Before eventually capturing two national titles and a world bronze with Meagan Duhamel, Eric Radford’s longest-tenured partnership came with Rachel Kirkland, who would for her part later switch to dance. In the four seasons that the two skated together from 2005 through 2009, their accomplishments included silver at juniors at the 2006 Canadian Championships — an event which included a few familiar names — fourth place at the 2007 Nebelhorn Trophy, and sixth at their sole Grand Prix event, 2008’s Skate Canada International. But in the midst of those rather standard competitions, Canadians Kirkland & Radford, in December 2008, participated in one more selective event — the German National Championships.
Shortly after the beginning of their partnership, Kirkland & Radford, working in Canada under Brian Orser’s tutelage, also became part-time students of Ingo Steuer, dividing their training time between Toronto and Chemnitz, Germany and training alongside future four-time world champions Aliona Savchenko & Robin Szolkowy. The two discussed the value of their schedule in a 2009 article for International Figure Skating — published, as it would happen, shortly before a poor showing at the Canadian Championships and their subsequent split. But in that final season, the pair also seized a unique opportunity: few duos can lay claim to tackling two nations’ championships in a single month’s span.