Macleans College students represent New Zealand at World Junior Synchronized Skating Championships
Posted on April 11, 2024
Five Macleans College students have recently returned home after a whirl-wind trip to England and Switzerland, representing New Zealand in synchronised skating.
Jasmine Hu (Mansfield House), Noelle Qiu (Mansfield), Vicky Wang (Mansfield), Rachel Chen (Batten), Olivia Pokorny (Te Kanawa) and former student Kelly Zou (Kupe House 2022 - 2023) are members of Titanium, New Zealand’s first junior synchronised skating team.
Synchronised skating is a highly technical form of figure skating, characterised by speed, precision and unison.
The journey to becoming the first team to represent New Zealand at the world championships has involved a tremendous amount of hard work and training. Last year the team won first place at the New Zealand National Championships, which resulted in qualification to attend the ISU World Junior Synchronized Skating Championships in Switzerland.
In late February the girls travelled to England with Titanium to compete in the Steel City Trophy in Sheffield. The team competed against five other teams from Great Britain and Canada, gaining valuable international experience.
With a temporary base in Prague, Czech Republic, Titanium were able to continue with daily training and refining their routines before they headed to Switzerland.
Twenty-four teams, with 543 skaters, representing 18 countries, competed at the junior world championships. Titanium performed two programmes; a short programme to David Guetta’s ‘Shot Me Down’ and a free skate inspired by the Hunger Games saga.
Jasmine, Noelle, Vicky, Rachel and Olivia can take great pride in this impressive history-making achievement, while representing New Zealand on the world stage.
Short program - starts at 2:14:23
Free skate - starts at 27:55