Kevin Reynolds' quiet comeback continues this week at Four Continents

Kevin Reynolds’ quiet comeback continues, much to his own surprise, as he contests the Four Continents figure skating championships in Taipei City this week.

Reynolds, 25, of Coquitlam, B.C., wasn’t certain that he would compete this year at all, after years of heartbreaking setbacks from skating boots that wouldn’t fit his narrow heels (he went through 12 pairs of boots one season without luck) and pain in his hip that he endured for four years. He underwent surgery in April of 2015 to repair a labral tear and to shave off a pesky bone spur.

Reynolds’ coach, Joanne McLeod, wasn’t at all sure that her mop-haired  skater would ever compete again at all.

Pity. Reynolds had been on the cusp of international success, after winning the Four Continents event three years ago, defeating  top Japanese skaters such as eventual Olympic champion Yuzuru Hanyu and world champion Daisuke Takahashi. And he did it on their turf, in Osaka. Then Reynolds went on to finish third in the short program at the world championships in London, Ont., in 2013, before finishing fifth overall. It was a huge breakthrough, but it all disintegrated very quickly the next season.  

So while Patrick Chan is also making a comeback this season under the eyes of the world, Reynolds is, too, albeit a bit under the radar. Both of them will compete this week in Taipei City, but without Hanyu, who is currently occupied with making a movie at home in Japan.

Reynolds was off the ice for seven months after his surgery  but something strange happened. His feet grew, from the relief of all the pressure of being in boots all the time, he said. He was able to get into boots half a size bigger, and because his skate supplier had three or four of his preferred brand boot in stock, Reynolds bought them all up. “I’m good to go for a few years now,” he said.

Reynolds’ progress on the ice improved more quickly than anyone expected. Suddenly he was pain free. McLeod wanted to see him land quads and triple Axels before she got excited, and when he did, she called in choreographers Shae-Lynn Bourne to create his short program and B.C. designer Mark Pillay to do his free skate.

Pillay had never worked with Reynolds before, and didn’t get the call until October, which is very late in the season. They all had to scramble.

He chose a little-known soundtrack from the movie “Grand Piano,” which ironically is about a pianist making a comeback.  Pillay, who has a very dense music library, had shelved that music for a long time, waiting for the right moment and the right skater to bring it out.

“I’ve always loved that music,” he said. “It was a beautiful score.”

Reynolds was captivated by it. Pillay was pleased to find that Reynolds has a very wide range of expression.

“In terms of movement, Kevin’s body is a different kind of body, but it moves in a very interesting way to me,” Pillay said. “He’s a very liquid mover. He floats around. I find it quite haunting and quite beautiful in many respects.” And he believes Reynolds has more to give.

Pillay said he knew Reynolds was going to be a contender at the Canadian championships in Halifax last month, because he had seen the skater’s focus. “He had goals in mind and he was going after them every single day,” Pillay said. “There are a lot of emotions when you are making a comeback, but he was keeping that emotional state in check.”

Pillay doesn’t know that there are many skaters who could have pulled off what Reynolds did in Halifax. Although it was a last-minute decision to enter the championships, Reynolds finished third, only a point away from making the world championship team. Only the top two go to that event in Boston in late March.

“For how many pieces were falling apart for that boy for so many years, a bunch of pieces came back together.” Pillay said. Reynolds has nothing to lose in Taipei City.