Sweden trip chance of a lifetime
AFTER 13 years on the ice, Anya Gipp can skate rings around most in the country.
So when an opportunity came up for a synchronised ice skater to join the Swedish team, the New Zealand Ice Figure Skating Association put her name forward.
It is the chance of a lifetime for the 20yearold University of Otago student. Gipp leaves for Gothenburg next week, where she will join the Swedish team in preparation for the 2019 World Synchronised Skating Championships in Finland in April.
She will leave behind her post as a lifeguard at Moana Pool and regular coaching work at the Dunedin Ice Stadium.
The university has granted her leave from her study.
All that is left to do is pack and, well, learn some Swedish and possibly brush up on those Abba lyrics.
‘‘It is an opportunity which wouldn’t necessarily come up in New Zealand,’’ she said.
‘‘Sweden is very big on ice skating so to be able to work in that kind of environment, and hopeful learn a lot from them, will maybe mean that I can bring some of that back here and expand our skating scene.
‘‘It is also just an opportunity to really take the sport as far as I can for my own personal development, really.
‘‘I’m so excited.’’
Gipp said there would be about 20 skaters in the team and it was a bit like marching but on ice.
‘‘There is a lot going on,’’ she said.
‘‘It is about formations and patterns and that sort of thing.’’
‘‘The team has been to worlds for a couple of years now and I think they are sitting about 12th or 13th at the moment, so they have a strong standing.’’
Gipp said she got her start in the sport when she joined a friend for some lessons as a 7yearold and ‘‘just never stopped’’.
She is one of fewer than 10 skaters in the country to have passed her Gold Star Stroking test and has collected medals, included a gold, at the nationals.
❛ It is an opportunity
which wouldn’t necessarily come up in
New Zealand