Fresh from impactful ADHD diagnosis, Reese Rose rises into top-6 final flight at home skating nationals

By Dan Plouffe

Just like the changes of tone in the Adele medley she was skating to, Reese Rose lived many highs and lows during her long program on Sunday at the 2026 Canadian National Skating Championships in Gatineau.

And in that jumble of experiences and emotions, Rose was effectively reliving the past year of her life – which included an ADHD diagnosis – within a four-minute period. But the end result was ultimately another step forward on a path that could land her in contention for Olympic berth in four years’ time.

Rose’s nationals debut at the senior level showcased that potential, as the 17-year-old Gloucester Skating Club athlete earned the chance to skate in the final group of six in the women’s singles event.

“I feel very proud of myself and proud to be on the stage with these competitors,” smiled Rose, who placed sixth out of the 18 national finalists. “I knew I’m in the mix with the big dogs.”

Mirroring her music throughout, Rose took off on an upbeat note while Adele’s Rumour Has It pumped at the Centre Slush Puppie, nailing back-to-back triple toe loops to bring the crowd alive for the first skater of the final session.

Then with a Lutz and a loop, Rose hit her fourth of five sterling triple jumps before her program was a minute old.

When the medley switched to the raw downtrodden Someone Like You, Rose took a dip too. First, her double toe loop after a double axel sent her off-balance towards the boards in front of the judges. Then, she under-rotated her triple Salchow attempt, causing her skate blade to slip on the landing as she crashed down hard on the ice. Rose was shaken for a moment before carrying on.

“It took a little wind out of me,” said Rose, who is generally regarded as a powerful jumper. “As figure skaters, I guess we train for falls like that – we prepare for whatever happens, good or bad – so I knew what to do. That was (supposed to be) my combo jump, so I knew how to continue and add on to the next one.”

As her music switched back to a more lively Rolling in the Deep, Rose came back with a double axel, axel, double toe loop combination and finished with a strong overall performance. She immediately burst into tears after her skate was complete, as complex feelings overtook her.

“I was just overwhelmed with emotion,” explained Rose, who’d felt similarly before she began warmup, when doubts crept in. “I was really happy at the end. It’s an improvement, and that’s exactly what I came here to do.”

WATCH CBC SPORTS | Canadian National Skating Championships: Women’s free program

Rose, who led after short program at the earlier Skate Canada Challenge in Calgary before dropping to eighth overall, drew additional comfort from the fact that it was her senior debut. She reflected that it was “insane” to be skating in the final flight, and recognized that there are many ways she can still grow and perhaps be in position to contend for a 2030 Olympic berth.

“I said, ‘This is such a great opportunity, because this is your journey for the next four years,’” coach Darlene Joseph relayed. “’To be in that last group and experience what it’s like behind the scenes – take it all in, learn from it and just thrive on it, accept the challenge and enjoy the experience, and then just grow from it.’”

With a total score of 174.43 points, Rose placed sixth, while Madeline Schizas booked a return trip to the Olympics with her winning score of 200.86. The four-time national champion from the Milton Skating Club had previously been coached by past local coach Derek Schmidt, who’s been based in the GTA for close to a decade and is currently midway through a two-month safe sport-related suspension.

Kaiya Ruiter, who began skating at Gloucester before moving to Calgary and now Toronto, placed ninth with 168.62.

Rose ranked seventh overall in the long program but stayed .09 points ahead of Gatineau’s Fée Ann Landry for sixth overall on the strength of her acclaimed short program to Dog Days Are Over – a Florence & The Machine song she and her mom were singing along to in the car when it occurred to them that she could potentially skate to it.

The fun, energetic performance featured “world-class work” by choreographer Julie Brault, as described by Joseph, and was admired by judges and fans alike. But no one loved it more than Rose, who hollered “Oh, I’m going to cry,” as her coach noted she’ll work on developing a new program (hopefully featuring a triple axel) next season.

“It’s been two years,” reflected Rose, sounding like she was living her own Someone Like You moment. “I did that whole solo, from choreography to dress to music, and it’s been a learning experience in itself. I’ve had so many ups with this solo, and I’ve had so many good experiences with it.

“It’s gonna be very hard for me to accept that (it’s time to retire the program).”

