Paige Lawrence

Paige Lawrence (born February 22, 1990) is a Canadian pair skater. With former partner Rudi Swiegers, she is the 2011 Four Continents bronze medallist and a four-time Canadian national bronze medallist (2011–14).

Paige Lawrence
Lawrence/Swiegers in 2010.
Personal information
Country represented	Canada
Born	February 22, 1990 Kipling, Saskatchewan
Home town	Kennedy, Saskatchewan
Height	1.52 m (5 ft 0 in)
Former partner	Rudi Swiegers
Coach	Patricia Hole, Lyndon Johnston
Choreographer	Bernard Ford, Lance Vipond, Tammy McKay
Skating club	Wawota FSC
Training locations	Virden, Manitoba Ellenton, Florida
Began skating	1994
Retired	2014
ISU personal best scores
Combined total	168.88 2014 Worlds
Short program	59.84 2014 Worlds
Free skate	113.54 2013 Four Continents
Medal record Representing  Canada Figure skating: Pairs Four Continents Championships 2011 Taipei Pairs Canadian Championships 2011 Victoria Pairs 2012 Moncton Pairs 2013 Mississauga Pairs 2014 Ottawa Pairs

Personal life

Lawrence was born in Kipling, Saskatchewan.[1] She is the third of five children born to Jim, a professional bull rider, and Leanne Lawrence.[2][3] Her parents owned a rodeo production company.[4] Her father also played ice hockey and her mother enjoyed figure skating.[4]

Lawrence competed in barrel racing in her youth.[4] In 2009, she began studying part-time at Brandon University, majoring in kinesiology.[4] After studying sports physiology at the University of Regina,[2] she decided to do post-secondary studies at the University of Calgary.[5][3] In January 2018, she became engaged to be married to a professional bareback bronc rider, Richie Champion.[6][7]

Skating career

When Lawrence was four years old, her parents enrolled her in ice skating, one of few activities in their small town.[4] In the summer of 2005, she began pair skating with Rudi Swiegers, who was seeking a partner who jumped in the same direction as him, a rarity at their club.[4] Although Lawrence is right-handed, she is a clockwise jumper like Swiegers.[8] Despite their coach's limited pairs experience and their rink's extreme cold, the pair did not wish to relocate.[9]

Lawrence/Swiegers had a slow start in the junior ranks, placing 14th at Junior Nationals in 2006 and 2007. In 2008, however, they moved up to 2nd at the junior level and received several international assignments for the 2008–09 season. They were eighth and fifth at their two Junior Grand Prix assignments before finishing fourth at the 2009 World Junior Championships. They placed fourth on the senior level at Canadian Nationals.[4]

In the 2009–10 season, the pair moved up to seniors. They were seventh at the 2009 NHK Trophy, their sole Grand Prix event. They dropped to sixth at Canadian Nationals, and received no further assignments for that season.

Lawrence/Swiegers started the 2010–11 season at the 2010 Skate Canada International, where they won their first international medal, a bronze. They followed this with a fifth-place finish at the 2010 Cup of Russia. At the 2011 Canadian Nationals, they made several mistakes in the long program to drop from second after the short program down to third place; however, this was their first podium finish at the event as seniors.[10] Lawrence/Swiegers were named to the Canadian team for the 2011 Four Continents Championships; they finished second in the short program and fourth in free skating, setting personal bests in both segments, and won the bronze medal.

In late December 2011, Lawrence sustained a concussion in a training accident.[11] The next month, the pair competed at the 2012 Canadian Championships, where they won their second national bronze medal.

