Some golden moments in figure skating happen away from the competitions and medals at small events called Test Days where skaters perform elements, skills, dances and free skate programs before skating judges to achieve test levels. This past weekend at the Spring Session Test Day, Nelson Skating Club senior skater Christina Champlin achieved the Gold Free Skate Test and passed the last of four gold dances, the Argentine Tango. Christina is now a quadruple Gold Test skater, having already achieved Gold Skills and Gold Interpretive.
“Not many skaters in the Kootenays achieve the Gold Free Skate test”, says Coach Yoshie Measures. “I am so proud of Christina. I have coached her for the last 10 years to reach this goal.”
To get to this point, Christina has passed 42 tests.
“Christina is an excellent role model for other skaters in our club who see that with hard work and determination the highest levels can be achieved in a small club outside of the bigger population centres,” said coach Sarah Gower who led Christina through the dance discipline for most of her skating career.
Christina is a Grade 12 student at LV Rogers and will be graduating this year.
In other club news, the annual Ice Show is in the polishing stage to hit the ice on Saturday May 9th at 1:30 pm at the Community Complex. The theme this year is 'On Broadway', a fun look at popular Broadway musicals including Mary Poppins, The Lion King, Annie, Mamma Mia and A Chorus Line.
The Nelson Skating Club is a non-profit society run by volunteers, dedicated to developing skaters for every sport including hockey, ringette, speed skating and figure skating. For more information, visit http://www.nelsonfigureskatingclub.ca.