Olivia Oliver, 11, is only in sixth grade, but she is attempting to break a world record originally set by a figure skater in her 20s - Olivia wants to become the fastest spinner on ice skates to raise money for charity, Jezebel reported on Thursday.
"It would be the best experience ever," she told Global News.
The world record is currently held by Natalia Kanounnikova, who reached 308 rotations per minute. In a recent practice, Olivia just passed 300 rotations per minute.
It's a big task for any skater, especially one who has only been figure skating for four years.
"I have to find the right spot on my blade to spin," she said. "Once I find that spot, I know it and I squeeze. I pull myself all together as fast as I can and that makes me go much faster."
The aspiring figure skating Olympian from Nova Scotia said the feeling when she spins is hard to describe.
"I see blur around the whole ice. It's like I'm lightheaded or something. It feels really weird sometimes. Sometimes it feels normal because I do it a lot," she said.
She added: "I sometimes look at my hands. I don't look at anything else around me otherwise I would have been like, 'Whoa, what's going on?'"
But Olivia is looking for more than the world record - she is using her talents for a good cause, trying to raise money for Fundacja Dziecieca Fantazja, her parents' charity in their native Poland, as well as Leave Out Violence, also known as LOVE.
Her father, Garry, and his wife founded Fundacja Dziecieca Fantazja in 2004, which aims to grant wishes to terminally ill children. Wishes can range from new cell phones and laptops to trips to Disney World and meeting the Pope.
Donations usually come from the public, but Olivia is using her world record attempt at a gala in Poland in November to raise money for the charity.
Skating Coach Charleen Cameron has been teaching Olivia for several years and said the youngster has always had a love of spinning on the ice.
"She has the right structure and she certainly does practice as well as she has the right stuff to do it, that right technique," she said.
