Pereira, Michaud carry ‘mom-and-dad energy’ into Skate Canada International

Lia Pereira and Trennt Michaud noticed a shift at Canada’s high-performance camp this August.

The newer figure skaters on the team were asking questions, and the pair realized they’d already lived through most of the answers.

“You realize that, oh, wow, we are pretty seasoned here,” said Pereira, still just 22. “I think that leadership role comes very naturally to us.

“We also skate with some junior and novice pair teams at our club, so we kind of feel that mom-and-dad energy, if you will, every day.”

A year ago, Pereira and the 30-year-old Michaud were mostly outside the spotlight, playing second fiddle to world champions Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps in Canadian pairs.

Now they’re Canadian champions, world bronze medallists and among the national team’s most experienced skaters heading into Skate Canada International, which starts Friday in Kelowna, B.C.

Deschamps announced his retirement this past off-season, while the 43-year-old Stellato-Dudek has returned to compete for her native United States with new partner Danil Siianytsia. Meanwhile, veteran ice dancers Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier, the Olympic bronze medallists, have so far stopped short of calling it a career but decided to skip the Grand Prix season.

“We had so many great mentors and models ahead of us, so to have that role, I wouldn’t say it feels like pressure, I just think it’s really cool how full circle it’s become,” Pereira said during a conference call earlier this month.

The Ontario duo, which trains out of Milton, enters Skate Canada International as co-favourites with Americans Alisa Efimova and Misha Mitrofanov in the field of eight pairs. They have won a Grand Prix event just once, in 2023.

Pereira and Michaud also arrive at Prospera Place coming off a win last month at the Nebelhorn Trophy, a Challenger Series event in Germany, in their first competition since claiming world bronze in March.

“To go out and win our first Challenger was a great confidence boost in our back pocket,” Pereira said. “We both kind of joked around like, ‘OK, we feel actually really nervous and we remember, we know how to compete.’ No matter how many years you do this, you always get the first competition nerves.”

Skate Canada is the second stop on the Grand Prix circuit, the top series in figure skating. The best singles skaters, pairs and ice dancers are assigned to compete in two of the tour’s six events, with the top six entries in each discipline advancing to December’s Grand Prix Final in China.

While Pereira and Michaud hope to return to the Grand Prix Final for the first time since 2023, Michaud said their goal after last season’s breakout — including an eighth-place finish at the Milan Cortina Olympics — is to put out performances fans will remember for “more than just the medals.”

This season, that comes in the form of two new, contrasting programs. The Canadians show they’re “ready to party” in a samba short program, Pereira said, and strike a more stoic, intense tone in their free skate to “Dawn of Faith” by Eternal Eclipse.

Training this summer included improving their movement with Russian ballet instructor Vlad Romanshcenko, who is also trained in samba, and trips to London, Ont., to work with ice dance specialists Madison Hubbell, Adrian Diaz and Scott Moir.

A lot has changed since Pereira and Michaud took the ice at Skate Canada International in Saskatoon last year, but they say they’re still the same, only a little more confident as world bronze medallists.

“When we focus on the things that we control in our process, we feel confident,” Michaud said. “We’ll look back on it and we’re like, ‘Oh, yeah, we did those things.’

“It’s not like we’ve changed as people or as competitors, but it’s definitely just allowed us to have another tool in our toolbox.”

GOOD TO GOGO?

Toronto’s Stephen Gogolev headlines the men’s competition after a breakthrough season of overcoming back problems to place fifth at the Olympics and fourth at the world championships. But the 21-year-old Canadian champion has been limited in training by a lingering foot injury, which will keep him from attempting some quadruple jumps in Kelowna. Most skating fans will get their first look at him this season, apart from his cautious short program at a Skate Ontario event in Barrie, Ont., earlier this month.

Also to watch in the 12-skater men’s field: French champion Kevin Aymoz and Japan’s Rio Nakata, a two-time world junior champion making his senior Grand Prix debut.

SHE’S NEXT UP

Nakata isn’t the only Japanese phenom stepping onto the ice. Mao Shimada, a four-time world junior champion, makes her highly anticipated Grand Prix debut in the women’s event. Shimada, who turns 18 on Friday, went undefeated for four straight years in the international junior ranks and already owns four senior medals (two silver, two bronze) at Japanese nationals. Her challengers for gold include Isabeau Levito of the United States and Estonia’s Niina Petrokina.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 29, 2026.

Daniel Rainbird, The Canadian Press