Nottingham ice skating team celebrate historic season as they break British records
The Icicles junior team find out they've gotten 10th place for their short programme in Helsinki (Image: Janne Koistinen)
By Callum Wright
A Nottingham ice skating team have celebrated an historic season that saw them break multiple British records.
Team Icicles, consisting of a junior and senior squad as part of the Nottingham Synchronised Skating Academy (NSSA), appeared at their home, the National Ice Centre at the Motorpoint Arena, on Saturday (March 15) to perform routines to an audience that included family and friends.
Those routines have seen both teams achieve considerable success on both the national and international stage, including record-breaking scores.
The juniors, who come from mainly the East Midlands, were recently chosen to represent Great Britain at the Junior World Synchronised Skating Championships from March 7-8 in Gothenburg, Sweden, where they finished 11th with a score 30 points higher than any British team has ever achieved at the competition.
The team broke British records three times through the season and became British champions for the first time in three years in January.
Lily Mills, Zelda Harrison and Niamh Whiteley, three of the skaters who are part of the 15-19 team, say they hope all the work put into the performance can help take them further.
“There was a lot of hours and pushing, we do a lot of on-ice and off-ice training, so a lot of hard work went into it,” said Zelda.
“There’s definitely a lot of people with aspirations to go on shows or get top 10 next year so hopefully the motivation stays up next season,” said Lily.
Niamh added: “It was amazing after all the hard work to see it was all worth it, that we could show them what we could really do on the ice.”
The seniors are also set to take to the global stage, with the squad due to represent Great Britain in April at the World Championships in Helsinki.
Aged 17-25, the team has members ranging from the East Midlands to London, Southampton, Bradford and Peterborough, with team members either in work or education.
Captain Clare Whalley and Vice-Captain Anna Longworth said are spending the next two weeks training as hard as they can.
“We’re so proud to have been picked by British Ice Skating to perform on the world stage, and we’ve really put everything in it because we all get on so well, we’re all one big family,” Clare said.
“We just hope for two clean skates and really just want to do our best and end the season with a bang,” added Anna.
Both the junior and senior teams performed the routines they prepared for the World Championships at the gala, with the club’s other teams also in attendance on the ice.
The teams have two skates at the competition, one a short routine and the other a free routine, with the performances consisting of lifts, synchronised spins and jumps.
Esther Morris and Lauren Kelly, two of the coaches at the NSSA, said the teams are driving each other forward as they continue to make more skating history in the city.
“We’ve worked incredibly hard this season, the skaters are on the ice more, they’re very focused,” said Esther.
“This has given them [the juniors] the fire in their belly to get even better and go higher next season, they’re in a great place now to keep working hard.”
Lauren added: “We’ve got the seniors at the top and the juniors, so for the younger skaters, it gives them that boost and inspires them to get there so it’s lovely to see.”
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