Synchronised ice skaters raise funds to compete at world championships

The team has been selected to compete in the ISU World Synchronised Skating Championships

A synchronised ice skating team is fundraising to travel to the world championships in the US.

Team Icicles Senior, a squad of 19 ice skaters, trains at the National Ice Centre in Nottingham.

The team has been selected to compete in the ISU World Synchronised Skating Championships.

The sport does not attract funding in the UK, so team members are holding several fundraising events to help pay for their £38,000 trip.

Team Icicles Senior has members based across the UK.

'Continually improved'

Sofie Ekstrom-Gabb, 22, travels from her home in Cardiff every weekend to train in Nottingham.

She said: "I'm really proud to skate with the Icicles Senior team and we have continually improved since we formed.

"We're the only senior synchronised ice skating team in Britain and we needed to meet the requirements from the International Skating Union to win a place in the World Championships.

"They think we are good representatives to go."

The team meets for a two-hour training session every Sunday morning, starting at 05:00.

They also train for many hours together in a dance studio.

'Second shot'

They were selected to compete in the World Championships in 2020, only to have the event cancelled because of Covid.

They are now aiming to fly to Lake Placid on 27 March, which they believe will cost around £2,000 per person.

Emily Potter, 23, from Nottingham - who has been skating since she was nine years old - said: "Because we were supposed to go to the World Championships at Lake Placid in 2020, which was obviously cancelled due to lockdown, it feels like we're getting a second shot to represent our country."

The sport sees teams of up to 16 performing routines to music.

Team Icicles Senior forms part of the Nottingham Synchronised Skating Academy which has organised online fundraising - including a raffle - to support the team.

Head coach Esther Morris said: "It's a real feather in Nottingham's cap to have a team performing at such a high level."