Robin Jones

Robin Jones won the 1959 Junior Men’s British Figure Skating Championship after finishing second to David Clements the previous year. Jones went on to win the Senior title in 1960 and 1962 and would have made it a hat-trick of wins after he “won” in 1961, but it was ruled that no title would be awarded that year because none of the men reached the minimum required mark in the compulsory figures, thus failing to skate “to the standard”. When he won his first senior title Jones was just 16-years-of age, and a few months later went to the Squaw Valley Winter Olympics and finished 12th. He also went to the 1960 World and European Championships. His best international finish as a singles skater was at the 1961 Europeans when he finished sixth. He also took part in the 1962 World and Europeans before turning professional.

Jones won the British junior Ice Dance title in 1960 with Sally Rodhouse and, after marrying fellow skater Heather Hibbert in 1963, went on to win the British and World Professional Ice Dance Championship with her in 1963 and 1964. Jones later became well known as a coach and went to Canada where he coached the Canadian Ice Dance champions Louise and Barry Soper. Upon his return to England, he coached at the Silver Blades Ice Rink in Bristol for six years and was still coaching there two weeks before his death at the age of 42 in 1986.