Hammonds Plains figure skater shatters world record for fastest spin on ice skates

The life of one young local figure skater from Hammonds Plains went for a spin this past year when she shattered a world record, raising money to help grant kids’ wishes in the process.

Olivia Rybicka-Oliver, 12, has always enjoyed watching figure skaters do their thing, and five years ago, she decided to give the sport a spin herself.

“I always used to love watching other people skate, so I thought it would be cool for me to figure skate as well,” says Rybicka-Oliver. “My favourite thing while skating was probably spinning.”

It turned out that not only was spinning the part of figure skating Rybicka-Oliver most enjoyed, it was also the area she showed the most talent in. This talent was noticed pretty quickly by her coach and parents as well.

“Olivia has always been very passionate about figure skating. We found that she had this talent of spinning,” says Garry Oliver, Olivia’s father. “We were sitting down one day with her coach, and chatting about it, and Olivia decided that she looked at the world record, and said, ‘I think I can beat this.’”

“They taped it once, and they looked at my speed and how many rotations per minute. I was doing a lot,” says Rybicka-Oliver. “They said, ‘hey, maybe we can set a goal for how many you can do,’ and to see if I could break the world record from there. It didn’t sound so easy, but for me, it kind of was.”

The current record was set at 308 RPM, held by a Russian woman who broke the record in 2008 at the age of 26. Rybicka-Oliver spent the next year tightening her spinning skills in anticipation for the record attempt.

Meanwhile, her father, who runs a charitable organization with his wife helping grant wishes for terminally ill children in Poland, where they used to live and work.

“We’ve looked after over 4,000 terminally ill children in Poland in the last 11 years, by providing their last wishes, by helping families, etc.,” says Oliver, who was inspired to start Coalition for Kids International after helping a 16-year-old girl achieve her wish of smelling the spring flowers in England before she died. “That sort of changed our lives forever. We created a foundation, we gave up our work, paid to set it all up, and 4,000 wishes later, that’s what we do.”

Oliver thought that his daughter’s record attempt would be a great opportunity for her to help the cause.

“Olivia’s been born into this, I guess,” says Oliver, who says his daughter has helped raise funds in the past. “Why don’t we do this, and raise money for kids?”

Rybicka-Oliver made her official attempt to become the Guinness World Record holder for fastest spinner on ice skates in January of this year in Warsaw, Poland.

“I had to squeeze myself really tight, and come from a really big open position,” says Rybicka-Oliver. “I find the right spot on my blade to spin so fast and so much, and it just doesn’t stop. It just feels really fast.”

With some of the Coalition kids coming out to cheer her on, she helped raise $20,000 towards the foundation. She had to wait a little longer to find out of she broke the record or not.

“For all of those five or six months since I broke the world record, they weren’t actually sure — they had to get it tested and look at all the videos,” says Rybicka-Oliver. “But a couple days ago, I got the real certificate that [said] I actually won the world record. I was really happy — I’m an official Guinness World Record-holder.”

Rybicka-Oliver had officially spun at 342 RPM, blowing the old record out of the water (or rather, off of the ice).

For her parents, though, the certificate that proved their daughter was a world record holder wasn’t as important to them as the growth that she made as a person in the process.

“Having a young girl, we’re trying to play this down, [but] it has not gone to her head at all,” says Oliver, who says that she became more focused on school work and her training while she prepared for the record. “She just improved as a person. It’s been very good for her as a person. And it’s wonderful that she’s been able to help others in doing so.”

“But it is lovely to have the certificate hanging up on the wall, I must agree,” adds Oliver.

Rybicka-Oliver believes her record is safe for at least a little while, is excited to see her name in the next edition of the Guinness Book of World Records, and is even considering trying to break another “tricky” record a few years down the line.

Her further efforts to help sick kids in Poland get their wishes, however, are already set in motion.

“There are these two kids from Poland, and they really want to come to Canada and visit Canada — especially Niagara Falls,” says Rybicka-Oliver, who’s already starting to work on fundraising efforts. “I’m going to take them to Niagara Falls with my parents.”

“She’s demonstrated already her commitment to helping others, and she wants to do the next step,” says Oliver.

Rybicka-Oliver is currently seeking donations towards this wish trip from local businesses and members of the community — if you’re interested in helping out this world record holder, you can email her through her father at [email protected].