Airdrie, AB March 2019

Olympia Skating Club members were very active competitors this season with stunning results.

The season began with the Vancouver ISU competition on October 10th – 13th. Cathy Thoms skated in Masters Ladies Class III – Artistic and earned a silver medal dancing her way across the ice to Masquerade Ball. Sandi Fast jumped in with great enthusiasm for her first competition ever in the Bronze Ladies  Artistic – Class III. She skated to the 80’s classic song Lady in Red. Even though Sandi did not feel completely happy with what she did, she came back to our ice more determined than ever.

Sandi, along with team member Shauna Sky Romano, competed at the Calgary Region STARSkate Invitational in Okotoks, AB on December 7 – 9th. Sandi outdid herself this time with a personal best score and won the gold medal. Shauna competed for the first time in over 30 years in the Silver Freeskate and won the gold medal with her beautiful rendition of Diamonds in the Sky. It was a solid gold weekend for Olympia!

In February, Lorine Stevens jumped on the competitive bandwagon and did both her Silver Freeskate and Artistic programs at the Central Region STARSkate Invitational in Rocky Mountain House, AB. This hometown gal lit up the arena with her performance of That’s Amore and was awarded the gold medal. She earned a silver medal for her freeskate to Bryan Adams’ Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman? Another superb weekend for Olympia!

On March 1 – 3, Sandi Fast and Maureen Bennie travelled to Lethbridge, AB to compete at the South Region STARSkate Invitational. Sandi was solid gold for the second time in her competitive career. Maureen Bennie earned a silver medal in the Bronze Artistic program skating to Fever with her highest mark ever. She earned her first gold medal and a personal best mark in the Bronze Freeskate with her Scheherazade program. Teammates Shig Taya and Bobby Joe Donavan were also in Lethbridge to cheer on team Olympia. There was much celebration, laughs, and camaraderie.

The 2019 STARSkate & Adult Championships held on March 22 – 24th in Airdrie, AB had our largest number of Olympia skaters participate. Sandi Fast rounded out her season with the silver medal in the Ladies Introductory Artistic Program. She skated another fine, confident performance. What an amazing first competitive season for Sandi!

Akiko Ishikawa earned a silver medal in the Bronze Artistic program with her ethereal performance of Debussy’s Clair de Lune. Lorine Stevens won gold for her artistic program which is such a delight for audiences to watch. The Ladies Silver Freeskate was a podium sweep for Olympia – Shauna Sky Romano – Gold, Lorine – Silver and Akiko – Bronze. Our day ended with the high energy performance of Lauren Sule in the Gold Ladies Freeskate with a 5 plus point lead to take the gold. Olympia teammates were there to cheer and support our competitors. We couldn’t have been more proud of such incredible results!

So how do we achieve such results? We owe it all to our head coach, Monika Bafia. She helps us pick our music, does all of the choreography, and oversees all training of the programs. We always laugh when Monika stops the music abruptly 5 – 10 seconds into the program which means your attempt isn’t cutting it. Monika’s attention to detail, dance classes and off ice training has made Olympia members confident and solid competitors. We can’t thank her enough for helping us reach our goals this year.

We hope more of our members will jump in next season and try the competitive circuit. It’s a great way to set a goal for yourself but most of all, it encourages friendship and it’s a lot of fun – even if it does try your nerves at times!

You can see Olympia members in action at our upcoming ice show on June 8th at the Markin McPhail arena at COP.