Bec Wawszkowicz thought her rollerskating days were behind her, but 25 years on she is back on the skates and has her own club.
Ms Wawszkowicz started artistic rollerskating in the 1980s when she was five years old and skated competitively until she was about 16.
"I gave up skating in my teens because of the culture that surrounded artistic rollerskating at the time," she says.
"Now I hope to ensure all skaters have a more positive experience."
The former secondary teacher, who lives in Henty in southern NSW, says she hadn't planned to return to rollerskating, but during the pandemic pulled out her 30-year-old skates to attend an event with her sons.
The event was in nearby Wodonga, across the border in Victoria.
"My husband, Kurt, got new bearings for my artistic skates … That was in February 2021 and there was a five-day snap lockdown in Victoria so that event didn't happen," she says.
Skates polished with nowhere to go, Ms Wawszkowicz heard about a skating rink in Albury, back on the NSW side of the border.
"I went, I was nervous because it had been about 25 years since I skated, but by the end of it I was doing some artistic elements like jumps and spins," she says.
"People started to come up to me about coaching and asked if I could teach."
She says her husband — who had never seen her rollerskate in the 15 years they had been together — saw an opportunity, and the couple started a rollerskating club.
"That was in February 2021 and by April 2021 the club was a go."
The Twin City Skate Club is affiliated with Skate NSW and runs classes in Wodonga and Wagga Wagga providing lessons and coaching.
"The club has about 300 skaters attached to it through the year, and we have grown to be the largest club in NSW in that time," Ms Wawszkowicz says.
Ms Wawszkowicz says her return to rollerskating had changed her life for the better.
"I used to think in my quiet moments that leaving rollerskating when I did was my biggest regret, but I realise through rollerskating now that I wouldn't have the life I have now, my family, and club if I hadn't left when I was a teenager," she says.
"I have got a job that involves the sport that I have fallen in love with again. It allows me to use my teaching skills. It has totally changed my life and is a dream come true that I never knew I had.
"I accidentally started skating again in the pandemic … If it wasn't for that fortuitous event my skates would still be stuck on the shelf and it wouldn't have happened."
Ms Wawszkowicz says rollerskating had made a comeback during the pandemic because many people were looking for something fun, physical, and mentally healthy to do.
"Skating is accessible to many. There are also skates that have been developed in that time that have allowed people to get into the market at a good entry price with a quality product that you can use indoors and outdoors, and they are fun and funky," she says.
The global pandemic was also pivotal in introducing Ms Wawszkowicz's student and trainee coach Jack Avery to rollerskating.
Mr Avery moved to Albury Wodonga from Darwin in late 2018.
"I was here for about a year then COVID hit. It was really difficult to make friends in a new town, especially during COVID," he says.
'Losing yourself' to skating
The former ice skater says finding the local rollerskating club in April last year had helped him settle into a new home.
Mr Avery says it has been great for his fitness, mental health, and friendships.
"It's that combination of social interaction and exercise that makes me get home from work and not sit in front of a computer for hours before I go to bed," he says.
"I get out and I do something, and I talk to people. It brings so much more fulfilment to my life."
Mr Avery says more people should experience the "joy" of rollerskating.
"It is something you lose yourself in and it's an expressive art form in itself," he says.
"I have never been a very good dancer, but on skates you can do those twists and turns that flow.
"Listen to some music and skate around, feel that wind in your hair, feel the sweat in the middle of summer dripping — it's just so much fun, honestly."
