By Gina Capellazzi, Team FSO website administrator
Photos by Robin Ritoss
Editor’s Note: This interview was conducted at the U.S. Championships in Wichita, Kansas, on Jan. 26, just days before 28 members of the figure skating community, who were on their way home from the National Development Camp in Wichita, were killed in an aviation crash in Washington, D.C. Jan. 29. Our thoughts and prayers remain with the figure skating community during this time.
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2024 World junior bronze medalists Naomi Williams and Lachlan Lewer are heading back to the World Junior Championships, hungry for their second Junior World medal.
“We want another medal, yeah, hopefully a better one this time,” Lewer pronounced.
“Hopefully, a gold or silver,” Williams added.
Whatever happens, the competition will be the culmination of the team’s junior career, as the two progress into the senior ranks.
How it all started
Born in Seoul, South Korea, Williams, 18, was adopted at four months old and grew up in Boston, Mass.,with her parents, Danielle and Michael, and younger sister, Shayla. Williams said she started skating because her grandmother had a pond and that her whole family was hockey players.
“I kind of had to learn how to skate,” she said of her initial start in skating. “And then I loved figure skating.”
For Lewer, 22, who grew up in Brisbane, Australia, he said his mom, Gabrielle, took him to an ice rink one day when he was three years old, and that he just fell in love with it.
“I have been skating ever since,” he said.
Though worlds apart, Williams and Lewer found themselves on the same ice in 2022. After skating in Australia for 13 years, Lewer moved to the U.S. in 2020. He began training in Colorado Springs under coach Drew Meekins, the 2006 World Junior Pairs Champion, and skated with Campbell Young for Australia. But when the partnership ended in August 2022, Lewer was looking for a new partner.
“Drew was like,’I have this girl here, she’s from Boston, Do you want to skate for the U.S?’ he recalled.
Just a few months earlier, Williams had moved from Boston to Colorado Springs to find a pairs partner after previously competing as a singles skater. The two said they didn’t even have a tryout, but just started skating together. Within a week, they put a program together and tested. Then three weeks later, they competed in their first competition, Skate St. Moritz in Oakland, California, to qualify for the U.S. Pairs Final. It is worth noting that the two did this all while Williams was still learning the basic pairs elements, such as lifts, twists, throws and death spirals.
The new team continued their full speed ahead approach. Two months later, they competed in the junior event at the U.S. Pairs Final in Lansing, Michigan, and finished in second place to qualify for the 2023 U.S. Championships in San Jose, California. At the Final, the team also upgraded their twist from a double to a triple and added a triple jump combination.
In San Jose, the team claimed another silver medal and was named to the World Junior Championships. As a new team, who had not yet competed internationally, the two needed to obtain the minimum technical score for Junior Worlds. So they were subsequently sent to Bavarian Open in Oberstdorf, Germany, where they won the gold medal in the junior pairs’ event. At their first World Junior Championships, they finished 7th.
“That was a really cool experience, ” Lachlan said of competing at the World Junior Championships in Calgary.
A minor setback
But just as things were looking up for this new team, Williams and Lachlan were forced to put the brakes on. In their second season together, they were assigned to compete on the Junior Grand Prix Series (JGP), but were forced to withdraw because Williams tore a ligament in her ankle.
“We were hoping that Naomi could come back,” Lachlan said, explaining they had hoped to compete at a later JGP event. “But it ended up that she needed to get surgery. So, we thought that the season was done, but then she was able to make a really good recovery.”
“It was really upsetting because I didn’t want to upset Lachlan and I didn’t want to upset Drew (Meekins),” Williams said. “I felt that it was going to be our season in juniors and for us to really build a name for ourselves for that Junior World Championships. I was really blessed to be working hard on recovery, doing everything right, making sure I didn’t get injured again, all these things to come back really strong for Junior Worlds.”
“When Naomi got injured, I wasn’t upset with her or anything like that, ” Lewer added. ” She was obviously devastated, because no one wants to get injured, especially when we have such a big season upcoming. I was just really proud of how quickly she was able to recover and get that foot back in shape.”
After six weeks off the ice, Williams returned to training in late October and the team was able to compete at the junior pairs event at the 2024 U.S. Championships in Columbus, Ohio. They took their second consecutive silver medal to punch their ticket to their second consecutive World Junior Championships.
At the 2024 World Junior Championships, Williams and Lewer claimed the bronze medal, finishing behind their teammates Olivia Flores and Luke Wang. It marked the first time that Team USA has won two pairs medals at a World Junior Championships since 2006, when Julia Vasslov and Williams and Lewer’s coach, Drew Meekins, secured gold, and Kendra Moyle and Andy Seitz took silver.
“To win the bronze at Junior Worlds after we didn’t even think we would have a season was just a surreal experience. It was amazing,” Lewer exclaimed.
“It meant so much to me, especially after being off the ice for so long,” Williams added.
