Our Adults Skate Too Skater Spotlight Series is a bi-weekly blog where you get to know your fellow adult skaters from all over the world! For our next edition, you will get to meet Paul! He's a veterinary medicine student who is also a pairs skater from the UK! Read more about how Paul discovered his love for skating and his advice to other adult skaters!

What’s your name? Where are you from? What do you do for a living?

Paul Sampson aka @skatingsampson, I love in Nottingham UK where I go to university to study veterinary medicine! 

What’s your story? How did you get into figure skating?

Growing up in Gloucestershire there wasn't ever a rink very close so I never got the chance to properly discover figure skating, when I started university and upon discovering how close the national ice centre was decided to buy a pair of boots and signed up for a course of group lessons. By the end of lesson 1 I was hooked and never looked back! 

What does your skating schedule look like?

Try to skate everyday, but being a student lack of funds means I generally skate 3 to 4 times a week and off ice training every day.

What has been the most rewarding or exciting moment in your skating career?

The most rewarding and exciting moment so far has been attending @coachhamish (Hamish Gamon) pairs camp. As a pairs skater, there are few opportunities to meet other pairs and practice lifts under the guidance of an international skating icon! 

What was the most difficult moment of your skating career and how did you overcome it?

I thought about saying one of the many times I'd fallen or injured myself was the hardest thing. But I think that when my skating partner stopped skating 6 months ago it hit me very hard, I suddenly became quite lonely at the rink and had to rediscover singles skating. I have overcome this set back by getting to know the other adult skaters at the rink so that now I have a more secure group of skating friends to encourage me. As well as this I am still on the lookout for a new pairs partner but I have become a more confident singles skater due to this

What’s your favorite off-ice exercise to practice?

Off ice my go to routine is spiral practice, coming into skating I was one of the least flexible people out there! Practicing spirals each day has slowly helped loosen my legs.

How has skating impacted your life?

Skating has had a massive impact on my life. It's now my go to activity for stress relief, celebrating an achievement and meeting new people both locally and internationally! I hope that it can continue to play a major part of my life.

What’s the best advice your coach has given you?

Just do it! 

A simple yet powerful message... whether I'm too scared or hesitant to try something new or too lazy to go to the gym for off ice practice. Count to 3 and say to yourself "just do it!"

What’s your advice for other adult skaters out there?

My advice for other adults just getting into skating would be it's never too late to try! I was 21 when I started skating and now I'm trying to make a career out of it! But even if you just want to give it a try, adult skaters are an amazingly supportive group of people and you'll make some great friends along the way!