Kristy Sargeant and Kris Wirtz are among figure skaters turning the canal into a Fantasy on Ice
By Laura Copeland
As figure skaters Kristy Sargeant and Kris Wirtz take to the ice on Ottawa’s Rideau Canal the Winterlude crowd cheers them on, the sound of the applause muffled by the thick gloves and mittens worn for protection from the windchill.
The duo, two-time Canadian champions in pairs skating, wow the crowd with lifts, jumps and spins, ending the routine in an embrace. But that embrace doesn’t end when they step off the ice. Sargeant, 26, and Wirtz, 30, are not only pairs on the ice, they are husband and wife. The couple have been skating together since 1993 and were married last May.
“(Kristy) asked me in a roundabout way, saying ‘if you’re not marrying me I’m gonna leave.’ So I asked,” said Wirtz laughing.
In town for Winterlude last weekend, they skated in the Royal Bank’s Fantasy on Ice show.
Between ice shows, training, and marriage, Sargeant and Wirtz spend a lot of time together, which, they admit, can make life hard at times.
“We’re together 24 hours, seven days a week,” says Wirtz. “When we disagree or when we don’t agree with the other one, we say it . . . we say it, it’s over. Maybe sometimes it drags on, but it’s done. There’s no secrets to be held. If there is, then I don’t think it would work.”
“We’re both stubborn,” adds Sargeant.
The two maintain that relationship problems are rare and only crop up once in a while. They believe having some time apart from each other helps
“I’ll be at the rink . . . and then I’ll drop (Kristy) off at home and I say ‘I think I should be alone’ and I go golfing or something,” says Wirtz.
Sargeant says she keeps busy with mothering duties. “We have a daughter so that’s a big part of my work.”
But for now, Sargeant and Wirtz, who train in Montreal and are coached by Wirtz’s brother Paul, will be concentrating on the upcoming Four Continents competition. Their second-place finish at the Canadian championships also bought them a ticket to the world championships in Nice, France at the end of March. The couple’s strategy for Nice is simple: “There’s always the goal of being top five, but (we want to) just give two great performances that people remember us by,” says Sargeant.
Sargeant says it’s not TV cameras or spectators that make skating difficult, it’s what’s going on in the mind. “That’s all it is, is psychological, at this point. When you’re younger it’s more training, at this point it’s more mind.”
Sargeant says she and Wirtz will continue to train regularly until the world championships and they may make a few visits to Ottawa to work with their choreographer Marina Zoueva. They will also be skating in a few shows like the one at Winterlude.
However, Wirtz has different, somewhat mischievous ideas for their training. “Train?” he asks. “We train? I thought we were leaving . . . we were going to Hawaii.”
Despite their many years of skating, Sargeant and Wirtz are first-timers on the canal and they would recommend the Winterlude show to other skaters.
“It’s nice to skate outside when its sunny,” says Sargeant. “It’s fun, and all the people obviously enjoy it.”
Royal Bank’s Fantasy on Ice will continue for the next two weekends of Winterlude, featuring performances by skaters from across Canada.