Australia's best artistic skaters crowned at 2026 National Championships

Photo: Bernadine Geary

Over 230 of Australia's best artistic roller skaters delivered a week of world-class performances, emerging talent and memorable battles as the 2026 Skate Australia Artistic Skating National Championships wrapped up at Mt Warren in Brisbane.

National titles were decided across Freeskating, Figures, Dance and Group events, with established champions reinforcing their status while the country's next generation showcased the depth of Australian artistic skating.

The headline event of the championships, the Senior Ladies Solo Dance, lived up to expectations with one of the closest contests of the week. Victoria's Kara O'Gorman produced two outstanding performances to claim the national title, topping both the Style Dance and Freedance standings.

Queensland's Georgia Hammond claimed silver after recording a personal-best Freedance score, while fellow Victorian Anabel Waterland secured bronze in a high-quality contest that saw the three medallists all surpass the 100-point mark.

Queensland's Kalani Mackenzie continued her impressive international form following recent World Cup appearances in Europe, comfortably winning the Youth title, while Kya Michal-Bax edged out fellow Queenslander Sommer Keeling in a strong Junior competition.

The future of Australian dance skating was also on display in the Cadet division, where Sophie Mackenzie claimed gold ahead of Zara Davis and Evelyn Passlow.

In Senior Dance Couples, Queensland pairing Oscar White and Harper Connors produced one of the performances of the championships, impressing judges with polished routines and significantly improved scores to secure the national crown.

The technical precision of Figures competition again highlighted Australia's strength across all age groups. Queensland's Helen Matulich captured the Masters Ladies title with an aggregate score of 102.7, while Western Australia's Emma Goronski posted the highest aggregate score of the finals with 106.7 to win Intermediate Ladies Figures.

Natalie Woo (Victoria) claimed the Junior title, with Queensland's Georgina Foers crowned Senior Ladies champion.

Freeskating provided plenty of standout moments throughout the week. South Australia's Ivy Kerkemeyer delivered one of the performances of the championships, scoring 102.99 to comfortably win the Cadet title ahead of Zara Davis and Catarina Fernandes-Brum.

Fellow South Australian Emma Vonthethoff continued her outstanding progression by improving her previous World Championship-winning score by more than 10 points to take out the Junior title, while Queensland's Thomas Sparks impressed in his first season competing at senior level.

Queensland athletes also featured prominently across the remaining Freeskating divisions, with Mia Joplin-Lane claiming the Youth title, Jack Tabb and Naomi Jeudon winning the Advanced men's and women's events respectively, while Western Australia's Amadee Bond returned to competition in style to win the Intermediate title.

In the Masters division, New South Wales' Ebene Montgomery completed a remarkable comeback after several years away from competition to claim the national championship.

The Group events showcased the creativity and teamwork that define artistic skating, with Queensland's Pra Angeli defending its status as Australia's premier quartet after another commanding victory in the Senior division. Sister teams Giovani Angeli and Bambini Angeli completed a Queensland one-two in the Open Quartet competition, while Victoria's Infinity claimed Open Precision honours and New South Wales' Team Skatel Karate Kid took victory in Small Show.

Victoria's Isadora Deng capped off the championships by receiving the prestigious Steve Bowman Trophy, awarded to the most entertaining performer of the 2026 Skate Australia Artistic Skating National Championships.