Welcome to IDC’s New Group Collection! For this collection, we interview athletes who entered the 2025-26 season in a brand new partnership, or debuted final season. On this interview, we meet Anna Mackenzie & Wesley Lockwood, junior ice dancers who signify Sweden and began skating collectively in 2024.
Thus far this season, Mackenzie & Lockwood have completed sixteenth at Junior Grand Prix Ankara and twelfth at Junior Grand Prix Baku.
Inform us about your particular person skating journeys, together with any early particular recollections.
Anna Mackenzie (AM): I began my skating journey at a really early age. My mother was a skating coach that labored at my house membership. She nonetheless does. She put me on the ice after I was 1 or 2 years outdated. I began in free skating and began ice dancing at age 9. I noticed that I had extra enjoyable in ice dance and formally left behind my free skate journey at age 12 to focus extra on ice dance. An early reminiscence that I’m keen on is after I was little I used to compete with my brother’s outdated black skates and at competitions they’d have an image of me on show doing a Y-stand in my black skates on the pictures sales space.
Wesley Lockwood (WL): I began skating after I was 2 and a half, my Mother was my coach rising up and I initially acquired into skating to make my hockey abilities higher, however then I made a decision alongside the way in which that It was not for me and I continued in determine skating. A particular reminiscence of mine was for an ice present after I was 5. I used to be the cartoon character known as Peter Puck, it was a variety of enjoyable till I fell down then I couldn’t get again up. My costume was made out of two youngster wading swimming pools and went previous my knees and elbows made by my Dad.
What drew you to ice dance?
AM: At first, I by no means actually thought of doing ice dance. I had at all times simply executed free skating. I keep in mind when my coach got here to me with one of many guys from my rink and instructed me I used to be going to attempt skating along with him. I ended up liking it rather a lot so I continued
WL: I initially had a crush on this woman that my Mother was working with and I knew of ice dance and knew that I used to be truly stronger in that space of my skating greater than freeskate. I believed what higher method to get to know any individual so I requested my Mother then I requested her if she wished to do this too which she mentioned sure.
AM: Our partnership began with my accomplice leaving and I had a 12 months off, we had been each on accomplice search and searching for companions. We knew one another from earlier than so we related and tried out and it labored out fairly properly and it simply went from there.
WL: Our partnership initially began out by truly realizing one another, Anna’s accomplice was injured attributable to a freeskate damage and I crammed in for him at a coaching camp so she might maintain coaching. As soon as I realized that the accomplice left her and she or he was searching for one other accomplice, I believed I ought to ask her mom and older brother as I had been mates with him for over a decade on the time as a result of we competed dance and freeskate in opposition to one another for a few years. Including onto this, as soon as we began dancing collectively, we by no means regarded again.
What do you want most about dancing together with your new accomplice?
AM: I like that he’s very decided and works actually laborious. He listens to issues I’ve to say and is at all times variety.
WL: She permits me to be myself and we type of play off one another and simply be 2 children on the market attempting to have enjoyable and work laborious and quoting Anna “look skilled”.
What experiences do every of you carry to the partnership?
AM: I’ve a bit extra expertise within the dance facet attributable to being a dance main at an arts faculty. Wesley brings a variety of power to our staff, he’s a really sturdy individual and we will do a variety of lifts due to it.
WL: My accomplice positively brings extra of the classical dance and ballet background to the staff and extra of the general dance data, I consider I carry extra of the ballroom and management required to permit her to be her greatest.
What has been the most important adjustment for every of you to this point within the partnership?
AM: I believe the most important adjustment for us was the space that my accomplice needed to journey on the very begin of our partnership. It was a great distance for him to journey and was laborious for him to maintain going backwards and forwards between house and the rink.
WL: Our distinction in age and distinction in life. Including onto this, transferring away from house to skate right here at Ice Dance Elite in Scarborough, Ontario.
Inform us about your coaching website.
WL: It’s a public facility positioned in Scarborough, Ontario known as the Centennial area, we particularly practice on the Ice Galaxy which is an ice pad that’s Olympic dimension however has no boards which permit us to hop on and off rapidly to permit extra groups to coach. We practice for between 2-4 hours a day on ice with 3 occasions per week having an off ice class being both power, ballet or ballroom. We go exterior to the fitness center individually at our personal occasions.
Who’re your coaches?
WL: Our coaches are Carol and Jon Lane with Juris Razgulajevs.
Who choreographed your packages? Is another person arranging your music?
WL: Our packages had been choreographed by our coaches Carol and Juris, however we do have professionals for our remaining music enhancing after the fork and knife cuts.
When you might have a lesson with any ice dancer previous/current, who wouldn’t it be? Why?
AM: If I might have a lesson with any ice dancer I’d most likely need to have one with Paul Poirier, we skate with him at our rink. He’s actually enjoyable and such a pleasant individual to speak to, he’s additionally very expert and has stunning traces and edges.
WL: Andrew Poje as a result of he skated very conventional and was total an excellent position mannequin.
What’s every of you wanting ahead to most this skating season? What can be your largest problem(s)?
AM: I believe our largest problem and aim is to enhance our turns and edge high quality. I’m actually wanting ahead to going to worldwide competitions and seeing new locations that I’ll most likely by no means see once more.
WL: I believe our largest aim is to carry up our skating abilities to enhance exterior of our technical parts and I’m wanting ahead to attempting to qualify for Junior Worlds and representing Skate Sweden.
Please share something you prefer to our readers to find out about you as a staff.
WL: We’re very lucky to be representing Skate Sweden internationally and to signify Anna’s heritage, nothing makes a competitor really feel higher then to know you haven’t solely a terrific group behind you however a nation. We might additionally like to get to know anybody that desires to get into ice dancing and if anybody has questions, please don’t be a stranger.
You may comply with Anna and Wesley’s progress this season by visiting their staff Instagram web page @annawesley_icedance.
