It was supposed to just be a way to get fit. Little did she know the decision to walk through those doors would change her life.

"I'd just had my third child and one of the mums said 'it's a really good way to get fit and come back from having kids'. I went with some mums from school, and back then it wasn't a big thing, there was only two studios in Canberra in total," Domazet said.

"But because I've got a really strong dance and gymnastics background, I picked it up really quickly. Within one year I was teaching the most elite pole dancers in Canberra."

And now? Thirteen years later, Domazet is about to open her fifth studio and she is the director of the Australian Pole Championships, which will be held at Erindale Theatre on Friday night from 7.30pm.

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Australia's Got Talent winner Kristy Sellars, So You Think You Can Dance's Danny Golding, and international pole champion Andrea Ryff will join the judging panel for routines across four divisions.

Among them are the professionals, "athletes who train for five to six hours a day and they've been training for 10 to 15 years"; the amateurs, some with up to five years of experience without competing on a national stage; the group category; and the battle, where competitors get one minute to perform their finest tricks.

"The championships and the competitors have grown. Obviously COVID has slowed things down a little bit but it's a huge growing sport," Domazet said.

"We've got more studios in Canberra per capita than anywhere in the world. Canberra is massive for pole dancing.

"I think the real reason people are coming more is they did dance or gymnastics as a kid, but when they get older there's nothing for them. Pole is a combination of everything.

"When you first start, it's really hard to pull your body up on the pole, it's hard to do a spin. In six weeks we've got people climbing to the top of the pole, and in another six weeks they're going upside down when they never thought they'd be able to.

"It's never-ending, you can never stop learning, you can never do everything. It's quite exciting to be able to do things you never thought you could do."

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