Daniella could soon win a record-breaking third successive British Solo Dance title
Denham ice dance champion Daniella Alessi is so dedicated to the cause that she does a four-hour round trip to training in Streatham six days a week – at the age of 14.
It’s a hard slog, but it has already paid dividends, with Daniella winning the National Ice Skating Association British Solo Dance title twice in successive years – the U16s title as a 13 year old and the U19s as a 14 year old.
Now, those long train journeys look set to really pay off for Daniellea, who turns 15 next Wednesday. She has just this week qualified in first place for this year’s U29 competition, and will become the first skater to triumph three years in a row if she comes up trumps again in July.
Proud mum Lisa said: “Danielle has been skating since she was four years old, and originally she trained much closer to home in Slough, but she moved to Streatham to be trained by Elizabeth Coates, who has trained world champions. It means two hours there and two hours back, on three trains each way, almost every day, but she has been doing it since the age of 10.”
By coincidence, her education has moved in the opposite direction, moving somewhat closer to home. After four years with the Sylvia Young Dance School in Marylebone, it was felt Daniella was missing too much academically, and so she moved to the Harefield Academy.
Lisa added: “Daniella’s ice skating is going really well, and she could make the Olympics, but we place a lot of importance on her education too. In any sport, all it takes is one injury and it could be all over, so you always need something to fall back on.”
The National Ice Skating Association British Solo Dance Championships take place from June 30-July 1 in Sheffield.
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