Summer Homick, ice dance partner Nicholas Buelow qualify for ISU Junior Worlds

Summer Homick and Nicholas Buelow competing at the Canadian junior ice dance championships in Gatineau, Quebec. (Danielle Earl Photography Photo)

Jeff Tribe, Post Correspondent

As Summer Homick looked ahead to the ice dance competition at the 2026 ISU Junior Figure Skating Championships in Tallinn, Estonia, she looked back on the humblest of beginnings in the Langton Arena.

For her first carnival, a three-year-old Homick was dressed as Belle from Beauty and the Beast, wearing both a yellow dress and hockey headgear.

“I don’t think it was safe enough to be on the ice without a helmet,” she laughed. “I don’t know if that little girl could see where I am now if she’d even believe it.

“It kind of feels surreal.”

Homick and partner Nicholas Buelow effectively qualified for world juniors with a personal best 157.78-point silver medal performance at Canadian championships, completed Wednesday, Jan. 7 at Centre Slush Puppie in Gatineau, Quebec.

“It’s pretty position-based at nationals,” said Buelow, pleased with subsequent confirmation they will be joining gold medallists Layla Veillon and Alexander Brandys in Estonia, earning the second of two berths. Charlie Anderson and Cayden Dawson finished with bronze medals and a score of 146.31.

“It was a big goal for us,” added Homick. “But we knew we’d have to fight for our spot.”

There are two program components to ice dance competitions, rhythm and free, both containing required elements but the former more technically-based, the latter offering increased latitude to individual team strengths. Homick and Buelow’s 2.5-minute rhythm program was skated, as per 1990s pop music criteria, to The Back Street Boys Larger Than Life and Everybody.

With a world junior berth on the line, Homick admitted to feeling both pressure and nerves heading into the skate. However, once on the ice, she found her ‘centre.’

“We knew we had trust in each other and we’d be fine. We just had to do what we do every day.”

In general, said Buelow, they skated strong technically, although he felt they might have ‘opened up a bit more’ in a couple of sections.

“But other than that, we thought it was a pretty good skate.”

The judges agreed, awarding the pair a personal best tally of 62.77, placing them in second, a narrow 1.54 points up on Anderson and Dawson heading into the free dance portion.

“We were in a good place and we just had to get one more program done,” said Homick.

Their free program was ‘opposite’ to their opener said Buelow, in that they skated a lot freer.

“But there were some technical things that needed to be cleaned up.”

However, the judges would confirm they not only held onto their position with a score of 95.01, they would finish with their highest overall total to date.

“We left some points on the line but after we saw our score, breathed a huge sigh of relief,” said Homick. “And got a personal best too.”

Her career began in Langton, shifting to Tillsonburg under coach Penny Jelsma until Homick was 13, before heading to Brantford and ultimately, Barrie. She began ice dancing with Buelow in April, 2024, their rise to competitive excellence rapid in ‘skating time.’

“We have the same work ethic, the same goals,” said Homick. “Everything just kind of clicked for us.”

Their route to Canadians included 2025 junior grand prix circuit bronze medals in Baku, Azerbaijan and Varese, Italy.

“To achieve that was both a confidence boost and an indication we are going somewhere and doing some good things,” said Buelow.

They also cleared a crucial hurdle at the 2025-2026 Skate Canada Challenge at the Seven Chiefs Sportsplex in Calgary, Alberta. During competition Saturday, Nov. 29 and Sunday, Nov. 30, Homick, who was coming off an injury, and Buelow laid down rhythm and free dance program scores of 62.18 and 94.54 respectively, finishing first out of 15 teams. Their overall mark of 156.72 was 3.54 points ahead of Anderson and Dawson.

“I feel that was a confidence booster we could be in the running for junior worlds,” said Buelow.

The 2026 ISU World Junior Championships are scheduled for March 3-8. Homick and Buelow are planning on competing in the Bavarian Open in Oberstdorf Germany Jan. 27 to Feb. 1 as a tuneup, in addition to ongoing work on speed and connection.

“The teams at junior worlds are going to be strong,” said Homick. “Speed and connection with each other are things that are going to keep us up there with them.”

The main goal heading in, says Buelow, is putting down two programs they can be happy with, with an eye to a top-10 finish.

“We think that could be a realistic goal too.”

“We did what we needed to do,” said Homick. “The pressure is off, now we just have to go to junior worlds and rack up some more points.”

Obviously, they want to skate well she added, and their finish is important in that with higher positioning, the two Canadian teams could earn an additional berth for next year’s junior worlds.

“We hope we’ll be among those three teams as well,” Homick laughed.

In closing, she extended a warm thank-you to family, friends, community and coaches Mitchell Islam, David Islam, Kelly Johnson and James Callan who continue to support her competitive skating journey. Homick looks forward to extending the message in person following an invitation for the pair to perform in this year’s Tillsonburg Skating Club show.

“We are both excited to be able to skate there.”