From small town Otautau to Michigan USA, 20-year-old ice dancer Isabelle Guise could be the next Torvill and Dean with her partner Ethan Alday.
Interestingly enough, the brother of one of their skating coaches (a former Britain elite representative), plays the male lead skating role in the Torvill and Dean movie.
While there are many ice dancers on the international circuit – it’s a relatively small community in New Zealand, and so finding a suitable partner is the first hurdle.
Isabelle started skating at 11 for Ice Sports Southland in Gore, but when her first ice dancing partner retired in 2020, she had to look internationally for a new one.
A website set up with skating profiles was the best way for Isabelle to start looking for her next match.
“It’s a bit like Tinder for skaters,” her mother Julie joked.
She met Ethan who was from Nebraska in the States, but then Covid hit so she had to wait until the end of 2020 before travelling, so she could continue her ice dancing journey.
Isabelle and Ethan currently train five days a week – similar hours to a full time job, with three to four hours ice time every day including learning acrobatic lifts, along with off ice pilates, ballet and yoga, and strength training as well.
She probably spends a total of 15 hours a week with her skates on, which can lead to occasional cramp when she’s had a big day.
“If you take your skate off and massage your foot, it’s still there when you put it back on, so you just have to skate through it,” she said.
Isabelle lives with Ethan’s parents in Ohio and they have to drive an hour to the ice rink every day in Novi, Michigan. But she has settled into the community well and made new friends, both at the ice rink and the local church.
Isabelle and Ethan came back to New Zealand in October for the National Ice Skating Champs in Auckland, and reached a technical score that now makes them eligible for international competition.
This was the first time they had competed at national level since becoming seniors in June this year.
They will now be representing New Zealand at the final International Skating Union Challenger Event in Zagreb, Croatia in early December.
Participating in the Challenger series leads to an invitation to the Grand Prix series. They will be part of the cohort of skaters training in Novi Michigan under the coaching of renowned elite coach Igor Spilband, with other members of Team USA.
This is a huge event for them and will be the first occasion where they will receive a world ranking.
“It will be our biggest competition we’ve ever been to, with two other US teams and also a New Zealand senior team,” she said.