Meet organizers have recently sent MSS News an update regarding this great masters competition scheduled for the Pettit National Ice Centre in Milwaukee Wisconsin during February 17 - 18, 2007.
This is an excellent masters speed skating event which, in 2006, attracted 70 competitors from the USA and Canada. See past posts in Masters Speed Skating News and Zen and the Art of Speed Skating for reports and personal accounts of last year's edition.
Scheduled the weekend before the International Masters Meet in Calgary, this Milwaukee event provides the opportunity for back-to-back participation in the 2 biggest masters long track speed skating events in North America in 2007.
Thursday, December 21, 2006
Saturday, December 09, 2006
WHERE IS YOUR HOME OVAL?
At our first international masters speed skating games in Ste-Foy in 2001, our new-found Dutch friends asked us, "Where is your home oval?". As residents of long-track deprived southwestern Ontario - we had to admit, to their surprise, that we had no oval - only the never-ending corners of short-track.
We're very envious of our long-track colleagues in Calgary, Ste-Foy, Milwaukee, Salt Lake City and areas of Europe who get out to their local oval 2 to 4 times per week. Our actual long track practice sessions are limited, by time and money, to usually no more than 4 to 6 trips per year. From where we are, driving times to the closest ovals are Lake Placid (7 hours), Ste-Foy (9 hours) and Milwaukee (10 to 11 hours depending on Chicago traffic conditions). A trip to Calgary involves a week away from work.
But if this sounds like whining, we're not totally deprived and often tell our skating friends that our home oval is the world famous Tri-Oval in Brampton Ontario. Located in Gage Park just behind City Hall near Hurontario (Hwy 10), this venue is really not an oval at all - but rather a recreational skating path. The name derives from the path's approximate 250 m configuration which is roughly made up of 3 corners and 3 straightaways - one of which is bent enough to necessitate a mid-stride cross-over. For skaters of our modest caliber, the track is navigable on long track skates at moderately high speed - although Turn 3 often takes one to the brink of sparking across the adjacent brick paving and local legend says at least one skater has crashed into the concrete fountain beside Turn 1.
Gage Park is open to the public all the time and so we go at 7 am on weekends to avoid the crowds. As the first flood is not until 8 am, our standard warm-up includes laps in both directions pushing our own snow shovels to remove the debris left behind by hundreds of skaters who partied well past midnight on the previous evening. Although this generally consists of snow and coffee cup lids, our shovels have been known to collect broken glass and discarded double-A batteries - known enemies of the lovingly hand-sharpened blade. The local squirrels who inhabit the branches overhanging the track also contribute leafs, branches and acorns to this high-performance ice surface. Our favourite, however, is the nightly visits by security guards who actually drive their patrol car on the ice leaving behind behind tire tracks of salt and sand. To them, we are indebted for our well-practiced sharpening skills. Standard post-practice protocol includes washing the salt from your blades and guards.
I'm reminded of this, as Gage Park opened for the season this week and we were there this morning at 6:45 am suiting up in our portable 4-wheeled change rooms in the nearby parking lot. Conditions with a wind-chill of only -11C were not too bad with a full set of underwear covered by a hooded skin-suit, toque, jersey, double-mittens and skater covers with toe warmers. Track-side water bottles need to be turned upside down to keep the freezing water flowing out the spout. Friends Larry (Masters 40-44 pictured below in Turn 3) and Julius (master in another 12 years) joined in this morning's workout which still made us sweat despite the chilly temperature.
One additional bit of trivia about the Gage Park Tri-Oval is that it was used as a set to mimic Madison Wisconsin in the 1996 film - A Brother’s Promise – The Dan Jansen Story
I know we're not the only covered oval-deprived skate fanatics out there and often wonder what it's like outdoors in New Brunswick, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, northern Alberta, British Columbia and parts of the USA where conditions are likely to make Gage Park seem like a tropical paradise. MSS News would like to hear about your Home Oval. Click on comments (below), select "Other" as your identity, enter your name and tell your story. All clean, politically-correct, censor board-approved submissions will be posted. Or even better, e-mail us your story and a photo for posting on this site.
When you read these stories, you know you have to love this sport to do it!
We're very envious of our long-track colleagues in Calgary, Ste-Foy, Milwaukee, Salt Lake City and areas of Europe who get out to their local oval 2 to 4 times per week. Our actual long track practice sessions are limited, by time and money, to usually no more than 4 to 6 trips per year. From where we are, driving times to the closest ovals are Lake Placid (7 hours), Ste-Foy (9 hours) and Milwaukee (10 to 11 hours depending on Chicago traffic conditions). A trip to Calgary involves a week away from work.
But if this sounds like whining, we're not totally deprived and often tell our skating friends that our home oval is the world famous Tri-Oval in Brampton Ontario. Located in Gage Park just behind City Hall near Hurontario (Hwy 10), this venue is really not an oval at all - but rather a recreational skating path. The name derives from the path's approximate 250 m configuration which is roughly made up of 3 corners and 3 straightaways - one of which is bent enough to necessitate a mid-stride cross-over. For skaters of our modest caliber, the track is navigable on long track skates at moderately high speed - although Turn 3 often takes one to the brink of sparking across the adjacent brick paving and local legend says at least one skater has crashed into the concrete fountain beside Turn 1.
