Bruce Waddell

Bruce Waddell (born November 28, 2001) is a Canadian ice dancer. With his partner, Natalie D'Alessandro, he is the 2019 Canadian national junior bronze medalist, the 2019 JGP Italy silver medalist, and a 2020 Winter Youth Olympics bronze medalist in the team event.

For the American politician, see R. Bruce Waddell.
Bruce Waddell
D'Alessandro / Waddell at the 2020 Winter Youth Olympics
Personal information
Country represented Canada
Born (2001-11-28) November 28, 2001
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Home townToronto, Ontario
ResidenceToronto, Ontario
Height1.76 m (5 ft 9 1⁄2 in)
PartnerNatalie D'Alessandro
CoachAndrew Hallam, Tracy Wilson, Joey Russell
Former coachSiobhan Karam, Patty Cranston
ChoreographerRomain Haguenauer
Skating clubToronto Cricket, Skating and Curling Club
Former skating clubGranite Club
Training locationsToronto, Ontario
Began skating2002
ISU personal best scores
Combined total152.76
2019 JGP Italy
Short dance63.25
2019 JGP Italy
Free dance95.73
2020 Winter Youth Olympics
Medal record
Figure skating: Ice dance
Representing  Canada
Representing Mixed-NOCs
Winter Youth Olympics
2020 LausanneTeam

Personal life

Waddell was born on November 28, 2001 in Toronto, Canada. He has two older brothers, twins George and Charles.[1] Charles is a former ice dancer and George currently competes in ice dance, representing Great Britain. He enjoys playing the piano and skate boarding.[2] He is the grandson of NHL hockey star Leonard "Red" Kelly and his uncle Patrick Kelly is an Olympic speed skater.[1][3] Waddell has dual Canadian-British citizenship.[1]

Skating career

Waddell started skating in 2002. Both he and Natalie D'Alessandro trained as singles skaters at the Toronto Cricket, Skating and Curling Club, and initially tried out as a dance team at the suggestion of the TCC's dance coach, Andrew Hallam. D'Alessandro/Waddell were pre-novice champions at the 2016 Skate Canada Challenge, and then won the novice title at the 2017 Canadian Championships.[4] Making their international debut as a dance team, they placed fourth at the 2017 Bavarian Open in the advanced novice division.[5]

2017–18 season: Junior debut

D'Alessandro/Waddell were assigned by Skate Canada to make their debut on the ISU Junior Grand Prix, with one assignment to the 2017 JGP Australia in Brisbane.[5] Placing sixth, Waddell commented that the international competition made them "more nervous than usual."[6] Competing at the 2018 Canadian Junior Championships, they placed eighth.

2018–19 season: Junior national bronze

Given two assignments on the Junior Grand Prix, D'Alessandro/Waddell were fourth at the 2018 JGP Austria and sixth at the 2018 JGP Canada, the latter held in Richmond, British Columbia. Competing at the 2019 Canadian Junior Championships, they won the bronze medal.[7]

2019–20 season: First JGP medal

Again assigned to two events on the Junior Grand Prix, D'Alessandro/Waddell began the season at the 2019 JGP Latvia, where they placed fourth, missing the bronze medal by 0.68 points after sitting in third after the rhythm dance.[8] At their second event, the 2019 JGP Italy, they won the silver medal, the highest colour of medal won by a Canadian dance team on the Junior Grand Prix that season.[9] D'Alessandro commented afterward "seeing your name on the podium with the Canadian flag next to it is a pretty cool feeling."[4]

D'Alessandro/Waddell won the gold at the 2020 Skate Canada Challenge.[10] This would be their final domestic competition of the season, as they were assigned as part of the Canadian delegation to the 2020 Winter Youth Olympics in Lausanne, which both had had as a longtime goal.[4] Competing in the ice dance event in Lausanne, D'Alessandro/Waddell placed third in the rhythm dance despite encountering level issues on several elements.[11] These continued in the free dance, where they placed fifth, and dropped to fourth place overall, 0.91 points behind bronze medalists Wolfkostin/Chen. Waddell said after "there were a few technical errors but I definitely still had a blast." They subsequently won a bronze medal in the team event.[12]

Skate Canada assigned D'Alessandro/Waddell to one of Canada's three berths at the 2020 World Junior Championships in Tallinn, Estonia, and also to compete at the 2020 Bavarian Open in the junior division. They won the bronze medal, narrowly behind fellow Canadians Bronsard/Bouaraguia.[13] D'Alessandro/Waddell finished the season at the World Junior Championships, where they placed eleventh, narrowly behind the other Canadian teams competing, Bronsard/Bouraguia and Makita/Gunara.[14]

