Swindon figure skater grabs silver for GB (From Swindon Advertiser)

Swindon figure skater grabs silver for GB

7:10am Thursday 18th November 2010 in Sport

SWINDON figure skater Isabella Larkin picked up a silver medal for Great Britain at the Skate Celje competition in Slovenia.

The 14-year-old took second place in the novice girls’ category after posting an impressive total score of 76.26 over the weekend.

Larkin will now be looking to build on her British Ice Figure and Dance Championships novice ladies title of last year when she takes part in the junior ladies category of this year’s event later this month.

She is due to travel to Sheffield to take part in the event, which features hundreds of skaters from all over the country.

The daughter of ice hockey star Bryan Larkin, who turned out at the Link Centre for Swindon’s Wildcats, Icelords and Phoenix teams over a 10-year period, Isabella has recently returned from Slovenia, where she represented Great Britain in an international competition involving 28 other entrants.

The talented young skater claimed the silver medal in the under 16 division, and will be hoping to add to that glory at the British Championships, which begin on Sunday, November 21. Olympian couples Penny Coomes and Nick Buckland, and Stacey Kemp and David King will be fighting for European and World Championship places, but there is also an opportunity for other rising stars of the sport to stake their claims.

Keith Horton, chief executive of NISA, said: “All skaters should be congratulated for qualifying for the Championships, which is the blue ribbon event of the British skating calendar.

“We will be seeing skaters representing every corner of the UK and are expecting a hugely competitive tournament.”