Emily Samuelson & Evan Bates—Celebrating 10 Years on the Ice
After a successful junior career, Emily Samuelson and Evan Bates are in their second season on the senior circuit internationally and third season nationally, taking the pewter and the silver in Nationals in 2008 and 2009, respectively.
However, including their junior career, 2009 was their sixth consecutive medal at the U.S. Championships, which qualified them for the teams to the 2009 Four Continents Championships where they took the bronze and the 2009 World Figure Skating Championships., where they placed a disappointing 11th.
Both hailing from Michigan, Emily and Evan train at the Ann Arbor Figure Skating Club under Yaroslava Netcheva and Iouri Tchesnitchenko.
Emily and Evan are each other’s second partners; when they each were having trouble with their prior partnerships, their coaches suggested they try each other out and they’ve been together ever since, coming up on their 10 year anniversary soon.
Below, the pair talk about their jump to the senior circuit and what it means to be on Team U.S.A.