Gage Park is open to the public all the time and so we go at 7 am on weekends to avoid the crowds. As the first flood is not until 8 am, our standard warm-up includes laps in both directions pushing our own snow shovels to remove the debris left behind by hundreds of skaters who partied well past midnight on the previous evening. Although this generally consists of snow and coffee cup lids, our shovels have been known to collect broken glass and discarded double-A batteries - known enemies of the lovingly hand-sharpened blade. The local squirrels who inhabit the branches overhanging the track also contribute leafs, branches and acorns to this high-performance ice surface. Our favourite, however, is the nightly visits by security guards who actually drive their patrol car on the ice leaving behind behind tire tracks of salt and sand. To them, we are indebted for our well-practiced sharpening skills. Standard post-practice protocol includes washing the salt from your blades and guards.
I'm reminded of this, as Gage Park opened for the season this week and we were there this morning at 6:45 am suiting up in our portable 4-wheeled change rooms in the nearby parking lot. Conditions with a wind-chill of only -11C were not too bad with a full set of underwear covered by a hooded skin-suit, toque, jersey, double-mittens and skater covers with toe warmers. Track-side water bottles need to be turned upside down to keep the freezing water flowing out the spout. Friends Larry (Masters 40-44 pictured below in Turn 3) and Julius (master in another 12 years) joined in this morning's workout which still made us sweat despite the chilly temperature.
One additional bit of trivia about the Gage Park Tri-Oval is that it was used as a set to mimic Madison Wisconsin in the 1996 film - A Brother’s Promise – The Dan Jansen Story
I know we're not the only covered oval-deprived skate fanatics out there and often wonder what it's like outdoors in New Brunswick, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, northern Alberta, British Columbia and parts of the USA where conditions are likely to make Gage Park seem like a tropical paradise. MSS News would like to hear about your Home Oval. Click on comments (below), select "Other" as your identity, enter your name and tell your story. All clean, politically-correct, censor board-approved submissions will be posted. Or even better, e-mail us your story and a photo for posting on this site.
When you read these stories, you know you have to love this sport to do it!
Friday, December 01, 2006
MASTERS ICE RACING CHALLENGE
Ian Mellors, of the Banff-Canmore Speed Skating Club, has just provided MSS News with Information and a Registration Form which can be seen at Info/Entry
Ian advises that the event already has at least 10 outside-Alberta skaters registered and he expects at least another 10 from within the province, hopefully more. Ian reports that he's "been receiving good feedback from the Masters at the local meets" and that "everyone is quite excited".
If you're a masters short-tracker, this is your chance to be a part of history in the first-ever "Unofficial Canadian Masters Short Track Championships" to be held December 29 to 30, 2006 in the Canmore Recreation Centre in Canmore Alberta.
Ian advises that the event already has at least 10 outside-Alberta skaters registered and he expects at least another 10 from within the province, hopefully more. Ian reports that he's "been receiving good feedback from the Masters at the local meets" and that "everyone is quite excited".
If you're a masters short-tracker, this is your chance to be a part of history in the first-ever "Unofficial Canadian Masters Short Track Championships" to be held December 29 to 30, 2006 in the Canmore Recreation Centre in Canmore Alberta.
Thursday, November 30, 2006
QUEBEC MARATHONS
Masters skaters made up thirty-six, of forty-seven participants, in the 25 km event and thirty, of thirty-four competitors, in the 40 km race at the Gaétan Boucher Oval in Québec City during November 25 to 26. Conditions were ideal for skaters, officials, lap counters and coaches who all enjoyed the unusually sunny warm calm weather.
Overall winners were as follows:
25 KM - WOMEN
1st - Suzanne Dionne (40-49 years)
2nd - Dominique Lalonde (20-29 years)
3rd - Suzanne Tousignant (40-49 years)
25 KM - MEN
1st - Girard Othenin (20-29 years)
2nd - Bob Laurence (50-59 years)
3rd - Jim Cornell (40-49 years)
See complete 25 KM Results (64 laps)
40 KM - WOMEN
1st - Suzanne Dionne (40-49 years)
2nd - Dominique Lalonde (20-29 years)
3rd - Suzanne Tousignant (40-49 years)
40 KM - MEN
1st - Bob Laurence (50-59 years)
2nd - Jim Cornell (40-49 years)
3rd - Sergio Almarella (30-39 years)
See complete 40 KM Results (103 laps)
The 40 KM event featured a rolling start with the first lap led out by Paisley Perrie (10-19 years) and Canadian Speed Skating Hall of Fame member Pierre Gagné (70-79 years) - see photo.
Many thanks to event organizers and volunteers including Gaétan Rochette and Pierre Gagné.
Tuesday, November 28, 2006
CALGARY 2007 – HOTELS
According to the IMSSG site, the Ramada Hotel has been added to the list of hotels for the Calgary World Masters Championships in February –for booking information please consult: www.imssg.org/RamadaHotel.htm. Also, the organizers encourage those currently booked at the Four Points Sheraton to consider changing their reservation to the Ramada because of its more convenient location near the train and public transport. The masters booked at the Four Points Sheraton should also make sure that their reservation is uninterrupted and without transfer to another hotel near the airport on February 23 and 24.
