2016 U.S. JUNIOR PAIRS CHAMPIONS POSSIBILITIES ABOUND Weinberg, Fernandez share vision for the future by DAVE LEMIEUX Two skaters performing as one is the essence
of pairs skating. It takes a lot of time together on and off ice
for teams to hardwire the lines of communication and intuitive connections that make seamless coor- dination and flawless pairs performances possible. Together for little more than a year, 2016
U.S. junior pairs champions Joy Weinberg, 19, and Maximiliano Fernandez, 20, are way ahead of schedule. Most of the time. Which is why Joy Weinberg nearly missed
her flight to Chicago for her brother’s going-away party on a weekend in early June. “Max was starving so he was trying to eat a
sandwich, give me driving directions and talk to an interviewer on the phone and we missed our turn on the way to the Tampa airport,” Weinberg said.
“I got to the airport a half hour before my
flight and had to beg the security people to let me through,” she added, still breathless a day after making it safely to her suburban Chicago home. Weinberg and Fernandez’s rise up the pairs
ranks have left spectators just as breathless. In September 2015, barely five months af-
ter they began skating together, they took silver at the Junior Grand Prix event in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Tey went on to finish seventh at the JGP
Torun Cup in Poland, win the Eastern Sectional title, claim the U.S. junior crown in January and place 10th at the World Junior Championships in March. “Everything about it’s been great. Really.
On and off the ice,” Fernandez said between bites of his sandwich and giving Weinberg directions. “Te way we talk is honestly the best thing — our communication and being the same age and hav- ing the same goals.” “We were comfortable together right off the
bat,” Weinberg agreed. “We’d competed against each other so we were familiar with each other. Once we met, it was easy to get along. We’re al- most the same age and there are other similari- ties — we are family-oriented and went to public school. We both have a skating life and a life out- side skating.” Fernandez’s life was entirely outside figure
skating until he turned 13, and switched over from hockey. “I started playing hockey when I was 4 and
played until I was 13 and my team broke up,” he said. “My sister Daniella said, ‘Why not trying fig- ure skating?’ I said, ‘Sure,’ and I fell in love with the sport.” Her life outside skating was the reason for Weinberg’s recent weekend break from training
34 AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2016
Joy Weinberg and Maximiliano Fernandez deliver a triple twist in their short program.
with Fernandez at the Southwest Florida Figure Skating Club in Ellenton, Florida. “My brother Issac is going to Israel for
months and months on an internship, and I want- ed to see him before he left,” Weinberg said. When working together, Weinberg and Fer-
nandez agree on everything. Almost. “Te best part of working with Joy is her
enthusiasm and her smile,” Fernandez said before directing her to Turn left here! “But I’m definitely the leader.” “I gave him a face on that one,” Weinberg
said from Chicago the next day. “I beg to differ on that. We both help each other. He’s been in Florida longer than me so he’s sometimes a little more comfortable there. I take control, too, when I need to.” Te friendly give-and-take between them seems to keep the lines of communication wide
open and the two moving briskly forward. He may not be in charge quite as much as
he thinks, but Fernandez has definitely had a big effect on her, Weinberg said. “Right away I noticed how positive Max
was,” Weinberg said. “I really appreciate that. Es- pecially in figure skating, or in any sport, it’s easy to dwell on the negative and overthink things. Max makes it easier to not think so much. Before teaming with Max I had goals, but I had them in my head. I never saw them as possible. With Max they’ve become much more possible.” Weinberg got a fascinating glimpse of the
possibilities at the World Junior Championships in Debrecen, Hungary. “Tat was amazing,” Weinberg said. “It was
really cool to see the best in the world — in the pairs, men’s, dance and ladies events — up close. It’s one thing to watch on TV and another thing to see it in person. Max and I enjoyed it and en- joyed being there with our families.” After a year of whirlwind success as juniors,
the two are approaching the steep learning curve of competing as seniors with the same infectious, irrepressible good nature. “[Our trainer] Matt Eaton says, ‘You have to
make yourself uncomfortable to grow. Tat’s the most powerful thing we’ve been trying to go by,” Fernandez said. “We’re challenging ourselves to learn something new every day.” Given their success during their brief time to-
gether, the pair’s growth potential seems unlimited. “It really does take a lot of practice,” Wein-
berg said. “It doesn’t happen overnight. It’s hard, especially today with things like social media, more than ever you get instant gratification out- side of skating where it takes months or years to accomplish some things. And you have to keep a balance — training the harder elements and train- ing the elements you already have to make them even better.” Tey are taking the long view of the upcom-
ing season as seniors, approaching it as only the first of many together. “We want to have fun this season and skate
well and put out good, consistent performances,” Weinberg said. “As well as adding the harder ele- ments, we need to be consistent.” “We have short-, medium- and long-term
goals,” Fernandez said. “Short-term we just want to develop our skating skills and bring our score up even higher. Middle-term, we want to get ev- ery triple element consistent. Long-term would probably be having a quad and bigger and better elements and becoming one of the top three se- niors pairs in the world.” As Weinberg said, it all seems much more
possible now.
JAY ADEFF/U.S. FIGURE SKATING
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