Ice Dancing Their Way Around The World

Ice dancers Isabelle Guise and Ethan Alday have just finished their first senior international competition in Croatia.

This was the first time two New Zealand teams have been involved in the International Skating Union Challenger event, and the former Southland-based skater couldn’t be more happier.

“We had a wonderful time in Croatia.  I was so nervous beforehand, just with the amount of wonderful teams (skaters) that I knew would be there.  But everyone we spoke to was super nice, and we found the whole experience pretty fantastic,” she said.

The 20-year-old started skating for Ice Sports Southland when she was 11 and moved to Ohio at the end of 2020 to live with her skating partner’s family, and to be near the ice rink in Novi, Michigan.

Isabelle and Ethan came back to New Zealand in October for the National Ice Skating Champs in Auckland, and reached a technical score that made them eligible for international competition.

This was the first time they had competed at national level since becoming seniors in June this year.

They are part of a cohort of skaters training under the coaching of renowned elite coach Igor Spilband, with other members of Team USA.

“Just getting on the ice and hearing “New Zealand” being called was pretty wild,” she said.

There’s no rest for this skating pair – taking a two-day break when they return home to the States, they will be back on the ice and ready to make improvements for their next competition.

“We’ll still be skating.  Last year we skated on Christmas Eve,” she said.