Team Zariba, Aberdeen’s synchronised skating champions, have scored another success by placing second in the Winter Cup Senior International Skating Union (ISU) Competition held in Belgium.
The team, current British, Scottish and Wales and West Senior Synchronised Skating Champions, finished behind a team from Berlin, rated as one of the best in Europe and currently ranked 12th in the world. The competition attracted teams from right across Europe.
The 18 members of the team range in age from 15 to 25 and come from across the North-east; two of the team members are based in Edinburgh and make a weekly round trip to Aberdeen to train.
Team Zariba, which trains at Linx Ice Arena, has been together for eight years and has been competing at the highest level since 2012. Scottish champions for four consecutive years, their next big challenge comes in mid-January when they head to NIC Nottingham to defend their British title. Earlier in November they became Wales and West Open Champions for the fourth year in a row.
“It was an absolutely fantastic result. They were competing against some of Europe’s top teams and produced a strong, confident skate throughout the event,” said Fiona Boyne, Membership Secretary Aberdeen Synchronised Ice Skating Club (ASISC). “That they can achieve this success with limited ice time is astonishing. They are competing at international level against teams who have the facilities to train on ice on a daily basis.”
The club’s training activity is supported by Aberdeen Fitness & Combat Centre which has provided free fitness training during 2016. They also receive funding support from Specialist Valve Services (SVS) towards travel and competition costs.
Anyone interested in finding out more about the sport will have a chance to see Team Zariba perform when they take part in Sport Aberdeen’s Christmas Show on December 17 and 18.
Synchronised skating is being considered as an Olympic event in the near future and to give people an idea of what it is all about, the team is organising a special demonstration at the Link Ice Arena in January.