I have to admit it has taken me a long while to get my act together and be able to post this. When I spoke with Lyndon it was way back in the summer time when I was at the Liberty Competition. What I like about this man is just about everything. He is polite, knowledgeable and has a killer sense of humour. We had been talking about pairs in general and were both very interested to see the new pairs that were going to appear for the first time at this competition; most namely Canadians Jessica Dube and Sebastien Wolfe and Americans Caydee Denney and John Coughlin.
One of his current claims to fame is the work he does with the terrific Canadian pair Paige Lawrence and Rudi Swiegers. He talks about the chemistry of these two skaters and their tremendous work ethic. Johnston clearly appreciates tallent when he sees it. We have the chance to hear him talk about the changes in pair skating since his day and long distance coaching with Lawrence and Swiegers in his interview.
At the High Performance Camp in September I got the chance to ask a couple of questions from the team. Always lighthearted and fun, Rudi said that their biggest challenge this season was dealing with Paige before starting to laugh. On a more serious note, Paige commented: “We love our long program but it is very challenging. We have gone for a new look this season. We wanted to be more mature and appear softer.”
Rudi says that “we are still discovering. Still finding the character.”
More to come from Lawrence and Swiegers when I am back from the other side of the world.