Łukasz Zalewski
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Łukasz Zalewski (; born 25 May 1977) is a Polish former competitive
ice dancer Ice dance (sometimes referred to as ice dancing) is a discipline of figure skating that historically draws from ballroom dancing. It joined the World Figure Skating Championships in 1952, and became a Winter Olympic Games medal sport in 1976. A ...
. Skating with Julie Keeble for the United Kingdom, he became the 1999 Karl Schäfer Memorial champion,
1999 Skate Israel Skate Israel () was a senior-level international figure skating competition, held in Metulla, Israel. Medals were awarded in four disciplines: men's singles, ladies' singles, pair skating, and ice dancing. First organized in 1995, Skate Israel wa ...
bronze medalist, and 2000
British national The primary law governing nationality in the United Kingdom is the British Nationality Act 1981, which came into force on 1 January 1983. Regulations apply to the British Islands, which include the UK itself (England, Wales, Scotland, and North ...
champion. During his career with Keeble and with Jolanta Bury for Poland, Zalewski competed in the final segment at four ISU Championships.


Personal life

Zalewski was born on 25 May 1977 in
Gdańsk Gdańsk is a city on the Baltic Sea, Baltic coast of northern Poland, and the capital of the Pomeranian Voivodeship. With a population of 486,492, Data for territorial unit 2261000. it is Poland's sixth-largest city and principal seaport. Gdań ...
, Poland. He began living in England in 1991 and studied
computer science Computer science is the study of computation, information, and automation. Computer science spans Theoretical computer science, theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, and information theory) to Applied science, ...
at
Queen Mary University of London Queen Mary University of London (QMUL, or informally QM, and formerly Queen Mary and Westfield College) is a public university, public research university in Mile End, East London, England. It is a member institution of the federal University ...
, at undergraduate and postgraduate level.


Career


Early career

Zalewski began learning to skate in 1984. Early in his career, he represented Poland with Jolanta Bury. The two placed 19th at the 1995 World Junior Championships, held in November 1994 in
Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...
, Hungary, and won the silver medal at the European Youth Olympic Days in February 1995 in
Andorra la Vella Andorra la Vella is the capital and largest city of Andorra. It is located high in the east Pyrenees, between France and Spain. It is also the name of the parishes of Andorra, Andorran parish that surrounds the capital. , the city had a populati ...
. Continuing in the junior ranks, Bury/Zalewski took silver at the 1995
Blue Swords Blue Swords () is an international figure skating competition organized by the Deutsche Eislauf-Union. It is usually held in Chemnitz, Saxony, Germany. Medals are awarded in the disciplines of Single skating, men's singles, women's singles, pair ...
and then placed 7th at the 1996 World Junior Championships, held in late 1995 in
Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...
, Australia. They began appearing on the senior level in the 1996–1997 season. They would win two national bronze medals before parting ways.


Partnership with Keeble

In 1998, Zalewski was partnered with British ice dancer Julie Keeble by their coach, Garry Alan Hoppe, in
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
, England. The duo competed on the senior level, representing the United Kingdom internationally. In the 1998–1999 season, they placed fourth at the British Championships, a few weeks after beginning their partnership. The following season, Keeble/Zalewski won gold at the 1999 Karl Schäfer Memorial in October, gold at the British Championships in November, and bronze at the
1999 Skate Israel Skate Israel () was a senior-level international figure skating competition, held in Metulla, Israel. Medals were awarded in four disciplines: men's singles, ladies' singles, pair skating, and ice dancing. First organized in 1995, Skate Israel wa ...
in December. In February, the duo finished 16th at the 2000 European Championships, held in
Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...
, Austria. In March, they qualified to the free dance at the 2000 World Championships in
Nice Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one million1977 births British male ice dancers Polish male ice dancers Living people Figure skaters from Gdańsk