(Photo: Facebook)
A New Brunswick woman is proving that anything is possible, at any age.
Pat Noddin is 83 years old. She recently travelled to Austria to compete at the Winter World Masters Games.
She was born and raised in Saint John and used to skate on a pond as a little girl. But when she moved to Moncton at the age of 58, she decided she wanted to learn to figure skate. She now skates out of the Moncton Mariposa Club, under Ester Richard and Eric Gillies.
The even more amazing thing: Noddin recently had a left total hip replacement, “When I skated, it was the first time in five months that I had been out on the ice by myself. I didn’t even think that I was going to get any points, and I was surprised when the judges gave me points.”
Noddin says she was scared at first but made her mind up when she put her foot out onto the competition ice.
“I just had a lot of encouragement from my family and friends. I told myself that I came all of that way, that I wasn’t going home without doing my best.”
Her words of advice for other seniors who may be thinking of taking up the sport, “People who have skated before or people who have just learned to skate as an adult, later on in years. We are all in the same boat. Go out and do your stuff. Gradually build up your strength and confidence, and get out there and do it.”
Noddin says three other figure skaters from New Brunswick — Monette Leblanc, Danielle Duclos and Julianne Williams Robichaud — also competed in Austria.
“I was surprised that there weren’t more New Brunswickers in the other sports. We were the only four New Brunswickers there. There were a lot of skiers and hockey players and other athletes from around the world, but we were the only four from New Brunswick,” Noddin says.
