Tetrault started out playing hockey. "I took some Learn to Skate and power skating classes so I could play hockey," he said, "but I liked figure skating too. I played defense on teams in bantam hockey until three years ago." Both of the skaters are still competing in singles. Dube was fifth in junior ladies at Canadian Nationals in Saskatoon, while Tetrault was 15th in novice men at the Junior Canadians in Brampton. Dube said it was no problem competing in two events at Canadians. "I'm used to it now. I've been doing two events since pre-novice." "Pairs is best," said Tetrault, "It's more different." "I like doing the throws and lifts in pairs," Dube added. "We do jumps in singles." Tetrault landed his first triple jump, the salchow, when he was 14, while Dube landed her first triple, the lutz, when she was 12. "The lutz is my favorite jump," she said. "It's easier for me than the salchow." They are using side-by-side triple salchows in their pairs programs. The skaters train in Drummondville, Quebec. They do two hours of singles practice five days a week and an hour of pairs, plus ballet and conditioning twice a week. They are coached by Sophie Richard and Annie Barabe, who also coach them in singles. "We had both of them in singles two years ago and thought they'd make a good pair," Barabe said, "so we put them together and it's worked out well." David Wilson choreographs all of their programs. For pairs, they used The Way We Were for their short and music from Cirque du Soleil for their free skate, including Banquine, Birth and Taiko by Benoit Jutras. "I choose the music for the programs and usually they like it," Barabe said. "For Jessica's singles, I like to have delicate music, but the Cirque du Soleil was more powerful for the pairs." Dube used While I Was Dreaming for her short and Brahms' Lullaby for her long in singles, while Tetrault used Inspector Gadget Techno Remix for his short and Pearl Harbor for his long. "I like to skate to techno music myself," Tetrault said, "but for pairs, you have to have something different." Both skaters like to listen to hip-hop music off ice. Among Tetrault's other off ice interests are shopping, the Internet, going to movies, and collecting hotel cards. Dube enjoys biking, swimming, watching hockey games and going to the movies. Both of the skaters listed the Harry Potter films as among their favorites. Both keep their stuffed animals, with Dube collecting Tweety Birds and Tetrault collecting monkeys. Tetrault enjoys going home to visit his family on holidays. His favorite trip was to Zagreb and he would like to go to Australia. Both of the skaters are still in school. Dube is in the tenth grade at College Saint-Bernard, where her favorite subject is math. Tetrault is in a CEGEP college preparatory program in Drummondville, studying science. Both of them plan to go to university in the future, but neither has planned on a career after skating. |