Senior debut
After two seasons on the junior level, Williams and Lewer made the leap to senior for their third season together. In September, they made their senior international debut at the John Nicks Pairs Challenge, a Challenger Series event for pairs held in New York City. They finished the event in 11th place. The following month, they took home the bronze medal at Tayside Trophy in Dundee, Scotland. The team then made their Grand Prix debut at Finlandia Trophy, where they finished in eighth place. It was the first time they ever competed at a Grand Prix event, either junior or senior.
“It was incredible because we never got to do a Junior Grand Prix,” said Lewer. “Competing against some of the top pair teams in the world, that was such an amazing experience. Watching them skate, watching them compete, how they hold themselves, how they practiced on the ice, just watching what they did, I think that was such a great experience because it also motivated us to want to be better as well.”
“Meeting Deanna (Stellato-Dudek) and watching athletes much more experienced, it was really amazing,” Williams shared. “After this [Olympic] quad, we’re not sure who’s gonna stick around and who might retire. So meeting all these people at senior now, before the new cycle starts, is really, really meaningful, especially to me, because I want to be like these people someday, and seeing what they’re like before their Olympic year is really motivating.”
A unique mindset
Following Finlandia Trophy, Williams and Lachlan’s next event was the U.S. Championships in Wichita, Kansas. The team finished seventh in both segments, but finished sixth overall, which was their goal for their first senior Nationals.
“We didn’t have the most perfect skates, but I’m very happy with how we did. I couldn’t have asked for it to be any better,” Lewer told Figure Skaters Online. “We were training well all week. Our coaches were happy. We were happy. It was such a great experience.”
Both Williams and Lewer noted the crowd inside the InTrust Bank Arena in Wichita as motivation.
“I love performing in front of a big crowd, it’s part of where I get so much energy and my expressiveness,” Williams exclaimed. “We’ve never competed in front of that large of a crowd in the free skate, and seeing everyone there, everyone watching us really kept me going through that whole four minute program.”
“Like Naomi said, I think a big crowd is what helps motivate me. I love performing and I love showing off what we do because skating is such a hard sport, so when we get to show that off to people, and people enjoy it, that’s what really gets me going,” Lewer added.
Lewer has a unique mindset for preparing for a competition. Like most skaters before a competition, he likes to spend some time by himself mentally preparing and listening to music. But when he comes together with Williams, he applies his boat analogy. He explained to the media after their short program in Wichita that he thinks of his partner as the ocean, and that like the ocean at times, she can be calm before an event, but at other times, she can be out of control, like the choppy waters of the ocean.
“For the guy, we are the big cruise ship,” Lewer explained of his analogy. “We have to be calm and level, and always ride that wave with our partner and then be there for them at the same time.”
“I wouldn’t say I’m out of control, but sometimes I’m happy and then the next minute I’m nervous, and then maybe, I’m upset, and then really happy. And it’s always like this, and no matter what I’m feeling, Lachlan is like, ‘I’m totally with you,’ Williams expressed.
Looking ahead
Williams and Lewer found out they were selected to compete at the 2025 World Junior Championships in Debrecen, Hungary, during gala practice at the U.S. Championships. At the time, they were with the newly crowned U.S. Junior Champions Reagan Moss and Jakub Galbavy, who will be making their first trip to the World Junior Championships. The two teams will also be joined by Flores and Wang.
Williams and Lewer are not bashful when talking about their goals beyond the World Junior Championships. While the two are looking ahead to next season, they also have their sights set on the 2030 Winter Olympics in the French Alps. Currently, Lewer, an Australian citizen, has his green card in the U.S.
“We’re always looking ahead to the next step, so we’re hoping to get some more Grand Prix assignments, and I think our goal for next season is, obviously not knowing who’s going to stick around after the 2026 Olympics, is really to build our name for the next quad,” Williams shared. “We want to go for the 2030 Olympics, so I think really building our name for the next Olympics cycle, start really building up to, hopefully, be at the top is a really big goal for the next season and the season after that.”
Off the ice
Outside of skating, Williams is studying exercise science at the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs and hopes to become a physician’s assistant.
“It’s definitely different than high school,” Williams explained of balancing college and skating. “High school, I was all online and for this, I’ve started going in for some classes. Last semester, most of my classes were in person and it’s definitely different, because I have to go to school and then come home and do more school. It’s very difficult. I was really happy that my school schedule was able to be so adaptable with my skating schedule. That definitely helped.”
When she’s not working on school work or at the rink training, Williams likes reading books and doing brain puzzles, like Sudoku and crossword puzzles. Recently, she finished reading the Shatter Me series. Lewer said his interests align with that of a typical 21-year-old young man. He likes building Legos, playing video games, eating food and watching football. He’s a huge fan of the Washington Commanders, who were playing in the NFC Championship game during the U.S. Championships. Lewer was proudly wearing his Washington Commanders hat during the interview with Figure Skaters Online.
Though they may have different interests off the ice, the two definitely find their connection on the ice.
“Our personalities just get along so easily and so well, and I think we get along so well as a team,” Lewer said.
“I think one of the most important things about skating with someone in pairs is making sure you’re compatible, personality wise, and I think that’s really helped us improve our skating.”
You can watch Williams and Lewer compete at the ISU World Junior Championships, Feb. 25-March 2, on YouTube and on Peacock (in the U.S.).