There was a chance Rose may get to compete once more for March’s World Junior Figure Skating Championships, but she was not among those named on Monday to represent Canada at that event as well as the Four Continents Championships. Landry was selected for the Jan. 21-25 Four Continents alongside Gabrielle Daleman and Sarah-Maude Dupuis.

Rose was already “really thankful” to get “amazing experiences” this season like her Junior Grand Prix event in the United Arab Emirates, her first senior competitions, and getting to skate in front of a home crowd of sorts in Gatineau.

Rose had been robbed of her last chance to skate at the Canadian Championships at home when the novice event was cut from the 2022 nationals in Ottawa in the late days of pandemic lockdowns.

“This was an exciting year. Lots of fans and I mean, hearing people cheer was incredible,” Rose recounted. “It felt kind of like a family on the ice that was cheering and supporting me. I really enjoyed that.”

Katherine Medland Spence of the Nepean Skating Club got to experience that as well, but just for one day.

On Saturday, the 25-year-old skated a clean short program, which was not at her top possible difficulty in order to accommodate a lengthy list of injuries, limitations and challenges, including a breast cancer scare.

Read More: Katherine Medland Spence survives multiple challenges to reach Canadian Skating Championships

In the end, it was vertigo that got the best of her. Ranked 10th after the short, Medland Spence withdrew Sunday morning before in an effort to “listen to my body,” she explained on Instagram.

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Gloucester’s David Shteyngart had a top-10 performance in the senior men’s short program before “a couple unusual errors in the long” dropped him to 13th.

“I think he had a lot to be proud of,” Joseph indicated. “David is gonna keep going, and the best is yet to come.”

Gloucester’s Mila Marleau, who is coached by Nathalie Roy, had been very sick before the holidays and lost a fair bit of strength and training time in advance of nationals, where she placed 16th in the junior women’s competition.

Brianna Dion of the Glen Cairn Skating Club and Jacob Cote of the Nepean Skating Club earned the top local finish as they debuted at the nationals with a silver medal in the junior pairs event.

Read More: Silver medal for junior pairs skaters Brianna Dion, Jacob Cote in Canadian championship debut

ADHD DIAGNOSIS PROVIDED ‘RELIEF’ AND A TURNING POINT FOR REESE ROSE

There was a unique piece to Rose’s journey this season that she felt was instrumental to her successful rise – an ADHD diagnosis.

Rose underlined her appreciation for the support of “the people around me,” particularly for their help during the evaluation process and in implementing changes after it was determined she had Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

A Skate Canada member spotted signs of possible ADHD in observing Rose and suggested she could access psychological services as a member of the NextGen national team.

Rose underwent testing in early 2025 and was formally diagnosed with ADHD, which she said came as “a relief” and offered clues on some struggles she’d endured.

“I was never able to train the way I wanted to,” recalled the skater from Gananoque. “It was always like, things happening too quickly, too much rushing.”

Rose was sometimes prone to having moments of doubt explode into bigger worries and outbursts.

“It was definitely a struggle for me to be all over the place, have high highs and low lows,” noted the Grade 12 St. Peter Catholic High School student. “Now I’m able to stabilize a bit more.”

There were a lot of adaptations to make at the beginning, particularly as she adjusted medications and dosages. With the right formula, it’s allowed Rose to build her confidence and better benefit from coaching support.

“Her consistency has really improved over the last few months,” signalled Joseph, who coaches Rose alongside Adrian Matei. “We’ve just kind of turned the corner on figuring out her process and sticking to the process, but it’s so much clearer for her now than it was a year ago.”

Rose can now better articulate how she’s feeling and better understand her emotions instead of searching for a reason for it.

“Her energy can be for the training now,” Joseph added. “When she’d come to the rink in the afternoons before she was diagnosed, the day could have already had her – from whatever happened at school, or her brain was tired from working hard to try to concentrate and there was nothing left for focus (at practice).”

Like Rose, Joseph feels there have been many positives from the diagnosis, and even the difficulties that came before it.

“Her determination and just perseverance through not always knowing why she would feel the way she did or perform the way she did, or not deliver to her expectations, I think makes her who she is,” highlighted the coach of nearly 40 years. “It’s great she was diagnosed, and now it makes it so much easier, but those experiences and challenges have made her a strong competitor. She never, ever said, ‘I don’t want to do it.'”