Chan and Howe: Climbing the Ladder in Pairs

Emily Chan and Spencer Akira Howe's partnership almost didn't happen.
 
When Chan contacted Howe about a tryout in early 2019, he said no. Howe was recovering from an injury and unsure of his future plans. However, he soon reconsidered, and the rest is history.
 
Now in their fourth season, Chan and Howe are committed to climbing the competitive ladder together. Last winter, they placed fourth at the 2022 Toyota U.S. Figure Skating Championships and earned silver at the ISU Four Continents Figure Skating Championships 2022. Their path hasn't always been easy, though.
 
When they initially got in touch, Chan and Howe were both considering retiring from skating. Chan was a U.S. champion at the novice and junior levels in 2015 and 2016, but sustained a hamstring injury at senior Sectionals in fall 2018.
 
"I was in a deciding period after that Sectionals," Chan said. "I didn't have the same inspiration that I had previously. I was debating whether to end my skating career and move on to my education."
 
Then a new path opened. Mitch Moyer, who is Senior Director of Athlete High Performance at U.S. Figure Skating, suggested to Chan's coach Alexey Letov that she do a pairs tryout with Howe. Chan had skated pairs previously, including a year at the novice level with Misha Mitrofanov, but stopped after 2016 when her singles career took off. Now, Moyer proposed a return to pairs.
 
"He knew both of us personally, and felt we would make a good pair," Chan recalled. "As soon as I heard that, fireworks shot off in my head, and I thought, 'I have to try.' I really wanted it. I was determined to partner up with Spencer. So I reached out to him."
 
Howe was a U.S. novice men's national medalist in 2012 and competed in ice dance for a year. In 2015, he switched to pairs.
 
"The moment that I had my first tryout, I was set on pairs. I knew it was something I would do for the rest of my career," Howe said. "Growing up, as I worked my way up in singles, I also did ice dance. When I had this pairs tryout, it was like the best of both worlds. I could still jump, and I found great enjoyment in skating with somebody. It was a feeling that I'll never forget. I couldn't imagine being in any other discipline."
 
Howe competed in pairs with Ami Koga for Japan and then with Nadine Wang for the United States. But in 2018, he was sidelined by injury.
 
"I had been dealing with an issue with my right shoulder for a long time. Things were getting worse for me. I wasn't sure if I was going to continue to skate," Howe said. "I was off the ice for six months, trying to recover."
 
That's when Chan reached out. Howe initially declined a tryout because he wanted to focus on his recovery. But Moyer interceded, urging Howe to give it a shot. So he agreed to try out with Chan in Texas, where she was then training.
 
"I went for three days," Howe said. "I was still in pain, so I couldn't do anything but stroking. We decided to have an extended tryout a few weeks later. I went back home, got more treatment on my shoulder, and started to see some improvement. I got back [to Texas], and we decided I would stay. From there came our partnership."
 
Chan and Howe started to prepare for their first season together, but were limited by Howe's injury, which still hadn't healed. 
 
"I couldn't do everything, especially lifts. Some days I would try to lift, and it was too much pain," Howe recalled. "It was a constant struggle at the beginning."
 
Chan, for her part, had to learn senior-level pair elements.
 
"I think I had one overhead lift," Chan said of her time in novice pairs. "So for me, doing lifts was definitely a new thing. And [triple] twist. Learning to rotate sideways, and reorienting for that, was very difficult to adjust to, because when you're a singles skater, you rotate straight."
 
Chan and Howe qualified for the U.S. Championships in their first season (2019-20), but did not compete because Chan fractured her foot a week beforehand. In 2020-21, the pandemic season, they had limited competitive opportunities but finished fifth at the U.S. Championships. Last season, they moved up to fourth and won their Four Continents medal.
 
"We were really grateful for the way everything fell into place last season," Howe said.
 
"It was the first year that we were finally able to gel on the ice," Chan agreed.
 
Chan and Howe hoped for a productive offseason this summer. However, injury woes intruded again. Chan sprained her ankle, while Howe suffered a recurrence of his shoulder injury.
 
"I've had extensive treatment," Howe said of his shoulder. "I've had cortisone shots and platelet-rich plasma (PRP) treatment. I've always tried to avoid surgery. It's not 100%. But comparing two months ago to now, it is substantially better."
 
"With my right ankle being sprained, it compromised training of throws and jumps," Chan said. "I couldn't do those, and, with his right shoulder injured, we couldn't do lifts. So that left us with not much [to practice]."
 
"We weren't taking prolonged periods off. But we would get on the ice, and we couldn't really do much," Howe said. "That, in a sense, can almost be worse. You want to do your job, and do things you need to improve on, but you simply can't. It can feel overwhelming, because your season's coming up. It's the stress that comes with not feeling prepared. I think that's one of the worst feelings that any skater can feel. We're not where we want to be."
 
Chan and Howe had hoped to carry last season's momentum into this year, but they knew they were undertrained. They considered withdrawing from their early-season events – John Nicks International Pairs Challenge and U.S. International Figure Skating Classic – but ultimately decided to compete, placing second at both.
 
"Our first full run-through of our free skate was at John Nicks," Howe revealed. "I wasn't lifting at all before that. It ended up being a success and something that we could learn and grow from."
 
At Skate Canada International, the duo won the silver medal and achieved a new personal-best total score. They're set to compete again this week at NHK Trophy in Sapporo, Japan.
 
"Given our recent injuries, Skate Canada went really well for us," Chan said. "Of course, we would have liked to have a cleaner free skate. We'll try to have a better performance at NHK Trophy."
 
Chan and Howe are excited to compete in Japan.
 
"We know that skating is very, very popular over there," Howe said. "That's super-exciting, because I feel that the crowd is going to be crazy for everybody."
 
Howe also has a personal connection to Japan.
 
"My mother is Japanese, and I have some relatives there," he said.
 
Chan can't wait to make her first trip to Asia.
 
"It's always been my dream to travel to Asia, ever since I was a very little girl. So I'm really excited to go," Chan shared. Her family has Taiwanese and Chinese heritage.
 
For Chan and Howe, the emotional connection they make with audiences means almost as much as the results. The duo are recognized for their artistry and creative programs.
 
"I feel so much energy from being able to touch people with our skating," Chan said. "That's what brings me fulfillment."
 
"Everyone's doing relatively the same elements. So having that artistry and skating aspect is what makes it all worth it, and valuable, from a viewer's perspective," Howe declared. "We're in competitive skating, so elements are very important. But we cherish being creative and being able to touch people. It is definitely a big reason why we skate. Without that, we're just robots doing throws and twists."
 
Although they've faced challenges this season, Chan and Howe are looking on the bright side.
 
"Our sport is such a unique sport, and it's really a blessing, and we're both very grateful to be part of it," Howe said. "Keep your eye out for us, because we want to keep growing and improving every aspect of ourselves as a pair team, and give that to the people watching."