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After overcoming 'very nasty injury,' young P.E.I. figure skater named Canada Games alternate

Rebecca Reed-Jones (left) and Rowyn in the hallway at Simmons Arena, where the figure skaters train.   (Shane Hennessey/CBC  - image credit)
Rebecca Reed-Jones (left) and Rowyn in the hallway at Simmons Arena, where the figure skaters train. (Shane Hennessey/CBC - image credit)

Rowyn Reed-Jones will not be representing Team P.E.I. at the upcoming Canada Winter Games, but not for any lack of trying.

The 13-year-old suffered an avulsion fracture of the hamstring tendons that broke part of their pelvis 16 months ago, meaning no training for six months.

Rowyn returned to skating in the spring of 2022, and competed all fall with excellent results, but fell during the final skate of the selection competition, meaning they will now be the alternate behind two other Island skaters, Brenley Bissett and Daisy Li.

"The injury happened the second day into last season, so it was October 2021. They were out there practising, and Rowyn went into a sit spin and all of a sudden couldn't get up," said Rowyn's mother, Rebecca Reed-Jones.

"Over the course of about six weeks in physio and following some X-rays, we actually found out that the hamstring muscles had broken off a part of Rowyn's pelvis," Reed-Jones said.

"Unfortunately, it's a very nasty injury. It requires an extensive amount of time. It took six months to heal."

Rebecca Reed-Jones
Rebecca Reed-Jones

Throughout that time of rehabilitation, Rowyn and the family knew that the time was ticking toward the Canada Winter Games.

The COVID-19 pandemic had already thrown a loop at young skaters hoping to compete in 2023, with many doing virtual at-home off-ice training program to keep in shape.

Then, for Rowyn, there was the injury.

"It was horrible. It was the worst possible timing," said Rebecca Reed-Jones. "Rowyn was in a great place for being at the level for Canada Games, and then it took the entire season away. In that situation, you're looking at a loss of conditioning and skills."

Risk of re-injury

Rowyn was back on the ice in March 2022, but everyone knew there was a high risk of re-injury.

Rebecca Reed-Jones
Rebecca Reed-Jones

"We had to take it slow, and Rowyn didn't want to take it slow. Rowyn wanted to get back," said Reed-Jones.

"There's grief, there's sadness, there's anger about it happening to you, but then you have to sit there for six months and realize: 'I'm not progressing and everybody else is,' and then trying to get yourself in the head space of 'Can I make this comeback?'"

I distinctly remember Rowyn saying: 'Yes, because if I don't try, I don't know how far I will get."
— Rebecca Reed-Jones, Rowyn's mom 

"We talked a lot to Rowyn about Canada Games after the injury, and because the time was so compressed, whether that was something they wanted to still do," said Reed-Jones.

"I distinctly remember Rowyn saying, 'Yes, because if I don't try, I don't know how far I will get.'"

The selection process for the Canada Games figure skating team took place over the fall of 2022, culminating with one final competition in January 2023.

A fall during one of the skates left Reed-Jones in third place, which made them the alternate.

Last chance

Rowyn and their family knew this was their last shot at the Canada Games.

"In the next four years, I would be too old for it. So this is the only chance I would get," Rowyn said.

Submitted by Rebecca Reed-Jones
Submitted by Rebecca Reed-Jones

"Since I hadn't had a lot of time, I needed as much time as I could to train as much as I could, because I wasn't where I needed to be, say if it was under different circumstances."

How did it feel to be named an alternate?

Now I've been able to realize how far I've come, even if I didn't make it. — Rowyn Reed-Jones

"Definitely disappointed because it kind of felt like training for the past two years —with COVID and with the injury — felt like a waste in those couple of moments," Rowyn said.

"But now I've been able to realize how far I've come, even if I didn't make it."

Coach J.D. Gilmour has watched Rowyn work through the recovery process.

Shane Hennessey/CBC
Shane Hennessey/CBC

"There's a lot of a lot of stress on athletes, especially preparing for the Games," Gilmour said.

"It was really hard to kind of temper Rowyn's drive to get back on the ice and get training, and making sure that everything we were doing was always in their best interests."

It's the nature of sport that sometimes, on the day that it counts, you don't have the skate that you wanted to.

— J.P. Gilmour, figure skating coach 

"It's the nature of sport that sometimes, on the day that it counts, you don't have the skate that you wanted to, and you accept that, and you move forward," Gilmour said.

"The Canada Games is an exciting opportunity, but it's not the only exciting opportunity that comes up in sport and in life, so just focus in on the rest.

"We're building people, not just athletes, and life is full of little disappointments that you need to work through. I'm so proud of Rowyn for all their accomplishments."