Nadiia
Nadiia Bashynska
Hometown: Kyiv, Ukraine
Age: 17
Spirit Animal: “Butterfly, or at least that’s what about 5 online quizzes said.”
… all of our ice dancers must be taking the same quiz…
Nadiia, born in Kyiv, Ukraine, first stepped onto the ice at the age of two and began taking private skating lessons by age three. Originally competing in singles, she made the transition to ice dance at age nine and has been pursuing this discipline ever since.
“I can't say I was the best student, as I always cruised away into the big kid's groups, and it drove my coaches crazy. As I grew up and got older, my life kept revolving around skating, but I also wanted to become a ballerina since I was very young.”
“One day my parents finally brought me to the academy, and I was accepted. Since that time, I remember my days would consist of skating, school, ballet and sleep, hardly having enough time to break or relax. Those years shaped me into the person you all know me as today.”
“Five years ago, I moved to Canada not speaking any English, but passionate, happy and excited for my new life. I was on edge between choosing Skating or Ballet, I did not have a partner, and I believe it was fate that Peter and I met.”
“He moved in to live with my family in 2017, a year after I immigrated. I quit ballet and started working harder at skating. After winning Novice Nationals, placing at JGP and Nationals, I feel proud every day to compete for Canada. “
Today, Nadiia and Peter Beaumont train in Toronto, Ontario at SFSC IceDanceElite and are coached by Carol Lane, Juris Razgulajevs, Jon Lane and Marc-Andre Servant.
“With the pandemic, Peter and I grew closer; we matured behind the scenes and look forward to getting back to competing. Covid took away my part-time job, and I decided to bring back my other childhood dream. I opened my chocolate business, CocoaKind, and now work hard every day to make little Nadiia proud of achieving her dreams.
Check out @n.b_cocoakind on Instagram!
Describe yourself in one word.
“It’s honestly pretty much impossible to describe myself in one word. Although if I had to think really hard, it would be ambitious. I’m always up to a challenge and I love to explore and improve myself!”
Q: Who is someone in your life that inspires or motivates you?
“I have so many; family members, my partner, my best friend, coaches and my teammates. Everyone inspires me in a certain way, they give me something to wake up for every day. I am simply unable to pick one person from my life, because I have so many amazing human beings surrounding me.”
Q: Who was your skating ‘role-model’ when you were younger?
“It would be weird to say I’ve never had a real role-model, but it’s true. I always find things I look up to in certain people, but I have never found someone who I want to be like. I think I want to be ME, the best version of myself to be exact.”
Q: What is your favourite element in skating?
“I love choreography elements, whether it's choreo steps or sliding or spinning. All of these elements give me freedom of expression and creativity.”
“I honestly do not have “least” favourite element, but I used to have a bad relationship with twizzles. Twizzles are the biggest element for Ice Dancers, both Peter and I trained them very hard to overcome this fear of messing up. I say repetition, repetition, and repetition when in doubt just keep on repeating them.”
Q: What is your favourite type of off-ice training?
“I love dancing and conditioning. We do all kinds of dances with Alex Creinein. She is our amazing dance trainer, as well as Yury Vrazkin, our ballet teacher who is my absolute favourite! Our conditioning is pretty intense, but it is the best. I love the lingering muscle pain and fatigue after a satisfying workout.”
Q: Do you do any type of visualization or meditation?
“Both my partner and I practice visualization before we compete. We look at the ice and space out all of our elements to prevent any issues from happening.”
“In my everyday life, I try my best to find at least 5-15min to sit down and meditate. I practice chakra yoga and I recommend it to everyone who struggles with intrusive thoughts. It’s the best, most relaxing meditation method! I began meditation only a few years ago, it’s life changing. It helps with my headspace during everyday life and especially at competitions to keep negative thoughts away.”
Q: Do you have any pre-competition rituals or superstitions?
“This is a tricky question, I am very superstitious by nature, my culture carries a lot of superstition in general. I try my best to stay away from that during competitions, although I do always wear my protection ring when I skate!”
Q: What is your favourite type of hype up music to get you in the zone?
“OMG I love this! I have a shared playlist with my best friend where we put a bunch of hype up music! My main go to artists are Nelly Furtado, Rihanna, Britney Spears, Gwen Stefanie, The Pussycat dolls, Kanye West, Tyler the Creator and Joan Jett! Although for cool down and after competition music I prefer to listen to classical music, my favorites are Max Ritcher, Joshua Bell, Debussy and Mozart.”
Q: What do you typically think about right before performing?