Report and english translation courtesy of Anika Bédard
Report and english translation courtesy of Anika Bédard
Monday, November 27, 2006
PROVINCIAL SPRINT COMPETITION IN SAINTE-FOY
The first provincial long track sprint competition was held November 18-19, 2006 at the Gaetan Boucher Oval in Sainte-Foy, only two weeks after the opening of the oval. Close to 70 skaters of all ages registered, but only 5 masters took part to this event. The weather conditions were for once perfect with temperature around 5C and no wind, which is quite unusual if you ever skated in Sainte-Foy!
Benoit Lamarche (Masters 40-45), former Olympian, showed us that he is still in shape with times at the 500m and 1000m of 40.42 sec and 1:20.29 min respectively, finishing in the top 8 skaters in 3 of the 4 races. Maurice Gagné (Masters 60-65) came back strong this year with 52.63 sec for the 500m and 1:52.29 min for the 1000m. In the Masters Woman 40-45, Anika Bédard improved her 1000m Canadian record (Canadian Master Championships - March 2006) by 4 seconds with a time of 1:44.21 min. After the races, pursuit teams were organised according to the ranks/times and some masters joined the younger skaters for these fun and unofficial races of 4 or 6 laps.
For complete results, please consult: http://www.fpvq.org/doc/Resultats/Resultats.pdf
Report by Anika Bédard
English translation by Anika Bédard
Benoit Lamarche (Masters 40-45), former Olympian, showed us that he is still in shape with times at the 500m and 1000m of 40.42 sec and 1:20.29 min respectively, finishing in the top 8 skaters in 3 of the 4 races. Maurice Gagné (Masters 60-65) came back strong this year with 52.63 sec for the 500m and 1:52.29 min for the 1000m. In the Masters Woman 40-45, Anika Bédard improved her 1000m Canadian record (Canadian Master Championships - March 2006) by 4 seconds with a time of 1:44.21 min. After the races, pursuit teams were organised according to the ranks/times and some masters joined the younger skaters for these fun and unofficial races of 4 or 6 laps.
For complete results, please consult: http://www.fpvq.org/doc/Resultats/Resultats.pdf
Report by Anika Bédard
English translation by Anika Bédard
Saturday, November 18, 2006
LAKE PLACID NEWS
Latest News on Dimon Sports Website reports that the Bunnie Sheffield Speed Skating Oval in Lake Placid New York is scheduled to open for the season on December 2 - 3, 2006. Operating hours for the Oval, which was the venue for the 1980 Olympics where Eric Heiden won 5 gold medals in speed skating, can be seen here. A live webcam showing oval conditions can be seen
here.
Upcoming events, of possible interest to masters speed skaters, include:
- the Charles Jewtraw All-Round meet on December 9 - 10, 2006
- the Dimon Sports Marathon on December 16 - 17, 2006, and
- the Jack Shea Sprint Classic on January 6 - 7, 2007.
Many thanks to John Dimon for organizing these events and for supporting speed skating in the Lake Placid area.
here.
Upcoming events, of possible interest to masters speed skaters, include:
- the Charles Jewtraw All-Round meet on December 9 - 10, 2006
- the Dimon Sports Marathon on December 16 - 17, 2006, and
- the Jack Shea Sprint Classic on January 6 - 7, 2007.
Many thanks to John Dimon for organizing these events and for supporting speed skating in the Lake Placid area.
Tuesday, November 14, 2006
SHORT TRACK REPORT FROM SASKATCHEWAN
Many thanks to Mickey Kupchyk of Regina who filed the following report:
"The records were dropping like leaves at the Saskferco Fall Classic short-track speed skating meet in Regina this past weekend.
Brad Hudey, of the Regina Speed Skating Club, broke the Canadian Masters 2 records in the 777m, 1000m, and 1500m with times of 1:15.35, 1:41.21, and 2:35.46 respectively. He also set a new Provincial record in the 500m with a time of 49:30. Brad was really flying out there this weekend. In all four of his record breaking events he immediately took the lead at the gun and skated each race like a pursuit with no drafting at all. At one point in the 1500m he clocked back-to-back 9.7 and 9.8 second laps!
Unfortunately once again, Brad’s Canadian records won’t stand because he chose to skate with the kids in Group 1 rather than skate in the Masters division. But, for those of you who don’t know Brad, the records don’t mean anything to him – he just loves to skate and compete with fastest people possible. He never stops smiling when he’s racing.
In the Masters division Bill Christ (Masters 2) of Regina cleaned up winning all four heats and finals.
Mickey Kupchyk had a pretty good weekend as well finishing second overall in the Masters division. Mickey set new Provincial Masters 3 records in the 500m, 777m, 1000m, and 1500m with times of 0:56.24, 1:29.40, 1:56.52, and 2:58.18 respectively."
"The records were dropping like leaves at the Saskferco Fall Classic short-track speed skating meet in Regina this past weekend.
