WAUKESHA, Wis. – A former Catholic kindergarten teacher nudged out of the profession over her pole dancing exercises is now the United States Pole Sports Federation national champion for women over 40.

Marina Heck told The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel she was fired from a prestigious Catholic school when officials learned she was into pole dancing, though the Archdiocese of Milwaukee contends she was offered a different position during downsizing and declined.

Regardless, Heck’s exit from teaching opened up an opportunity to explore the sport she’s grown to love. She said she visited a gay strip club with a friend a few years back and was instantly hooked.

Marina Heck

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“I saw guys on the poles, not stripping but doing tricks,” Heck told the news site. “I said I want to do that. That looks so cool.”

The 41-year-old mother of three enrolled in classes at Blush Pole Fitness & Dance and began to focus on her moves. She developed routines to music and eventually installed two poles – including one that spins – in her basement along with other fitness equipment.

“I videotape everything,” she told the Journal Sentinel. “I record myself and play it back to see where my errors were and what I need to work on. I’m my own coach.”

Blush owner Maureen McKenzie Metzger said Heck is taking the sport seriously, and her dedication is paying off.

“She is so strong, just a little, tiny ball of muscle, and she is very dedicated to achieving her goals,” Metzger said of the 4-foot, 11-inch former teacher. “Athletes that compete in this level are Olympic caliber. Sometimes pole dance as a sport is treated as a joke. Watch Marina on a pole for three minutes and you would know a pole dancer is an athlete.”

Heck’s win at the pole dancing nationals earned her a spot to compete last weekend at the World Pole Sports Championships in London, where she represented the USA and took home eighth place with a routine set to an instrumental version of “Uptown Funk,” the Journal Sentinel reports.

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“Most of them own studios, or they have coaches, or they have teams they work with. When I told them I go to a studio once a week and train in my basement by myself, they thought I was crazy,” Marina said, according to Entertainment.ie.

PoleSports.org currently lists Heck as the seventh best female pole dancer in the world over the age of 40 with 27.7 points. She’s the only American in the women’s Masters 40+ World Rankings.

“It’s self-fulfillment. It’s not ego. If anything, this brings me back down to earth and reminds me how grateful I am to be able to do this,” Heck told the Journal Sentinel. “I really enjoy it. I do it for me, and I’m really lucky to say that I represented the United States.”

The London event featured over 150 competitors from 30 different countries who were judged on the technical and artistic aspects of their performances.