New graduate Klaudia had to get her skates on!

Polish student made a dash from the Slalom World Cup in Paris to attend her graduation ceremony in Huddersfield

THE high-speed lifestyle of star slalom skater Klaudia Hartmanis meant that she combined a year of full-time study at the University of Huddersfield with international competition in her spectacular sport.

She recently graduated from the University, but to attend her award ceremony the Polish student had to make a rapid departure from the 2017 Slalom World Cup in Paris – where she was among the medal winners - in order to catch her flight to the UK.

“It was crazy!” said Klaudia. “I didn’t have time to stay to get my podium awards and I was just in time at the airport. But I really enjoyed the graduation ceremony. It was an amazing feeling to be there with all the students and I felt really proud of what I achieved.”

At the University of Huddersfield ceremony she received her BSc in Air Transport and Logistics Management (pictured above). At the World Cup in Paris she took third place in the Battle contest – in which each skater has to do better than the others of the group to qualify for the next round – and was fourth in the Classic category. Her successes were the latest in a long string of honours that have led Klaudia to be one of the world’s top-ranked freestyle slalom skaters.

The sport has a passionate and growing following around the world. It is a highly technical form of inline roller skating that involves performing tricks around a straight line of equally-spaced cones. Klaudia was introduced to it during her school days in Rzeszów and her first competition was in Warsaw in 2009.

I simply love it because it gives me freedom. There are no boundaries and I can do whatever I want

Klaudia Hartmanis

She has since become one of the world’s top competitors, with a cluster of World and European championship medals, and with her partner Michal Sulinowski  she has achieved first  place in the WSSA World Ranking and won some 270 medals at 86 International Events (the pair are pictured below right).

A large repertoire of complex tricks has been developed by skaters. They have names such as Reverse Eagle, Crazy Sun, Chicken Leg, Cobra and Butterfly Rocket. The most challenging move for Klaudia is named Toe Christie (pictured below left).

“I spent many months working on it,” she said. “I created some combos and I developed a little turning trick on one wheel. I always try to add something to freestyle, so my style is unique.”

Skating has taken Klaudia around the world and she remains dedicated and ambitious.

“I am trying to train as much as I can and I am still actively taking part in the competition. Just after graduation from the University of Huddersfield I went for another event in Italy and now I am preparing for World Championships in China.

“Freestyle slalom is a new but dynamically developing sport. For the moment it can’t be a source of my main income but I do it for because I love it and it makes me happy.”

She has combined it with degree study at Huddersfield and in her native Poland.

Her home institution – the University of Information Technology and Management in Rzeszów, where she studies Aviation Management - offers a double degree programme and Klaudia discovered that the University of Huddersfield course in air transport and logistics was an ideal complement.

Klaudia is in the closing stages of her Rzeszów degree, but after her stint at Huddersfield she has now relocated to Warsaw where she and Michal – now fully-qualified coaches - have set up a skating academy. So freestyle slalom will remain big part of her life.

“I simply love it because it gives me freedom. There are no boundaries and I can do whatever I want. I can create own tricks, combos and footwork. Thanks to slalom I can express myself by creating my own unique style. There is no word that could describe the feeling of happiness when I put my music on and start skating.”

Michał is studying new media at university in Warsaw and he has made several high-quality films of Klaudia in action, including a visually dramatic video shot in Singapore and a shorter sequence made in Huddersfield. They have accumulated hundreds of thousands of views on YouTube and social media, where their sites are at www.facebook.com/klaudiaimichal and
www.instagram.com/klaudia_michal.