Zarah Wood and Alex Lapsky are competing in their third season together and began the 2025/26 season with a win at Robin Cousins Cup. Later in September, they’ll compete at the first of their Junior Grand Prix events but I caught up with them just after their win in Sheffield.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
This was your first competition of the season, how did it go?
It’s a good start to the season. It wasn’t perfect but good enough for the start, before the Junior Grand Prix [events] in Thailand and Poland.
It’s your second JGP season, what are you looking forward to this time around now you’ve been out internationally?
We’re still new but not so new, so having more experience and being able to enjoy the programs more. We’ve improved our elements from last season and we can focus on the choreography more now.
What do you think you’ve learned the most from last season that you’re taking into this season?
We’ve learned a lot. Even in the [free] program today, when little mistakes happen — in our first lift the exit was a bit scrambly and difficult — we’re able to pull it together and not let it affect the whole program, just take one element at a time.
What element do you think you’ve improved most on since last year?
The twist. That was a difficult element for us to learn. It’s not perfect yet but there’s a triple now so that’s good and it’s not as scary anymore. The comment we got quite a lot from last season was about the twist. It’s one of the biggest elements in pairs and what defines a team, when a twist is good it sets a good tone for the program, and that’s improved a lot from last season.
How did you both first get into pairs?
Alex: I did ice dance before. I split up with my partner then got a call from Zoe [Jones] about doing pairs with Zarah. At first I was a bit on edge about it but I realised that skating is the one thing I love in life so I decided to go for it and here we are! Obviously, every pair when you first start is a rocky road. Pairs is a very hard thing to be good at.
Zarah: You have to be good at so many things at once! Obviously, for me, my mum [Zoe Jones] did pairs, so she’s my inspiration and what I look up to, and Chris [Boyadji] also. I grew up watching them and I was so impressed. It looks easier than it is so when you start pairs you realise how hard it is. My mum and Chris are my drive and what makes me keep going. Our team in Swindon are so good, it’s such a family. Chris, my mum, Lloyd [Jones], all of our teammates, we have a really good support system and it makes skating so much more enjoyable.
Do you feel any extra pressure being Zoe’s daughter?
Yes and no. I feel like people think there’s pressure because it’s something you want to live up to, but not as much. I do feel like I’m my own person. People say I look like my mum when I’m on the ice, and that’s great, but it’s not something that daunts me and I think that’s also something to do with how we’re trained. You’re trained to know you’re not going to be perfect all the time, so if you do a bad competition, you’re not letting anyone down. It’s just the environment that makes it better.
For your programs this season, you’ve gone with two different genres. How did you come about both pieces?
Chris likes our personality on the ice, we’re very bubbly people and like to have fun on the ice, so that’s how we got to Mambo No. 5. For the free, [music from the Addams Family], it’s fun but also quite mysterious. One of our things is that we have quite cool choreography with some crowd pleasing moments, we both love the program. Chris found both pieces of music and Lloyd did the choreography, he’s really helped us in our journey so far.
It’s an Olympic season, so who are you keeping an eye on and who are your favourite teams at the moment?
Zarah: Obviously, we’re keeping an eye on Anastasia [Vaipan-Law] and Luke [Digby] because they’re our GB and we want them to do well. I personally love Minerva [Fabienne Hase] and Nikita [Volodin] and Wenjing Sui / Cong Han are back so I can’t wait to see them. Riku [Miura] and Ryuichi [Kihara], I think they’re my favourites. I love their short program
Alex: I love Riku [Miura] and Ryuichi [Kihara] also, everything he does is so easy.
What are your goals for the season?
Win the British [Championships] again, place higher in the Junior Grand Prix than we did last year — hopefully top 10. As a whole, we want to look stronger as a team. We have a lot to work on from this competition and now when we get back to training, we know what we need to work on.
