After earning a spot on the novice podium at the 2024 U.S. Figure Skating Championships, the ice dance team of Anaelle Kouevi and Yann Homawoo has made the move to the junior division. Hard work to increase their technical skills and presentation enabled them to qualify for the 2025 U.S. Championships, which will be held in Wichita, Kan., next month.
“At the beginning, [the move to the junior division] was a little intimidating because we’re competing against people [who] are older and more experienced than us, but now [that] we’ve gone through the season and we’re coming to a close, we’ve seen it’s been really good for our experience as skaters and showed us things that we want to improve upon,” said Kouevi. “It’s been a good learning experience and made us confident.”
Related: Figure skater Emmanuel Savary earns a return trip to the U.S. Championships
Kouevi, 13, and Homawoo, 15, train with the Ice Dance Academy at the Ion International Training Center in Leesburg, Va. As the season progressed, they became more comfortable with the difficult technical content, and that allowed them to be more expressive.
“It feels pretty good to be going back to Nationals and skating in front of a big crowd again,” said Homawoo. “This is our second year going to Nationals, so we know how everything works. We just have to train well going into Nationals and do what we know how to do.”
Kouevi and Homawoo both attend regular schools — she’s in eighth grade and he’s in 10th — so they train before and after classes. They said it’s beneficial to have that balance in life.
The medal podium is probably out of reach this year, but there is ample opportunity to learn and to earn the opportunity to compete internationally next season.
“I definitely feel I’ve grown as a partner,” said Kouevi. “About my performance, I believe that it’s pretty easy to see a big difference between last year’s programs and this year’s. I feel junior has allowed me to open my performance aspect. That’s what makes the programs.”
“As a partner, I think I’m growing stronger in the sense of my presence on the ice and trying to perform more,” Homawoo said. “During the season, we’ve definitely gotten a lot stronger because we’re pushing ourselves to do more. Within this season, we’ve pushed each other to be the best that we can be.”