2025 A Year To Remember For Irish Ice Skating
2025 got under way with two major ISU events for Team Ireland in January. Sean McAnuff representing Ireland at his fifth European Short Track Speed Skating Championships in Dresden, Germany with his best finish a 24th place in the 1500 metres. Carolane Soucisse and Shane Firus took on their second European Figure Skating Championships in Tallinn, Estonia where they ended up in 18th overall.
February saw our Irish skaters get an opportunity to try out 2026 Olympic ice in Milan. Prior to arriving in the Italian city, Irish Wolfhounds Sean McAnuff and Liam O’Brien competed at the fifth stage of the inaugural ISU Short Track World Tour in Tilburg, The Netherlands. McAnuff advanced to the 500 metres quarterfinals where he dipped under 42 seconds to set a new Irish record. The following week the Irish Wolfhounds got a taste of the Olympic atmosphere at the test event at the Unipol Forum to close out the Short Track World Tour. The following week Dillon Judge was in the same venue for the Road To 26 Trophy figure skating Olympic test event where he placed 12th in the men’s category. It was a busy period for Olympic related competitions as Allie Peterson was in Bakuriani, Georgia where she became only the second Irish skater to participate in a European Youth Olympic Festival coming 19th. Judge and Sophia Tkacheva also took part in the Merano Ice Trophy placing 14th and 23rd in their respective disciplines.
The World was a stage for our athletes in March. Sean McAnuff travelled to Beijing, China for the Short Track World Championships and he broke his own 500 metre Irish record twice during the course of the event. Later on in the month, Carolane Soucisse and Shane Firus were in Boston, United States of America for the World Figure Skating Championships finishing in 28th place.
In May Sean McAnuff and Liam O’Brien attended an Olympic Federation of Ireland Milano Cortina Camp in Dublin for athletes targeting qualification for the 2o26 Olympics.
For the fourth consecutive year the Irish Figure Skating Championships were held at the Dundee Ice Arena with medals contested in four categories.
Ryan McAnuff, the first speed skater to represent Ireland at Europeans and Worlds, announced his retirement from elite competition in July.
Newly crowned Irish Junior Women’s champion Juliana Farrell opened the 2025-2026 season in August for the national team with 18th at the Cranberry Cup International in Norwood, United States of America. Later on in the month Carolane Soucisse and Shane Firus bagged a silver medal at International Ice Dance Dordrecht in the Netherlands.
Dillon Judge and Carolane Soucisse and Shane Firus made their way to Beijing, China in September for the ISU Skate To Milano Olympic Qualifier. Judge finished 24th and Soucisse and Firus ninth at the event and were outside the quota places for figure skating at the 2026 Olympics.
Juliana Farrell was the sole representative for Ireland on this season’s ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating and she came 32nd at the Solidarity Cup in Gdansk, Poland in October. Sean McAnuff and Liam O’Brien got their quest for Olympic quota places started at back-to-back ISU Short Track World Tour events in Montreal, Canada. Dillon Judge placed 11th at the Tayside Trophy in Dundee, Scotland.
It was a hectic November for Dillon Judge as he competed at the Denkova-Staviski Cup in Sofia, Bulgaria, the Cup of Innsbruck in Austria and the Bosphorus Cup in Istanbul, Turkey. He placed 9th, 8th and 7th respectively. Sean McAnuff and Liam O’Brien concluded this season’s ISU Short Track World Tour with events in Gdansk, Poland and Dordrecht, The Netherlands that saw the Irish Wolfhounds fall short on obtaining quota places in short track speed skating at the 2026 Olympics. Carolane Soucisse and Shane Firus took on two ISU Challenger Series events in a row finishing 10th at Warsaw Cup in Poland and eighth at Tallinn Trophy in Estonia.
December began with Dillon Judge placing 22nd at the ISU Challenger Series Golden Spin of Zagreb in Croatia. Long track speed skater Thomas Steele made his international debut for Ireland at the European Youth Countrymatch in Heerenveen, The Netherlands setting a new Irish Junior record for the 1500 metres.
Here’s hoping for an even more spectacular year for Irish ice skating in 2026!