It’s been six years since Emanuel Sandhu last competed competitively, his final event being the 2007 ISU World Figure Skating Championships, where he placed 16th. Just over a month ago though, he returned to competition at the 2013 Skate Canada Challenge in Regina, Saskatchewan.
Sandhu has not returned to competitive skating in order to regain international status or to exceed the goals which he achieved in his past career – he doesn’t need to do this. His skating resume speaks for itself: named to two Olympic Winter Games teams, one ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final gold medal, and three Canadian titles, among various other podium finishes. Sandhu is quick to point out many smaller highlights in his career as well, such as the interpretive programs he enjoyed creating with Joanne McLeod.
His return to competitive skating is also certainly not due to a lack of personal challenges or excitement in his life. Since his retirement in 2007, Sandhu has performed in many skating shows, and also competed on season two of So You Think You Can Dance Canada (SYTYCDC). His sixth place finish on the show propelled him onto a SYTYCDC Tour which lasted almost two years when all was said and done.
With all accomplishments aside, he still felt he had unfinished business in skating “When I stopped last, I didn’t like the way I was feeling about my skating and how I was feeling in terms of the enjoyment I was getting from it.” This has led him to his current mission to figure out what he has been missing, and to give himself an opportunity to end his competitive career in a way that he feels he could be happy with.
Sandhu has not set out specific goals in terms of placements or scores in competition. At this point, he is still feeling out the situation. After all, it has been over half of a decade since he last competed, and he hasn’t been in serious training for very long in the lead-up to his return. His goal at the moment is simply to, “take things day by day and like what I’m doing, in terms of the satisfaction I get from just being on the ice.”
On top of the already daunting task of making a comeback, Sandhu has the added disadvantage of working alone. He is not working with a coach, choreographer, or trainer – “It’s definitely a personal thing.” He has been very grateful to be allowed to train on his home ice, 8-Rinks in Burnaby, B.C. He has also spent some time training at the Trout Lake Community Centre, home of the Grandview Skating Club, and at the Sunset Skating Club in Vancouver.
At this point in his career, he doesn’t necessarily need the technical advice, but is focusing more on his strategy. One of the hardest things for him has been understanding and working under the new judging system, “I did compete in the new system, but it’s changed even since I stopped (skating competitively). It’s been fun but it’s been complex.”
Sandhu will be skating two old programs from his 1999-2000 season, which have been reworked and tweaked to accommodate the new judging system. “I really wanted to do something classical. I was craving it for a really long time.” Initially, he had toyed with the thought of creating new programs but opted not to: “I wanted to do two completely new programs but I felt that by the time I’d organize myself, that I wouldn’t have the time to put together the programs and feel comfortable learning what is almost a new language to me (the new judging system).”
With those programs, Sandhu skated to a fifth place finish at the 2013 Skate Canada Challenge. He was glad to have competed, saying “it was such an interesting and almost surreal feeling,” but naturally his competitive instinct had him wanting to be closer to the top. “It was definitely a fight for me because of the hurdles I had to get over before the competitive season even started, on the ice and off the ice. I’m not where I want to be, but at the same time I feel that it’s important for me to follow through with this plan.”
Now comes the next step in his journey, the 2013 Canadian Tire National Figure Skating Championships, taking place this weekend. Sandhu isn’t afraid to admit how he feels “I’m nervous… to be honest I am, but I’m excited.”
When it comes to the field he is competing against, it’s almost as if they don’t exist to him. “I didn’t really think about it until I saw everybody at Challenge. I’ve been staying to myself because it’s the best way to listen to what’s going on inside.”
This challenge he has brought upon himself doesn’t come without the occasional self-questioning though, saying, “
sometimes I wake up and I’m like ‘this is so crazy’ or ‘I can’t believe I’m actually going to do this’,” but Sandhu is committed to persevere. “It’s about the fight now, and the follow through.”
Moving forward, whenever his return reaches its conclusion, he isn’t completely sure of his plans in skating, but knows he wants to stay involved in the sport: “I will definitely look into doing some coaching and some choreography as well.” For Sandhu, his love of performing will never die: “I’m a performer at heart so whether I’m competing or not, that will always be in my blood and that’s something I see as part of the future.”
Emanuel Sandhu competes at the 2013 Skate Canada Challenge in Regina, SK.
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