Brooke wins gold, silver & bronze in ice skating at British Championships
Brooke wins gold, silver and bronze in ice skating at British Championships
Giles Academy Year 10 student Brooke Hudson has recently come away with FOUR medals at the British Championships where she competes nationally and internationally with her Synchronized Ice-Skating team.
As part of the winning team, Brooke won Gold and Silver in the British competitions and two Bronze medals in the International competitions – only narrowly missing out on Gold and Silver by 1-2 points after achieving a personal best score at international level. Winning medals in all four competitions is an outstanding achievement.
The next major competition for Brooke will be the Hevelius Cup (www.heveliuscup.eu), which will take place in Poland in February 2023, where she will compete against the best Synchronized Ice-Skating teams from across the world including Finland, Norway, Poland, Australia, New Zealand and even South Africa. As the British champions in their category, she will be hoping to bring back even more medals.
Synchronized Ice-Skating is a highly competitive sport that requires an incredible amount of hard work and dedication. As well as being physically demanding, all 16 members of the team must learn the routines to music and be meticulously in time and coordinated with other. Knowing and trusting each member of your team is vital and is why the most successful teams have grown up skating with each other.
Brooke first starting ice-skating for fun at the age of 6 and her talent on the ice rink was very quickly spotted by a coach from Nottingham Synchronized Skating Academy (www.nssa-nottingham.co.uk). She has now been at the same club for eight years, having progressed through each of their squads. The club are the current holders of the British Championship at all seven levels as well as representing Great Britain.
As a professional club competing at the top of their game, this involves an ‘on and off ice’ training schedule with up to six sessions a week that take place before school, after school and at weekends. This level of commitment is matched by her parents who support Brooke to ensure she can attend the training with a lot of travelling from Boston to Nottingham.
Competing in stadiums with over 5,000 spectators, a panel of international judges and with your teammates and coaches who you don’t want to let down, can be a daunting experience for anyone. Whilst it can be nerve-wracking, when the routine starts, Brooke is able to focus and enjoy the freedom of being on the ice and how you can express yourself.
Synchronized Ice Skating is not currently one of the official Olympic sports in the winter games, but in the future Brooke has high hopes that the sport will be selected so she will have an opportunity to represent Team GB at the Olympics. Despite this, Brooke still aims to progress as far as possible as she has been able to participate in a sport she genuinely enjoys.