“Well, my last words with my partner are always pretty much the same. We always say “do the program we can do today, and let’s kill it”. Personally, I think it calms us down, it really helps knowing that there is someone there for you. For myself, my mind is very much blank when I’m on the ice, although I do prepare myself beforehand. Usually, I make myself concentrate on my main purpose, ‘make everyone watch you’, and that’s the only thought I have at competitions.”
Q: Did you ever endure some type of adversity in your career?
“I have been pretty fortunate to have never experienced any major injuries in my skating career. Although, I had struggled mentally to push through tough moments in life. With changing countries, not understanding English and having no partner I felt as helpless as a sailor stranded alone on an island.”
“Having no friends didn’t bother me as much as not knowing what was going to happen with skating and ballet. I’ve had amazing people who supported me through this and many other things that I’m thankful for every day. I believe that we have to have bad days in order to appreciate the good ones. Looking back, I don’t regret that pain and sadness, it made me who I am today and I’m grateful for that.”
Q: What is your favourite skating memory?
“Winning third place at JGP in Russia in 2019. I was crying and laughing; such a mess. It’s unforgettable, the crowd and people asking for pictures and autographs caught me so off guard. Standing on the podium felt so good.”
Other notable achievements of the team include placing 1st at Lake Placid International 2019, Canadian Novice Junior National Champions, and 2nd at Canadian Nationals 2020 (Junior).
Q: On days that you don’t feel like training, what keeps you motivated?
“I just think of my goal, and how I will never be able to achieve it if I slack off or miss practices. [It also] helps me to think that there is always someone out there working harder than me.”
Q: What was one major life lesson that you’ve learned from skating?
“Never give up, never quit and never complain.”
“As someone who has been in this athletic environment for pretty much my whole life, I’ve always been told that I have to be built of steel. Unbreakable and bulletproof; it’s true, I wouldn’t be able to survive if I wasn’t tough. You have to find satisfaction in being tired and learn valuable lessons from making mistakes. There will never be ups without any downs.”
Q: Any advice for young and aspiring skaters?
“DO NOT GIVE UP.”
“Yes, it’s hard. Yes, it’s frustrating, but the payoff is worth it. Your hard work pays off, so keep pushing and never ever give up. Dream big, Aim big, and Live big!”
Q: What is it that you love most about skating?
“I think it’s the mixture of extreme anxiety before going on the ice and then skating a program and giving it my all. Afterwards, comes the satisfaction, together with some anger, wishing you could have done more. It’s this burning passion to compete, learn, and experience all of the precious moments of competitive sport.”
Q: What is your ultimate goal with skating?
“At the beginning this was just a recreational thing to get me to keep moving and be active. Although now, about 14 years later, I’m aiming to become an Olympian.”
Q: If skating didn’t exist and you could be anything else in the world what would it be?
“A ballet dancer. I’ve seriously considered going to ballet instead of pursuing skating, as I didn’t have a partner for a year. I was in a Ukrainian Ballet Academy for [approximately] 3 years. I was even accepted into Royal Winnipeg Ballet School.”
Q: Do you have any hobbies outside of skating?
“Alright… I was waiting for this one. I’m a woman of many hobbies, so you have to bare with me. I love baking, cooking, editing videos, manifesting, fishing, aerial arts, dancing, watching anime and fashion. To be honest I’ve probably missed something, but I get so passionate with things, they all turn into my hobbies.”
Q: What are your aspirations outside of skating?
“I have quite a few goals. I own a chocolate and bakery-based business and I’m aiming to own a few of my own bakeries. I also want to be a part of some big circus show, whether it would be on the ice or off the ice. I am a huge fan of aerial arts. As well, I would love to travel to some very specific places or the whole world [during my life] to experience and fulfil my childhood dreams.”
Q: Are you currently in school?
“I am taking a final lap in high school, which means I will be staying for an extra year to collect all of my missing credits. It happened because of skating, my schedule never worked with school.”
Currently attending Unionville Highschool of the Arts, Nadiia is planning to continue her studies at Ryerson University in a dance program.
Q: What is something funny or unique that most people don’t know about you?
“One thing that makes me laugh is my childhood self. When I was in grade 3, I had multiple boyfriends at the same time, and I always had guys gift me presents out of the blue. All I can say is that I used to be a heartbreaker!”
Q: Where is one place you’ve never been but hope to visit?
“Japan, I absolutely adore their culture and food. My parents always introduced us to different cultures when we were younge and Japan has always been one of the biggest ones for me. We are aiming for the Grand Prix Finals this year and they are being held in Osaka, Japan.”
Lastly, what does it mean to you to have a #ChampionshipMindset?
“You have to believe that you are the best, and that YOU WILL win. If you don’t believe you deserve first place, nobody will believe you either. Having a #ChampionshipMindset is not just hoping to someday become one, it’s knowing exactly that you will.”
