Alexandria "Zsa Zsa" Riordan-Niechcielska (born August 14, 1990) is an American former

figure skater Figure skating is a sport in which individuals, pairs, or groups perform on figure skates on ice. It was the first winter sport to be included in the Olympic Games, when contested at the 1908 Olympics in London. The Olympic disciplines are me ...

. She most recently competed internationally on the Junior National level for Poland and won first place to get the Gold Medal. She is of Polish and Irish descent.

Personal life

Riordan grew up in Philadelphia. Her maternal grandparents were born in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

and so she and her mother both speak Polish fluently. Her father is of Irish descent. Now retired from skating, Riordan decided to pursue a career in nursing and earned her RN and BSN degrees from the University of Pittsburgh in 2014. She is a surgical intensive care nurse. She is currently enrolled in a master's level certified nurse anesthesia program.

Career

Skating career

She competed for the USA representing the Skating Club of New York until the early autumn of 2005. Placing high enough to qualify for the

U.S. Figure Skating Championships The U.S. Figure Skating Championships is a figure skating competition held annually to crown the national champions of the United States. The competition is sanctioned by U.S. Figure Skating. In the U.S. skating community, the event is ofte ...

and represent the USA internationally in Novice, at the Aegon Cup in the Hague, Netherlands. She decided to compete for Poland as a member of ''Unia Dwory'' skating-club in

Oświęcim Oświęcim (; german: Auschwitz ; yi, אָשפּיצין, Oshpitzin) is a city in the Lesser Poland ( pl, Małopolska) province of southern Poland, situated southeast of Katowice, near the confluence of the Vistula (''Wisła'') and Soła rive ...

(later changing clubs representing)

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

''RSK Marymont'' Skating Club. Due to ISU restrictions, she was restricted from competing internationally for a full year, even though she placed high enough in the

Polish Figure Skating Championships The Polish Figure Skating Championships ( pl, Mistrzostwa Polski w łyżwiarstwie figurowym) are a figure skating competition held annually to determine the national medalists of Poland. The event has been held annually since 1922. Medals may be ...

to represent the country internationally. At the same time, she had competed in the USFSA Regional, Sectional, Eastern and Junior National Championships. She had her international debut in the late winter of 2008. In February 2009, she started in Junior World Championships in Sofia, Bulgaria.

Post-skating career

Skating with Olympic Gold Medalists such as Oksana Baiul, Kristi Yamaguchi, Nancy Kerrigan, Katerina Witt, Nicole Bobeck and Tara Lipinski. Zsa Zsa was the Guest Skater who auditioned and was chosen to skate in "Diva's On Ice" Show at the Sovereign Bank Arena in Trenton, New Jersey for 2 consecutive years. Also skating half-time for the New Jersey Titans Hockey Team. Summers were spent training in Lake Arrowhead, California at the legendary "Ice Castles" International Training Center owned by Mrs. Carol Probst, former Ice Follies performer. Elaine Zayak would always travel with her students. During that time, Ice Castles was one of the Greatest Training Facilities in the country. Frank Carrol was head coach for

Michelle Kwan Michelle Wingshan Kwan (born July 7, 1980) is a retired competitive figure skater and diplomat serving as United States Ambassador to Belize. In figure skating Kwan is a two-time Olympic medalist (silver in 1998, bronze in 2002), a five-time ...

, John Zimmerman, Olympic Pairs Champion, Sylvia Fontana, Italian Olympic Champion, Jim Peterson, an American World and Olympic figure skating dance coach. Today, all except Michelle Kwan, now coach in Florida, The Sunshine State.

Television

In August 2009, Riordan attended a Miss Polonia-Staten Island Pageant in New York where she met Andrew Ostrowski, Director of Real Live Relic Hunter, and was subsequently recruited as an Apprentice Actress.''Staten Island Advance'', 2010-10-21, Carol Ann Benanti, Columnist
"Relic-hunting team from Staten Island set for tv show opportunity"
section A, p.11Real Live Relic Hunter

Retrieved 2012-02-16 Zsa Zsa was also asked to appear on "Saturday Night Live" in December 2010, Season 36. She skated as Meryl Streep in NBC "Ice Show at the Gardens" with Abby Elliott, Paul Rudd, and Paul Mc Cartney.

Competitive highlights

(starts for Poland) * N = Novice level; J = Junior level (starts for the USA)

References

External links

*
Tracings.net profile

Figureskatingonline.info profile

{{DEFAULTSORT:Riordan Alexandria Polish female single skaters 1990 births Living people Sportspeople from Philadelphia American sportswomen 21st-century American women