2020–21 season

With the COVID-19 pandemic severely constraining competitions, both the ISU Junior Grand Prix and the 2021 World Junior Championships were cancelled. As well, in-person domestic competition was limited, as a result of which D'Alessandro/Waddell competed only once during the season, at a virtually-held 2021 Skate Canada Challenge. They won the gold medal. The 2021 Canadian Junior Championships were subsequently cancelled.[15][16]

Programs
Season Rhythm dance Free dance
2020–2021
2019–2020
[2]
2018–2019
[17]
Short dance
2017–2018
[18]

Competitive highlights

JGP: Junior Grand Prix

With D'Alessandro
International: Junior[19]
Event 15–16 16–17 17–18 18–19 19–20
Junior Worlds11th
Youth Olympics4th
JGP Australia6th
JGP Austria4th
JGP Canada6th
JGP Italy2nd
JGP Latvia4th
Bavarian Open3rd
International: Advanced novice[5]
Bavarian Open4th
National[19]
Canadian Champ.1st N8th J3rd J[lower-alpha 1]
SC Challenge1st P1st N10th J7th J1st J
Team events[19]
Youth Olympics3rd T
3rd P
TBD = Assigned; WD = Withdrew
Levels: P= Pre-Novice; N = Novice; J = Junior
T = Team result; P = Personal result. Medals awarded for team result only.
  1. Event conflict with the 2020 Winter Youth Olympics.

Men's singles
International: Advanced novice[20]
Event 13–14 14–15 15–16 16–17 17–18 18–19 19–20 20–21
Coupe du Printemps2nd
National[20]
Canadian Champ.6th N3rd N11th J7th J4th J
Skate Canada Challenge6th I8th N5th N10th J5th J10th J4th J12th
C = Event cancelled
Levels: I = Intermediate; N = Novice; J = Junior

References
  1. Smith, Bev (August 29, 2017). "The Waddell Brothers: an extraordinary test". Bev Smith Writes.
  2. "Natalie D'ALESSANDRO / Bruce WADDELL". International Skating Union.
  3. "Lausanne 2020 – Report 2 – The Skating Family". Skate Ontario. January 12, 2020.
  4. "Meet Natalie D'Alessandro". Edges of Glory. January 5, 2020.
  5. "Canadian skaters set to begin 2017-2018 ISU Junior Grand Prix season in Australia". Skate Canada. August 21, 2017.
  6. Daignault, Louis (August 26, 2017). "Canadian ice dancers win silver at ISU Junior Grand Prix". Skate Canada.
  7. "Lajoie and Lagha win third straight junior title 2019 Canadian Tire National Skating Championships". Skate Canada. January 16, 2019.
  8. Daignault, Louis (September 7, 2019). "Canadian ice dancers edged for bronze at ISU Junior Grand Prix". Skate Canada.
  9. Daignault, Louis (October 5, 2019). "Kaiya Ruiter shows big improvement in second ISU Junior Grand Prix appearance". Skate Canada.
  10. Daignault, Louis (December 1, 2019). "Madeline Schizas emerges as women's champion at 2020 Skate Canada Challenge". Skate Canada.
  11. Daignault, Louis (January 11, 2020). "Canadian ice dancers open Youth Olympics with strong performances". Skate Canada.
  12. Daignault, Louis (January 13, 2020). "D'Alessandro and Waddell one point short of the podium". Skate Canada.
  13. "Canadian ice dancers shine at Bavarian Open". Skate Canada. February 9, 2020.
  14. "ISU World Junior Figure Skating Championships Results – Junior Ice dance". International Skating Union.
  15. Ewing, Lori (January 16, 2021). "Madeline Schizas moves up 3 spots to win virtual Skate Canada Challenge". CBC Sports.
  16. "2021 Skate Canada Challenge – Results". Skate Canada.
  17. "Natalie D'ALESSANDRO / Bruce WADDELL". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on March 7, 2019.
  18. "Natalie D'ALESSANDRO / Bruce WADDELL". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on December 23, 2017.
  19. "Natalie D'ALESSANDRO / Bruce WADDELL: Competition Results". International Skating Union.
  20. "Bruce Waddell". Stats on Ice.
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