That is how elated coach Megan Kliegl feels as she reflects on her Dunedin synchronised ice skating team’s recent success at leading international competitions.
The team, Cutting Edge, placed fifth at the Britannia Cup in Nottingham and was seventh at the Amade Cup in Austria in its first major international outing. It was the first time New Zealand had been represented at either competition.
"They just keep blowing everyone’s expectations," Kliegl said.
"They do almost everything people expect them to do and more with sportsmanship.
"At this point, I don’t even know where they’re learning their sportsmanship from because they’re better than me in every way."
She is quick to heap praise on her team, which earned international selection after skating a personal best to win the New Zealand championships last October.
Cutting Edge arrived in Nottingham in early January, and skaters were stunned to walk into the rink, passing English skating duo Torvill and Dean’s Olympic costumes, which Kliegl described as like walking past Freddie Mercury’s stage outfits.
"It’s always a cool feeling to see our flag hanging in a foreign rink knowing that we’re the reason that that flag’s there."
The skaters backed their success up when they finished seventh of 13 teams at the Amade Cup with a final score of 55.81, including being awarded level 3 for their intersection, point of intersection and spin element. It also received level 3 for intersection, spins and block at Nottingham.
Elements are graded from level 1 to 4, and level 4 is notoriously hard to achieve.
It became a "running joke" among the team about its difficulty to achieve making the moment even more satisfying, Kliegl said.
"It was cool to not only get it called but to turn up for New Zealand."
The Amade Cup had 87 teams from across the world and, with synchronised skating being a minor sport in New Zealand, seeing top-level competitors "blew their little minds".
They spent time rinkside with Kliegl’s coaching mentor and renowned Finland coach, Anu Oksanen — "in our world, she’s a superstar" — and watched Canadian team Nexxice, which finished second at the world championships, skate live.
"It’s skating that we just don’t see in New Zealand so they’re all very motivated to keep pushing harder."
Her team exceeded her expectations in every way possible, she said.
"We went over there with the classic Kiwi attitude of we’re just here to experience the opportunity and give it a good crack.
"These guys coming mid-pack every time, or towards the top of the pack, was incredible."
And, of course, the team made plenty of time for sightseeing through Nottingham, Salzburg, and Munich — even making a 45-minute bus journey from Austria to Germany for training one day.
For now, Cutting Edge’s pre-season will start in a few weeks, creating new routines to be "bolder and bigger" this year as it aims for another national title, this time in front of a home Dunedin crowd in October, and to push for more international opportunities.
