Get your skates on

After a trip to the rink when she was 21, Nadia Vidinova discovered a love of ice skating and has been gliding through life ever since

A chance trip to an ice rink was the start of a whole new, cool hobby for Nadia Vidinova.

What do you think of when you hear the words ‘figure skating’?

Perhaps a vision of skinny young things in sparkly outfits, gliding lightly across the ice, jumping and landing effortlessly, making the impossible look easy, like we saw at the Winter Olympics.

While the movie I, Tonya has recently put the spotlight on adult skaters, the sport has long been considered a pursuit for the young, one you can only truly excel at if you practically grew up on the ice and learned all the moves aged seven.

I thought it was the sport of youth, too, until a trip to a rink shortly after turning the undeniably adult age of 21.

I was studying in Italy on a university exchange programme and was wandering around Genova’s old town with my flatmates. It was that slightly manic time, the lead-up to Christmas, with visits to outdoor ice rinks while tipsy on mulled wine. Note: Do NOT do this. Ever.

Suddenly there I was, balancing precariously in a pair of clunky rental skates, on the ice for the first time since my school days. As I flailed around like Bambi, I noticed a woman in the middle of the rink gliding gracefully and practising spins. She was around 50, in gym-type clothes – no sequinned dress in sight – and she was having fun. I was intrigued.

Returning to the ice the next day I spotted the woman again and decided to pick her brains. She told me she’d been having lessons and gave me the coach’s contact details. A few weeks later I went for my very first lesson.

It soon became a thing. I practised almost daily, sneaking off to the rink between lectures. Being on the ice was fun and surprisingly therapeutic – you can’t really stress about money, exams or work when you’re 100% focused on not falling over.

Back in the UK I was keen to carry on, so looked up what was on offer at my local rink, bought a pair of skates and signed up for Skate UK weekly group lessons. My love for skating grew. Lessons are available at most rinks, including Dundee Ice Arena, and they take you through the essential skills – such as skating forwards and backwards, stopping, gliding on the edge of your blade and turning.

Each time I managed something new, my confidence grew.

In my group were adults of all ages, from university students to retirees, including people who were stepping on to the ice for the very first time.

Together we worked our way through the levels with lots of laughter and no small amount of tears and bruises.

I was hooked and, after finishing the programme, signed up for private lessons, along with some of my new ‘skate mates’, a friendly community of other adult skaters, who have taken up the sport later in life.

It’s been four years since I started skating.

Suddenly there I was, balancing precariously in a pair of clunky rental skates, on the ice for the first time since my school days

We have group lessons twice a week with the lovely coaches from Dundee Ice Coaching Elite, who teach everyone from recreational skaters like us to the high-level competitors at Dundee Ice Skating Club.

I also take lessons at Stirling New Figure Skating Club every Friday evening. I’ve even had my five minutes of fame (well, a minute and a half to be precise): in December I was persuaded to take part in the club’s Christmas gala for the first time.

I can now do most single jumps, basic spins, spirals and various turns and steps.