Brad Hudey, of the Regina Speed Skating Club, broke the Canadian Masters 2 records in the 777m, 1000m, and 1500m with times of 1:15.35, 1:41.21, and 2:35.46 respectively. He also set a new Provincial record in the 500m with a time of 49:30. Brad was really flying out there this weekend. In all four of his record breaking events he immediately took the lead at the gun and skated each race like a pursuit with no drafting at all. At one point in the 1500m he clocked back-to-back 9.7 and 9.8 second laps!
Unfortunately once again, Brad’s Canadian records won’t stand because he chose to skate with the kids in Group 1 rather than skate in the Masters division. But, for those of you who don’t know Brad, the records don’t mean anything to him – he just loves to skate and compete with fastest people possible. He never stops smiling when he’s racing.
In the Masters division Bill Christ (Masters 2) of Regina cleaned up winning all four heats and finals.
Mickey Kupchyk had a pretty good weekend as well finishing second overall in the Masters division. Mickey set new Provincial Masters 3 records in the 500m, 777m, 1000m, and 1500m with times of 0:56.24, 1:29.40, 1:56.52, and 2:58.18 respectively."
Sunday, November 12, 2006
AMERICAN MASTERS WANTED!
Andrew Love has posted an excellent article on his website about his experiences competing in international masters meets and calling for more American entries to the 16th Masters International Speed Skating Games at Calgary's Olympic Oval during February 22 to 25, 2007.
See American Masters! Attention! at Zen and the Art of Speedskating
As a world record holder in 500 m (men 30 & 35), 1000 m (men 35) and sprint points (men 30 & 35) - Andrew should count himself amongst the many American skaters who represent the best of this sport. Andrew also recently placed 5th in men's 500 m in the US Single Distance Championships / Fall World Cup Qualifier held October 19 to 22, 2006 at the Pettit National Ice Center in Milwaukee - clocking 37.12 and racing against skaters of all ages!
Many thanks to Andrew for his inspiration and leadership.
See American Masters! Attention! at Zen and the Art of Speedskating
As a world record holder in 500 m (men 30 & 35), 1000 m (men 35) and sprint points (men 30 & 35) - Andrew should count himself amongst the many American skaters who represent the best of this sport. Andrew also recently placed 5th in men's 500 m in the US Single Distance Championships / Fall World Cup Qualifier held October 19 to 22, 2006 at the Pettit National Ice Center in Milwaukee - clocking 37.12 and racing against skaters of all ages!
Many thanks to Andrew for his inspiration and leadership.
Friday, November 10, 2006
MASTERS INTERNATIONAL SHORT TRACK CHAMPIONSHIPS - REPORT
Jim White, of the West Allis Wisconsin Speed Skating Club, sent the following report regarding the 1st Masters International Short Track Speed Skating Championships held November 4 to 5, 2006 in the Pettit National Ice Centre in Milwaukee:
The first Masters International Short Track meet has concluded with 4 age group winners, one yellow card, zero injuries, and 100% skaters who enjoyed the weekend. This meet was held at Pettit November 4-5 in conjunction withthe Great Lakes Short Track Championship, and in the spirit of the classic Masters International Long Track meet.
The meet was designed to give everyone a variety of skating. Heats were divided by age. Finals were determined by finishing position in heats, so skaters of all ages were together with other skaters of similar speed. There was plenty of time between Masters races to recover and to watch Great Lakes races.
For men, overall and 30's age group winner was Scott Schuyler, of the Metro's club. John Cassady came from Texas to win the 40's group, and placed second overall. 50's top spot was won by Steve Penland of Glen Ellyn, and 60's byJim White of West Allis. Woman's 40's was won by Cathy Carrabre of Plymouth, while 50's winner was Diane Crossfield of Madison.
The yellow card was awarded to Jim Hundt who tried a desperation pass to the right at the finish of the 1000. Although he seemed to have the race won, the other skater at the line veered right (whether due to malice or awkwardness, we'll never know), sending Jim sliding into the pads, yet standing. If you know Jim, he stands well above the pads and carries plenty of weight, so he slid along directly in front of the judges and timers, clearing whatever / whomever was on top of the pads, and finally reaching the lap counter and scattering the lap number signs onto the ice. For this, he was given a yellow card by the head referee, although the ref was laughing so hard he apparently forgot to have the penalty officially recorded.
The second annual Masters International Short Track meet will be held next fall at Pettit. Jim Hundt has promised to try hard to stay away from the lap signs.
Full results are at http://www.wassc.org/
The first Masters International Short Track meet has concluded with 4 age group winners, one yellow card, zero injuries, and 100% skaters who enjoyed the weekend. This meet was held at Pettit November 4-5 in conjunction withthe Great Lakes Short Track Championship, and in the spirit of the classic Masters International Long Track meet.
The meet was designed to give everyone a variety of skating. Heats were divided by age. Finals were determined by finishing position in heats, so skaters of all ages were together with other skaters of similar speed. There was plenty of time between Masters races to recover and to watch Great Lakes races.
For men, overall and 30's age group winner was Scott Schuyler, of the Metro's club. John Cassady came from Texas to win the 40's group, and placed second overall. 50's top spot was won by Steve Penland of Glen Ellyn, and 60's byJim White of West Allis. Woman's 40's was won by Cathy Carrabre of Plymouth, while 50's winner was Diane Crossfield of Madison.
