Lawyer makes history on ice

AT 5am, before the sun has crested and while most are still asleep, candidate attorney Shiven Bodasing is already on the ice, setting it alight with lunges, spirals, and three-turns. It’s the same relentless discipline that carried him to victory at the International Adult Skating Festival, his first international competition and a historic moment as the first South African to compete in his division.

The online contest, where 68 competitors uploaded their performances, saw Bodasing perform in two solo events. He walked off with top honours in Class III freestyle - the most advanced technical skating category - placed first overall in artistic, and was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize, which he won for the best overall skating skills and performance quality.

“For the Grand Jury Prize, they look at the most complete performance; your skating must not only be technically good, but it must be performative, precise, and very polished,” said Bodasing.

For the former SPCA inspector, winning the prestigious competition was affirming but also a huge surprise, even though his aim was to make himself and South Africa proud. It’s not for lack of talent, he says, but limited access to the resources needed to compete on an equal footing.

“We are always acting from a place of severe disadvantage when it comes to training, ice time, and facilities… we pale in comparison to what other countries like America and Italy have when it comes to ice skating.”

But behind the accolades lies relentless sacrifice. When the Independent on Saturday interviewed him this week, Bodasing was nursing a sprained wrist and shoulder, as well as a bone bruise on the tibia of his right leg, yet his schedule remained unchanged.

Skating, Bodasing says, is an unforgiving sport. It’s brutal.

“If you make one mistake, or if you miscalculate the speed, the angle, the force, the height, or the rotation on something small, you come down on a sheet of ice - and usually from a height. It’s literally like someone picks you up and throws you onto the ground. It’s really sore.”

Becoming the best he can be demands unwavering dedication. On a normal day, he is up by 4am, on the ice an hour later, and then back on the road by 7am, often heading to one or more courts for the day. His constant companion is a large wheeled sports bag weighing between 15kg and 20kg. Inside are his skates, blade covers, towels, a change of clothes, work attire, toiletries, shakes to fuel his body, electrolyte mixes, foam rollers, and a massage gun for recovery. Sometimes he does another ice session at night, as well as a gym workout, before heading home to sleep.

“It’s a full, full day,” he says. “The fullest of full.”

But does he ever get scared? Every single day. For him, that fear often comes with the axel jump -the only one that takes off forward, skating at speed, throwing yourself in the air.

“I usually have this anxiety, the hesitation for the jump… but from experience I know that hesitation is definitely going to make me faceplant, and I usually fall the hardest when I hesitate. So I trust myself, trust my training, and just let it fly. And if it doesn’t work, it’s okay.”

Bodasing says his favourite jump is the double Salchow, which features two full revolutions in the air. The most difficult jumps in his repertoire currently are the doubles - double loop, double lutz, and double flip. This year, he hopes to add triple jumps, which he is eager to master.

He only started skating five years ago during the Covid-19 pandemic, as a way to unwind from his job as an SPCA inspector and manager. Within five years, at the age of 30 - when most elite athletes are retiring - he reached elite athlete status. He left his life in Johannesburg, and trekked to Cape Town to work with coach Vage Evetts. He is currently the national adult figure skating champion with six gold medals 

Despite the challenges he faces, Bodasing believes anything is possible. “You have to do it for you and no other person. When you put yourself first, when you put what you want first and you’re hungry for it, the sky’s really the limit.”

Bodasing is fundraising to take part in the ISU Adult Figure Skating Championships in Germany this May, carrying the South African flag and a lifetime of ambition. He will compete against former Olympians and world champions and hopes South Africans will support him through his Back-A-Buddy campaign.

While he believes an athlete’s job should be to train and give their all, in South Africa it’s not possible. Figure skating is an expensive sport.

“The reality in a third world country that doesn’t prioritise this kind of sport is that I basically work so that I can skate,” he says. “My earnings go straight back into my sport to cover the costs of the choreographer, technical coach, ice time, petrol, gym fees, physiotherapists, doctors, medication, competition entries, supplements, diet - everything. I basically work so that I can skate.”

Despite the obstacles - his late start, self-funding, and grueling training - Bodasing is poised to make history in Oberstdorf, Germany, this May, representing South Africa for the first time on the international stage in his division.