Erica Batchelor

It was perhaps inevitable that Erica Batchelor would be a leading figure skater, as her parents were both professional skating coaches at Edinburgh’s Haymarket Rink. Batchelor went on to compete in both the World and European Championships every year from 1952-57, and also competed in the 1956 Cortina Winter Olympics, where she finished 11th in the women’s individual competition.

Batchelor’s best finish at the Worlds was third in 1954, and at the Europeans was second in 1953 and 1954, and third in both 1955 and 1956. When she won the British Amateur Championship in the 1957 season (after four podium finishes), she would be the last Scot to win the title until Jean Scott in 1971.

Shortly after winning the British title Batchelor turned professional and toured Europe, the United States and Canada. While en route to a tour in South Africa, she met her future husband Robert John van Coller. Batchelor stopped competitive skating in 1958 and started a new life in South Africa. In her spare time she enjoyed drawing, with a leaning towards portraits.