The yellow card was awarded to Jim Hundt who tried a desperation pass to the right at the finish of the 1000. Although he seemed to have the race won, the other skater at the line veered right (whether due to malice or awkwardness, we'll never know), sending Jim sliding into the pads, yet standing. If you know Jim, he stands well above the pads and carries plenty of weight, so he slid along directly in front of the judges and timers, clearing whatever / whomever was on top of the pads, and finally reaching the lap counter and scattering the lap number signs onto the ice. For this, he was given a yellow card by the head referee, although the ref was laughing so hard he apparently forgot to have the penalty officially recorded.
The second annual Masters International Short Track meet will be held next fall at Pettit. Jim Hundt has promised to try hard to stay away from the lap signs.
Full results are at http://www.wassc.org/
Monday, November 06, 2006
QUÉBEC MARATHON
The group Les Patineurs Maîtres de Québec is organising November 25 and 26, 2006 a marathon weekend at the Gaetan Boucher Oval in Quebec. Two races will be held: 25km and 40km. For more information consult: http://www.marathonskating.org/indexf.htm
CALGARY 2007 – STATE OF ENTRIES
According to the ISU Master Speed Skating Group (IMSSG) latest news, the reserved quota of 91 for Canadian competitors has already been reached! This is a fantastic turnout and should provide a great level of competition. The quota of 70 skaters for the Netherlands has also been reached. As for the other countries, as of today, here are the details (registration and quota): Germany 15 entries out of 41, Norway 50 entries out of 60, U.S.A. 11 entries out of 51 and other countries 33 entries out of 41. After December 10, 2006, all unused places will be awarded to those registered on the wait list. For Canadian skaters who wish to register now, their name will be added to this wait list.
Wednesday, November 01, 2006
OLYMPIC OVAL INVITATIONAL - MASTERS REPORT
Brett Arnason, interim Canadian representative to the IMSSC, sent the following report regarding masters speed skaters who recently competed in the Olympic Oval Invitational Meet held October 20 - 22 in Calgary:
On Wednesday October 18, 2006 I received an email from Mickey Kupchyk advising that he was off to race in Calgary. I had not given it a thought before that but decided at the last moment to pay the late fee and book a flight. No skating in Winnipeg yet and it would be a great way to find out if my training all summer was going to help.
I arrived at 3:00 p.m. and headed for the oval. Mickey arrived at Calgary an hour later and we proceeded to get the feel of the ice at around 6:30 p.m.
After about ½ hour I saw Mickey hobbling off the ice. His blade on one skate had separated from the tube and it was not useable. A few minutes later while practicing a start I tumble head over heels and banged my knee. The bolt on the back of my left skate had come apart and blown out sideways. It wasn’t looking good for either of us.
I had spare parts and was able to make repairs and was ready to go in the morning. A little ice on the knee and I was ready for action. It took Mickey all morning to get new blades, rocker them, sharpen them, and try to get used to them.
The masters that I knew were Lynn Sugden, Bob Irvine, Mickey Kupchyk, Tom Levesque, and Cliff Morrison.
500 meter times for Lynn, Bob and myself were all unofficial 500 meter record times with Lynn opening with a 42.66, followed by Bob with a 42.93, and Brett with a 43.06.
It is early in the year and the times indicate that the Master’s 3 group from the West will be competitive.
See full Results
On Wednesday October 18, 2006 I received an email from Mickey Kupchyk advising that he was off to race in Calgary. I had not given it a thought before that but decided at the last moment to pay the late fee and book a flight. No skating in Winnipeg yet and it would be a great way to find out if my training all summer was going to help.
I arrived at 3:00 p.m. and headed for the oval. Mickey arrived at Calgary an hour later and we proceeded to get the feel of the ice at around 6:30 p.m.
After about ½ hour I saw Mickey hobbling off the ice. His blade on one skate had separated from the tube and it was not useable. A few minutes later while practicing a start I tumble head over heels and banged my knee. The bolt on the back of my left skate had come apart and blown out sideways. It wasn’t looking good for either of us.
I had spare parts and was able to make repairs and was ready to go in the morning. A little ice on the knee and I was ready for action. It took Mickey all morning to get new blades, rocker them, sharpen them, and try to get used to them.
The masters that I knew were Lynn Sugden, Bob Irvine, Mickey Kupchyk, Tom Levesque, and Cliff Morrison.
500 meter times for Lynn, Bob and myself were all unofficial 500 meter record times with Lynn opening with a 42.66, followed by Bob with a 42.93, and Brett with a 43.06.
It is early in the year and the times indicate that the Master’s 3 group from the West will be competitive.
See full Results
Wednesday, October 18, 2006
16th IMSSC GAMES CALGARY - CANADIAN ENTRIES
Interim Canadian representative to the International Masters Speed Skating Committee, Brett Arnason, has advised today that currently 61 Canadians have registered for the 16th International Masters Speed Skating Games. The event, which has openings for 353 masters skaters from around the world, is scheduled for Calgary's Olympic Oval during February 22 to 25, 2007. This is an encouraging response given that registration only began on October 7. It indicates that the 91 places currently reserved for Canadians may soon be gone if this trend continues.