Lawrence/Swiegers were named in Canada's team to the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi and finished 14th.[2] The final event of their career was the 2014 World Championships in Saitama, Japan, where they placed 12th. Swiegers then decided to end their partnership.[3] They announced their split on May 8, 2014.[12]

Programs

With Swiegers

Season	Short program	Free skating	Exhibition
2013–2014 [1]	Olivier I Put a Spell on You Rudy's Bock	Oz the Great and Powerful by Danny Elfman
2012–2013 [13]	Robin and Marian by John Barry	War Horse by John Williams	Black Velvet by Alannah Myles
2011–2012 [14]	Beetlejuice by Danny Elfman	D'Artagnan by Maxime Rodriguez The Man in the Iron Mask by Nick Glennie-Smith Nouvelle France by Patrick Doyle
2010–2011 [15]	City Slickers by Marc Shaiman	Van Helsing by Alan Silvestri
2009–2010 [16]	Baton Bunny by Milt Franklyn	Van Helsing by Alan Silvestri
2008–2009 [17]	Orange Blossom Sorbet by Joe Trio	The Painted Veil by Alexandre Desplat

Competitive highlights

Lawrence/Swiegers with the other medallists at the 2010 Skate Canada

GP: Grand Prix; JGP: Junior Grand Prix

With Swiegers

International[18]
Event	2005–06	2006–07	2007–08	2008–09	2009–10	2010–11	2011–12	2012–13	2013–14
Olympics									14th
Worlds									12th
Four Continents						3rd	7th	6th
GP NHK Trophy					7th				6th
GP Rostelecom						5th		4th
GP Skate Canada						3rd	8th	4th	4th
Nebelhorn Trophy							5th
U.S. Classic								2nd	5th
International: Junior[18]
Junior Worlds				4th
JGP Belarus				8th
JGP Germany			4th
JGP U.K.				5th
National[19]
Canadian Champ.	14th J.	14th J.	2nd J.	4th	6th	3rd	3rd	3rd	3rd
SC Challenge							1st
J. = Junior level

References

1. "Paige LAWRENCE / Rudi SWIEGERS: 2013/2014". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on May 28, 2014.
2. "Paige LAWRENCE". sochi2014.com. Archived from the original on March 20, 2014.
3. Kennedy, Patrick (January 20, 2015). "Former skater Lawrence getting back in the saddle". Kingston Whig-Standard. Archived from the original on January 2, 2019.
4. Mittan, Barry (July 19, 2009). "Scion of Rodeo Family Roped into Pairs". Golden Skate.
5. "Paige Lawrence named Athlete Ambassador for the 2015 Canadian Tire National Skating Championships in Kingston". Skate Canada. January 12, 2015.
6. "Figure skater Paige Lawrence fell for a cowboy". CBC News. July 17, 2018.
7. McDaniel, Jason (March 1, 2018). "Rodeo report: The Woodlands' Richie Champion exits bareback competition with injury". Houston Chronicle. Archived from the original on April 4, 2018.
8. Golinsky, Reut (October 28, 2011). "Paige Lawrence and Rudi Swiegers: "We like to get the crowd going"". Absolute Skating.
9. Lawrence, Paige (December 19, 2018). "Small-town kids can make it big, too". cbc.ca. Archived from the original on December 19, 2018.
10. Hoyt, Melanie (January 24, 2011). "Moore-Towers and Moscovitch win Canadian pairs title". Golden Skate.
11. Nealin, Laurie (January 23, 2012). "Virden's Lawrence earns bronze in pairs at nationals". Winnipeg Free Press. Archived from the original on January 24, 2012.
12. "Saskatchewan pair skaters Paige Lawrence and Rudi Swiegers end partnership". Skate Canada. May 8, 2014.
13. "Paige LAWRENCE / Rudi SWIEGERS: 2012/2013". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on March 12, 2013.
14. "Paige LAWRENCE / Rudi SWIEGERS: 2011/2012". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on April 19, 2012.
15. "Paige LAWRENCE / Rudi SWIEGERS: 2010/2011". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on August 16, 2011.
16. "Paige LAWRENCE / Rudi SWIEGERS: 2009/2010". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on March 29, 2010.
17. "Paige LAWRENCE / Rudi SWIEGERS: 2008/2009". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on May 1, 2009.
18. "Competition Results: Paige LAWRENCE / Rudi SWIEGERS". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on January 14, 2015.
19. Paige Lawrence / Rudi Swiegers at Skate Canada at the Wayback Machine (archive index)

External links

Media related to Paige Lawrence at Wikimedia Commons

• Paige Lawrence / Rudi Swiegers at the International Skating Union