Maximiliano Fernandez (born September 29, 1995) is an American pair skater. With his current skating partner, Valentina Plazas, he is the 2024 U.S. national bronze medalist and a three-time Challenger Series medalist.
With his former partner, Joy Weinberg, he is the 2016 U.S. junior national champion and finished in the top 10 at the 2016 World Junior Figure Skating Championships.
Personal life Fernandez was born on September 29, 1995, in Hialeah, Florida, to parents Stella, a former ballet dancer, and Alex. He has a sister, Daniella, who also competed in figure skating. Fernandez is of Peruvian descent on his mother's side, and Cuban descent on his father's.
Fernandez is a 2014 graduate of Coral Reef Senior High School and currently attends Miami Dade College.
Career Early career
Fernandez's first pairs partner was Cirinia Gillett with whom he won the silver medal at the 2014 U.S. Novice Championships.
In 2015, following his split with Gillett, Fernandez teamed up with Joy Weinberg. They won the 2016 U.S. Junior Championships and competed at the 2016 World Junior Championships, finishing tenth.
2020–21 season: Debut of Plazas/Fernandez In February 2020, Fernandez teamed up with Valentina Plazas.
Plazas/Fernandez debuted together at the 2021 U.S. Championship Series on the junior level, winning the bronze medal. They went on to win the bronze medal at the 2021 U.S. Junior Championships.
2021–22 season Plazas/Fernandez began their season by winning the silver medal at both the 2021 USCS Nevada and USCS Massachusetts. Debuting as a senior pair team at the 2022 U.S. Championships, Plazas/Fernandez finished sixth.
2022–23 season: Senior international debut
Plazas/Fernandez began the season at the 2022 John Nicks Pairs Challenge and the 2022 CS U.S. Classic, winning bronze at both events. They then went on to place fifth at the 2022 CS Finlandia Trophy.
Making their debut on the Grand Prix series, Plazas/Fernandez competed at 2022 Skate America, where they finished sixth. Additionally, following they were called up to compete at 2022 Skate Canada International following the withdrawal of U.S. pair team McBeath/Bartholomay. They placed fifth at the event.
At the 2023 U.S. Championships, Plazas/Fernandez placed fifth. Plazas/Fernandez were then selected to compete at the 2023 Four Continents Championships in Colorado Springs, Colorado, where they finished fifth, scoring a personal best combined total score in the process.
2023–24 season: U.S. national bronze Beginning the season at the 2023 CS Nebelhorn Trophy, Plazas/Fernandez were seventh. On the Grand Prix, they were fourth at the 2023 Skate America. They finished fourth as well at the 2023 Grand Prix de France. “We worked on our jumps with Tomas Verner and hope to work with him again,” said Fernandez. “The technical is our weak spot.” At the 2023 CS Golden Spin of Zagreb, Plazas/Fernandez placed second, earning their second ISU Challenger Series medal.
In advance of the 2024 U.S. Championships, Plazas/Fernandez were preemptively named to the American team for the 2024 Four Continents Championships, which were to be held in Shanghai the weekend after the national championships. At the national championships, they came fourth in both segments and won the bronze medal. Fernandez called it "surreal" and "a very humbling experience" to finally reach the national championship podium. They were ninth at the Four Continents Championships.
Plazas/Fernandez concluded the season by making their World Championship debut at the 2024 edition in Montreal. They finished thirteenth.
2024–25 season: Struggles with injury Although Plazas/Fernandez were scheduled to compete on the Grand Prix circuit at the 2024 NHK Trophy and the 2024 Cup of China, they announced via their shared Instagram account in early October that they had withdrawn from both events due Fernandez being plagued by an injury. The pair ultimately sat out for the remainder of the season to focus on Fernandez's recovery.
2025–26 season: Return to competition Plazas/Fernandez returned to competition in September 2025 at the 2025 CS Kinoshita Group Cup, where they placed fourth. They followed this up with another fourth-place finish at the 2025 Tayside Trophy.
Selected as host picks at 2025 Skate America, Plazas/Fernandez finished the event in seventh place. They subsequently went on to win the silver medal at 2025 CS Golden Spin of Zagreb.
In January, Plazas/Fernandez competed at the 2026 U.S. Championships, where they finished in sixth place.
2026–27 season Plazas/Fernandez opened their season placing 5th at the 2026 Kinoshita Group Cup.
Programs Pair skating with Valentina Plazas Season Short program Free skating Exhibition 2025–2026 Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini
Never Enough Lion King Burden of Pride Reflections of Mufasa Rafiki's Fireflies A Story of a Great King Remember Quizás, Quizás, Quizás 2024–2025 Never Enough Dune Gob Jabbar Ripples in the Sand Leaving Caladan Seduction A Time of Quiet Between the Storms Kiss the Ring 2023–2024 Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini Top Gun: Maverick The Man, the Legend / Touchdown Hold My Hand Dos Oruguitas 2022–2023 Maria Captain America Suite Avengers Suite 2021–2022 Wedding Pas de Deux Aladdin 2020–2021 Steppin' Out with My Baby
Competitive highlights
Pair skating with Valentina Plazas
Pair skating with Joy Weinberg JGP: Junior Grand Prix International: Junior Event 15–16 16–17 Junior Worlds 10th Poland 7th United States 2nd National U.S. Championships 1st J 9th Levels: J = Junior
Pairs with Gillett International: Junior Event 14–15 Czech Republic 6th National U.S. Championships 5th J Levels: J = Junior
Detailed results Current personal best scores are highlighted in bold.
Pair skating with Valentina Plazas
Senior results
2023–24 season Date Event SP FS Total 18–24 March 2024 2024 World Championships 13 61.64 14 112.51 13 174.15 30 Jan. – 4 Feb. 2024 2024 Four Continents Championships 9 57.38 9 103.78 9 161.16 22–28 January 2024 2024 U. S. Championships 4 63.18 4 117.85 3 181.03 6–9 December 2023 2023 CS Golden Spin of Zagreb 2 58.11 2 110.03 2 168.14 3–5 November 2023 2023 Grand Prix de France 4 58.46 4 109.74 4 168.20 20–22 October 2023 2023 Skate America 7 49.51 4 107.57 4 157.08 September 20–23, 2023 2023 CS Nebelhorn Trophy 7 54.93 7 114.44 7 169.37 2022–23 season Date Event SP FS Total 7–12 February 2023 2023 Four Continents Championships 5 60.07 6 109.02 5 169.09 23–29 January 2023 2023 U. S. Championships 4 63.45 6 112.89 5 176.34 4–9 October 2022 2022 Skate Canada International 5 55.70 5 108.44 5 164.14 21–23 October 2022 2022 Skate America 8 47.32 4 96.23 6 143.55 4–9 October 2022 2022 CS Finlandia Trophy 4 60.40 6 101.58 5 161.98 12–16 September 2022 2022 CS U.S. Classic 3 56.20 3 110.05 3 166.25 8–9 September 2022 2022 John Nicks Pairs Challenge 4 57.20 3 108.48 3 165.68 2021–22 season Date Event SP FS Total 3–9 January 2022 2022 U. S. Championships 7 49.80 6 98.57 6 148.37
Junior results 2020–21 season Date Event SP FS Total 11–21 January 2021 2021 U. S. Championships 4 47.07 3 90.22 3 137.29
References
External links
Valentina Plazas & Maximiliano Fernandez at U.S. Figure Skating