Dauphin’s Breken Brezden recently skated in her first senior international competition in Nice, France.

Brezden was one of two senior skaters representing Canada at the Challenger Series Trophy Metropole Nice Cote d’Azur, Oct. 16 to 20, where she finished 10th overall.

She was 20th after the short program, but Brezden’s free skate pushed her up to 10th.

Brezden had just finished a practice her coaches were still on the ice when she opened her phone, finding an email from Skate Canada informing her of her selection to represent Canada in France.

“I immediately went to go tell them. It was pretty exciting, because it’s just a nice pay off for all the hard work I put in during the summer,” she said.

“And then I called my parents after, because they were at home in Manitoba.”

After a successful summer in which she won two gold medals and a bronze, Brezden new she was on Skate Canada’s radar from international competitions.

“And in skating for Skate Canada, they have this benchmark score that you need to achieve before you can be sent out internationally. And I got it, so I knew it was something that could potentially happen, but you wouldn’t be sure until they actually contected you about it,” she said.

Brezden was “super excited” to be selected.

“It was very motivating to know I would be having my first international competition. And that just makes training all the more exciting every day to come to the rink and work hard in preparation for that,” she said.

This was the first time Brezden traveled to Europe for a competition.

“The flights were long. But they were worth it, because it was a very good experience overall,” she said.

Brezden admitted her short program wasn’t very strong, but she was able to use it as a learning experience.

“I’ve taken a lot away from the competition and I learned a lot of lessons. And I’m very happy with my come back in my long,” she said.

Brezden’s next competition will be the Skate Canada Challenge at the end of November in Winnipeg.

Brezden was grateful her parents were able to make the trip to France to support her.

“I’m very, very thankful for them. I’m just glad I was able to get this exposure to international competition,” she said.