Brett has asked MSS News to remind interested participants that entries are registered on a first-come, first served basis, and to clarify there is no process of skater qualification. Hopeful competitors are encouraged to submit their entry as soon as possible. After December 10, 2006 - unused places in the Canadian quota may be awarded to other nations who have exceeded their quota.
Complete event information and entry forms are available at http://www.imssg.org/07anncalgary.pdf
Brett has asked MSS News to remind interested participants that entries are registered on a first-come, first served basis, and to clarify there is no process of skater qualification. Hopeful competitors are encouraged to submit their entry as soon as possible. After December 10, 2006 - unused places in the Canadian quota may be awarded to other nations who have exceeded their quota.
Complete event information and entry forms are available at http://www.imssg.org/07anncalgary.pdf
Saturday, October 07, 2006
16th IMSSC GAMES, CALGARY - REGISTRATION OPENS
Event information and registration form for the 16th International Masters Speed Skating Games, scheduled for February 22 to 25, 2007 in Calgary's Olympic Oval, is now available at http://www.imssg.org/07anncalgary.pdf
As competitor interest is anticipated to be very high, hopeful participants should take note of the registration dates and nation quota numbers detailed in this information.
As competitor interest is anticipated to be very high, hopeful participants should take note of the registration dates and nation quota numbers detailed in this information.
Monday, September 25, 2006
MASTERS ICE RACING CHALLENGE
The Banff/Canmore Speed Skating Club is trying to develop an annual short track race which attracts masters skaters from across Canada to compete against each other.
This year, the organizers will be running the competition in combination with the Banff/Canmore SSC's annual ability meet, but they would like to develop the race so that it would become a Masters-only event that is held at different locations around the country.
For further event information, see http://home.cogeco.ca/~mss/Masters%20Ice%20Racing%20Challenge.doc
This year, the organizers will be running the competition in combination with the Banff/Canmore SSC's annual ability meet, but they would like to develop the race so that it would become a Masters-only event that is held at different locations around the country.
For further event information, see http://home.cogeco.ca/~mss/Masters%20Ice%20Racing%20Challenge.doc
Friday, September 22, 2006
MASTERS INTERNATIONAL SHORT TRACK CHAMPIONSHIPS
The West Allis Speedskating Club is hosting this event at the Pettit National Ice Center in Milwaukee Wisconsin during November 4 - 5, 2006. Additional event information and an entry form is now available.
Friday, September 15, 2006
JOURNEY OF SOUND & LIGHT
Ontario master speed skater, Kevin Frost, recently sent MSS News his own story of personal success...
At a young age he was very active and always on the go. Born in Victoria, B.C. in 1967, he moved with his family to Ottawa in 1972 to begin his life. Always athletic, Kevin played baseball from T-ball through to the Nepean Canadians, and in hockey he played novice through juvenile, he wanted to play Jr. B but he was too small. He also refereed hockey for 25 years, working over 20,000 games!!! He was a paper boy for seven years, cut grass and worked at outdoor rinks for four years. He also worked for a local grocery chain for 16 years. A job he loved very much.
When Kevin was 11-years-old, his math teacher mentioned to his parents that Kevin wasn’t listening well in class. Kevin learned at the age 11 that he had only 25 per cent of his hearing left. As a result, he taught himself to lip read at a young age. He continued going to school despite having to deal with teasing and bullying because of his disability. He attended Gloucester High School for his finals years of school.
When Kevin was 30-years-old, he began walking into walls, tripping over his kids, and his night vision was getting worse. Kevin was too busy being a workaholic to think anything was really wrong. Kevin got his eyes tested.
The doctor told Kevin the shocking news that he was suffering from Usher’s Syndrome. This diagnosis was not positive. The doctor told Kevin you lose your hearing at a young age and your vision later in life. The diagnosis meant losing his drivers licence, his job with the grocery chain and his job refereeing for safety reasons.....
So at 32-years-old Kevin Frost had hit a brick wall. He was left asking himself - what do I do for the now? Well with the help of CNIB, family and friends, he decided that he didn’t want to sit around and do nothing. Instead, he got involved with disability sports groups. He joined a blind dragon boat team called ‘Dragon Eyes’ and also did some tandem biking. That year his dragon boating team even finished first in their division against able bodied paddlers!
Then another great thing happened to Kevin, he got a guide dog name Nemo. With the help of this adorable Labrador retriever Kevin gained a great deal independence.
At 36-years-old, with five per cent vision and 10 per cent hearing, his wife got him back on blades to try something he always had a passion for...skating. However, this was not hockey skating, this time it was speed skating! After trying it for a year Kevin’s coach Ron Guerrard said, “Why don’t you compete against able bodied speed skaters?”
Fast forward two years and 120 races in short and long track later, and Kevin has won four gold, four silver, and seven bronze medals against able bodied skaters.
His future dreams include trying to make speed skating an official Paralympic event by making it a demonstration sport at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. Next year Kevin will attend the World Masters Long Track Championships in Calgary. He hopes someday to travel the world competing in speed skating competitions.
