As a national centre of excellence, iceSheffield is home to a number of elite figure skaters. Ice dance couple Mark Hanretty and Christina Chitwood are just two of many skaters who benefit from the venue’s state-of-the-art facilities.
The couple first skated together in late 2005 after being introduced by iceSheffield’s Olympic level coach Jimmy Young. Christina (19) left her Colorado home in the USA to move to Sheffield in 2006 and skate at the city’s ice arena with dance partner Mark.
Mark (23) from Glasgow, also uprooted to the city to adopt the Sheffield International Venues (SIV) facility as his home in a bid for the couple to compete at international level.
The couple now spend a weekly total of 22 hours on the ice, visiting iceSheffield six times a week to train with their coach, Jimmy Young. They also spend 10 hours a week training off the ice to build up their strength for their gruelling schedule.
Mark said: “It was a big decision for us both to uproot from our respective homes, particularly for Christina coming all the way from Colorado, but the facilities at iceSheffield are some of the best around.
“It is rare that you find two Olympic sized pads in one venue, so we both thought that the venue was the best place for us to progress our careers and reach the next level of skating. We felt at home very quickly and soon settled into a focussed training schedule, on and off the ice.”
The couple worked tirelessly together at their new training base, before skating in their first competition, the Sheffield NJS Competition in 2006, finishing 3rd place ahead of some of the county’s most promising young skaters.
They started skating on the international circuit in 2008, taking to the ice at the Lake Placid Ice Dance Championships, where they achieved 1st place after dancing the Open Austrian Waltz.
Despite Christina’s American roots, the couple were selected to represent Great Britain at the 2009 European Championships in Finland, where they achieved a credible 18th place finish.
Mark and Christina are now ranked second in the country, behind brother and sister duo John and Sinead Kerr. Their 2009/2010 season has already seen them skate to a podium finish at the North Rhine-Westphalia Skating Union Trophy in Dortmund, Germany, where their score led to a season’s best.
They also achieved a personal best in the prestigious Ice Challenge 2009 competition, which took place in Graz, Austria.
Christina said: “The whole team at iceSheffield has been incredibly supportive throughout our whole time at the venue and we feel very lucky to have such a strong support network around us. It is a challenge funding skating on an international level as we have to pay for our own expenses, but iceSheffield have been kind enough to organise a fundraising event for us in the run up to the start of the skating season.
“It is amazing to think what we have achieved in the last four years. Mark and I are extremely confident in our partnership and our coach, Jimmy Young, really helps us strive to achieve what we want to achieve.
“Now that we are competing alongside the world’s elite, we need to have the best possible venue to allow us to train to the highest level. The world-class facilities at iceSheffield allow us to focus on our international ambitions.”
Peter Morrissey, ice development manager at iceSheffield, said: “Mark and Christina have achieved a huge amount in the past four years and everyone at iceSheffield is extremely proud of them. They are very exciting prospects for the venue and the country, so I will look forward to seeing them achieve even more success in the future.”
