Artistic skaters on a roll

Keiko Bamba has returned from the Pacific Cup with gold around her neck, having won the masters division figures section for the fifth time.

She was one of two local athletes to travel to Brisbane for the event, with 14 year old Mya Graham also competing in the cadet division, where she finished eighth.

At 66 years old, Keiko is the oldest competitor in the event by over a decade and says it takes a lot of work to stay ahead of the field.

“The next oldest one is 55, there’s no one over 60. There’s definitely a lot of 30s and 40s (year olds), and some 50s.

“I’m getting better and better since she (Tara Westwood) came last year. All of a sudden, my skating changed.”

Having represented New Zealand, Tara recently returned to the scene after a six year hiatus.

“I felt like coming down to the rink one day and I was sucked back in.

“I’m skating for fun and coaching. I coach every Sunday, but before nationals and [Oceania], it was three-or-four times a week.”

Keiko says the work with Tara has revolutionised her skating, but it was still a nervous wait to see where she was going to finish as the scores started to come through.

“I wasn’t sure until the lady came out with the piece of paper with my name on top of it.”

Tara says she wasn’t surprised with Keiko’s performance, saying she wasn’t as concerned about the other athlete’s performance.

For Mya, who is coached by Hayley Nam, the result wasn’t quite the early birthday present she was looking for as the rest of the competition skated very well.

While she didn’t get the result she was chasing, she was proud of how she performed in her first overseas competition, having had to earn qualification to even compete.

“I was happy with my skate.”

Coming up against a similar selection of girls who had been at previous events, sickness in the build up to the competition limited her chances of making the podium.

Having skated for the past six years after giving it a go at a birthday party, she is still improving rapidly.

Hayley says their current goals are to improve the flow and accuracy before Mya graduates to the youth grade next year.

“It’s a lot of skills and drills.”