Kevin’s other goals include educating schools, businesses, and the Ottawa Police on how to properly deal with deaf, blind, deaf-blind and guide dogs in everyday life. Kevin believes we all need to know how to deal with disabled people in our community.
Kevin believes he owes all his success in speed skating to his sponsors who have helped him get this far. Without them this wouldn’t have happened!!! When his journey is complete, Kevin plans on opening a foundation with the funds that remain in order to help other disabled athletes achieve their Olympic dreams.
If you would like more info on Kevin's journey go to http://www.deafblindspeedskater.com/
At a young age he was very active and always on the go. Born in Victoria, B.C. in 1967, he moved with his family to Ottawa in 1972 to begin his life. Always athletic, Kevin played baseball from T-ball through to the Nepean Canadians, and in hockey he played novice through juvenile, he wanted to play Jr. B but he was too small. He also refereed hockey for 25 years, working over 20,000 games!!! He was a paper boy for seven years, cut grass and worked at outdoor rinks for four years. He also worked for a local grocery chain for 16 years. A job he loved very much.
When Kevin was 11-years-old, his math teacher mentioned to his parents that Kevin wasn’t listening well in class. Kevin learned at the age 11 that he had only 25 per cent of his hearing left. As a result, he taught himself to lip read at a young age. He continued going to school despite having to deal with teasing and bullying because of his disability. He attended Gloucester High School for his finals years of school.
When Kevin was 30-years-old, he began walking into walls, tripping over his kids, and his night vision was getting worse. Kevin was too busy being a workaholic to think anything was really wrong. Kevin got his eyes tested.
The doctor told Kevin the shocking news that he was suffering from Usher’s Syndrome. This diagnosis was not positive. The doctor told Kevin you lose your hearing at a young age and your vision later in life. The diagnosis meant losing his drivers licence, his job with the grocery chain and his job refereeing for safety reasons.....
So at 32-years-old Kevin Frost had hit a brick wall. He was left asking himself - what do I do for the now? Well with the help of CNIB, family and friends, he decided that he didn’t want to sit around and do nothing. Instead, he got involved with disability sports groups. He joined a blind dragon boat team called ‘Dragon Eyes’ and also did some tandem biking. That year his dragon boating team even finished first in their division against able bodied paddlers!
Then another great thing happened to Kevin, he got a guide dog name Nemo. With the help of this adorable Labrador retriever Kevin gained a great deal independence.
At 36-years-old, with five per cent vision and 10 per cent hearing, his wife got him back on blades to try something he always had a passion for...skating. However, this was not hockey skating, this time it was speed skating! After trying it for a year Kevin’s coach Ron Guerrard said, “Why don’t you compete against able bodied speed skaters?”
Fast forward two years and 120 races in short and long track later, and Kevin has won four gold, four silver, and seven bronze medals against able bodied skaters.
His future dreams include trying to make speed skating an official Paralympic event by making it a demonstration sport at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. Next year Kevin will attend the World Masters Long Track Championships in Calgary. He hopes someday to travel the world competing in speed skating competitions.
Kevin’s other goals include educating schools, businesses, and the Ottawa Police on how to properly deal with deaf, blind, deaf-blind and guide dogs in everyday life. Kevin believes we all need to know how to deal with disabled people in our community.
Kevin believes he owes all his success in speed skating to his sponsors who have helped him get this far. Without them this wouldn’t have happened!!! When his journey is complete, Kevin plans on opening a foundation with the funds that remain in order to help other disabled athletes achieve their Olympic dreams.
If you would like more info on Kevin's journey go to http://www.deafblindspeedskater.com/
DREAM BIG DINNER
The Ontario Speed Skating Oval is organizing a cocktail reception and dinner for Thursday, November 2, 2006 at the Evinrude Centre in Peterborough Ontario. The event, which starts at 6:00 pm, will give participants the opportunity to meet olympic champion and world record holder Catriona Le May Doan - the fastest woman on ice.
For event details and ticket information - see http://home.cogeco.ca/~mss/DreamBigDinner.doc
For more information about the Ontario Oval project - see http://www.ontariospeedskatingoval.com/
For event details and ticket information - see http://home.cogeco.ca/~mss/DreamBigDinner.doc
For more information about the Ontario Oval project - see http://www.ontariospeedskatingoval.com/
Saturday, September 09, 2006
IMSSC CALGARY GAMES - CANADA/USA PARTICIPANTS
In the recent post re: IMSSC Calgary Games Schedule Change, I incorrectly reported the number of entries allocated to Canadian and USA skaters. The article should have stated that the quota for Canadian skaters is 91 and the quota for USA skaters is 50.
See Item 3 at http://www.imssg.org/MIS061%20Minutes%2024th%20Session%20IMSSC%20Helsinki%20FIN%2004-49.pdf
My apologies for any confusion this error may have created.
See Item 3 at http://www.imssg.org/MIS061%20Minutes%2024th%20Session%20IMSSC%20Helsinki%20FIN%2004-49.pdf
My apologies for any confusion this error may have created.
