Skaters bring home 10 medals for 10th birthday

Katie Powell, who won senior ladies gold at the Deeside IJS

Sheffield skaters helped the city’s state-of-the-art ice rink to celebrate its 10th birthday by winning 10 medals at the 2013 British Championships qualifying event.

At the Deeside IJS, iceSheffield won six gold, three silver and one bronze medal and qualified a record number of skaters for the British Championships in November 2013.

Gold medals were secured by Katie Powell in the senior ladies category, Paul Dredge and Charlotte Dyson, who won the junior dance event and brother and sister, Mia and Henry Drury, who were crowned advanced novice pairs champions.

Lizzie Key and Emile Betts-Dawson also won gold in the advanced novice dance, while Abbey Wrobel and Perry Bradford also placed first in pairs.

iceSheffield, which is preparing to celebrate its 10th anniversary with a spectacular skating gala later this month, also skated away with three silver medals.

These were won by Emily Hayward for junior ladies, Eleanor Hirst and Jake Featherstone in junior dance and Summer Herbert and Pierce Fitzgerald.

Dawn Peckett, coach at iceSheffield, said: “This is a fantastic achievement. We’ve qualified the highest number of British Championship entries in the history of iceSheffield and it’s a great way to celebrate 10 years of an amazing venue.

“When the British Championships return to our venue next month, iceSheffield will be represented in every discipline from novice to senior ladies and men to advanced novice and junior pairs and novice and junior dance.

“What makes this success even more rewarding is that most of the novice and junior skaters came from our Learn to Skate programme. It shows the progression that can be made with the right facilities and coaching.”

Adding to the Sheffield International Venues (SIV) facility’s success, Peter James Hallam achieved a personal best score of 152 at the Junior Grand prix in Minsk.

He finished a creditable 7th out of 21 skaters from across the globe and placed above competitors from USA, Russia and China.

Seventeen-year-old PJ is now preparing to represent GB at his second Grand Prix in Latvia after the British Championships at iceSheffield from 26-30 November 2013.

PJ, from Wincobank, who is also appearing in iceSheffield’s birthday gala, said: “I’m so grateful to iceSheffield and really pleased to be helping celebrate its 10th birthday. The gala is going to be an amazing showcase of talent.

“I started skating as a complete novice on the Learn to Skate lesson programme when I was eight years old and now I’m representing Team GB at international competitions. It’s a dream come true.”

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