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 characterize Sweden and began skating collectively in 2024.
To date 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 reminiscences.
Anna Mackenzie (AM): I began my skating journey at a really early age. My mother was a skating coach that labored at my residence 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 She put me on the ice after I was 1 or 2 years outdated.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 An early reminiscence that I’m keen on is after I was little I used to compete with my brother’s outdated black skates and at competitions they’d have an image of me on show doing a Y-stand in my black skates on the pictures sales space.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 received into skating to make my hockey expertise higher, however then I made a decision alongside the best way 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 quite a lot of enjoyable till I fell down then I couldn’t get again up. My costume was made out of two little one 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 considered doing ice dance. I had all the time simply completed 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 strive skating along with him. I ended up liking it so much so I continued
WL: I initially had a crush on this lady that my Mother was working with and I knew of ice dance and knew that I used to be really stronger in that space of my skating greater than freeskate. I assumed what higher strategy to get to know any person so I requested my Mother then I requested her if she needed to do this too which she stated sure.
AM: Our partnership began with my associate leaving and I had a yr off, we have been each on associate search and searching for companions. We knew one another from earlier than so we related and tried out and it labored out fairly effectively and it simply went from there.
WL: Our partnership initially began out by really realizing one another, Anna’s associate was injured on account of a freeskate damage and I crammed in for him at a coaching camp so she might preserve coaching. As soon as I realized that the associate left her and he or she was searching for one other associate, I assumed 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 associate?
AM: I like that he’s very decided and works actually exhausting. He listens to issues I’ve to say and is all the time form.
WL: She permits me to be myself and we form of play off one another and simply be 2 youngsters on the market making an attempt to have enjoyable and work exhausting and quoting Anna “look skilled”.
What experiences do every of you convey to the partnership?
AM: I’ve a bit extra expertise within the dance facet on account of being a dance main at an arts college. Wesley brings quite a lot of power to our workforce, he’s a really sturdy individual and we are able to do quite a lot of lifts due to it.
WL: My associate undoubtedly brings extra of the classical dance and ballet background to the workforce and extra of the general dance information, I consider I convey extra of the ballroom and management required to permit her to be her finest.
What has been the largest adjustment for every of you thus far within the partnership?
AM: I believe the largest adjustment for us was the gap that my associate needed to journey on the very begin of our partnership. It was a great distance for him to journey and was exhausting for him to maintain going backwards and forwards between residence and the rink.
WL: Our distinction in age and distinction in life. Including onto this, shifting away from residence to skate right here at Ice Dance Elite in Scarborough, Ontario.
Inform us about your coaching website.
WL: It’s a public facility situated in Scarborough, Ontario known as the Centennial area, we particularly prepare 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 prepare 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 outdoors to the health club 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 have been choreographed by our coaches Carol and Juris, however we do have professionals for our remaining music modifying after the fork and knife cuts.
In the event 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 in all probability wish 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 lovely traces and edges.
WL: Andrew Poje as a result of he skated very conventional and was general an excellent function mannequin.
What’s every of you trying ahead to most this skating season? What will probably be your greatest problem(s)?
AM: I believe our greatest problem and aim is to enhance our turns and edge high quality. I’m actually trying ahead to going to worldwide competitions and seeing new locations that I’ll in all probability by no means see once more.
WL: I believe our greatest aim is to convey up our skating expertise to enhance outdoors of our technical components and I’m trying ahead to making an attempt to qualify for Junior Worlds and representing Skate Sweden.
Please share something you desire to our readers to learn about you as a workforce.
WL: We’re very lucky to be representing Skate Sweden internationally and to characterize Anna’s heritage, nothing makes a competitor really feel higher then to know you haven’t solely an important group behind you however a nation. We’d additionally like to get to know anybody that wishes 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 workforce Instagram web page @annawesley_icedance.