Friday, September 08, 2006
IMSSC CALGARY GAMES SCHEDULE CHANGE
The International Masters Speed Skating Group (IMSSG) website has recently posted a change in the schedule for the 16th International Masters Speed Skating Games now scheduled for Thursday February 22 to Sunday February 25, 2007 in Calgary's Olympic Oval. One day of competition has been added in order to accommodate the higher than usual number of entries expected for this event. See http://www.imssg.org/05LNIG-060616-Latest-News-IMSSG-05-46.htm
Canada-USA entries appear to be limited to 89 skaters according to International Masters Speed Skating News http://isssc.kolappus.nl/imssc.html
According to the IMSSG website, entry forms will be available at the websites of the International Masters Speed Skating Committee (http://www.imssc.org/) and the International Masters Speed Skating Group (http://www.imssg.org/) sometime in October.
Canada-USA entries appear to be limited to 89 skaters according to International Masters Speed Skating News http://isssc.kolappus.nl/imssc.html
According to the IMSSG website, entry forms will be available at the websites of the International Masters Speed Skating Committee (http://www.imssc.org/) and the International Masters Speed Skating Group (http://www.imssg.org/) sometime in October.
Monday, August 28, 2006
UNOFFICIAL RECORD TIMES FOR LYNN SUGDEN
In the Olympic Oval Summer Classic held August 11 to 13 in Calgary, Lynn Sugden of Edmonton skated times which appear to be faster than the current official records for Master Men 3 (50-59) in Canadian Olympic Style Long Track as follows:
- 500m: 42.48
- 1000m: 1:25.04
- 3000m: 4:47.65
The current records, held by Ronald Johnston of Calgary, have stood since 1999 (500m & 1000m) and 1995 (3000m).
Complete meet results can be seen at
http://www.oval.ucalgary.ca/Long_Track.asp
Congratulations Lynn !
- 500m: 42.48
- 1000m: 1:25.04
- 3000m: 4:47.65
The current records, held by Ronald Johnston of Calgary, have stood since 1999 (500m & 1000m) and 1995 (3000m).
Complete meet results can be seen at
http://www.oval.ucalgary.ca/Long_Track.asp
Congratulations Lynn !
Saturday, August 19, 2006
MASTERS EVENTS 2006-07
Although 2006-07 calendars of events have not yet been posted on the websites of Speed Skating Canada (SSC), the Ontario Speed Skating Association (OSSA) or the Federation de patinage de Vitesse du Quebec (FPVQ), some information is emerging about competitions that may be of interest to Canadian and American masters skaters.
Refer to http://home.cogeco.ca/~mss/2006-07Events.doc for a summary of information and links currently available from the International Speed Skating Union (ISU), the International Masters Speed Skating Group (IMSSG) and the Cambridge Ontario Speed Skating Club (CSSC).
It's great to see a specific category for masters events on the ISU Calendar.
OSSA Regional Ability Short Track Meets include all age groups and have been historically open to masters skaters.
According to the 2006 Report from the OSSA VP Technical Programs Administration, consideration is being given to changing the North American Long Track Championships (which includes masters categories) to an olympic-style format.
According to SSC Rule K3-101, the Canadian Masters Olympic Style Championships are to be combined with Canada Cup #3. If this rule is followed, this event will be in Ste. Foy, QC for the 2nd year in a row. While this location may be attractive to eastern Canadian master skaters, it would help to make this a truly national event if the location rotated annually between a western Canadian and eastern Canadian venue. Last year's event was also poorly advertised by SSC which may have contributed to the fairly low turnout - 16 men and 3 women. Canadian masters skaters who would like to promote the growth of this event may wish to contact SSC through their local club or provincial association.
If you know of other events that may be of interest to master speed skaters, send the information and we'll add it to our 2006-07 Calendar.
Refer to http://home.cogeco.ca/~mss/2006-07Events.doc for a summary of information and links currently available from the International Speed Skating Union (ISU), the International Masters Speed Skating Group (IMSSG) and the Cambridge Ontario Speed Skating Club (CSSC).
It's great to see a specific category for masters events on the ISU Calendar.
OSSA Regional Ability Short Track Meets include all age groups and have been historically open to masters skaters.
According to the 2006 Report from the OSSA VP Technical Programs Administration, consideration is being given to changing the North American Long Track Championships (which includes masters categories) to an olympic-style format.
According to SSC Rule K3-101, the Canadian Masters Olympic Style Championships are to be combined with Canada Cup #3. If this rule is followed, this event will be in Ste. Foy, QC for the 2nd year in a row. While this location may be attractive to eastern Canadian master skaters, it would help to make this a truly national event if the location rotated annually between a western Canadian and eastern Canadian venue. Last year's event was also poorly advertised by SSC which may have contributed to the fairly low turnout - 16 men and 3 women. Canadian masters skaters who would like to promote the growth of this event may wish to contact SSC through their local club or provincial association.
If you know of other events that may be of interest to master speed skaters, send the information and we'll add it to our 2006-07 Calendar.
Friday, July 21, 2006
OLYMPIC OVAL MASTERS CAMP 2006
During July 10 to 14, forty-four participants converged on Calgary’s Olympic Oval for the 2006 edition of the masters speed skating camp. Canadian skaters came from many provinces including Québec, Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia while USA campers arrived from Pennsylvania and New York.
Skaters included IMSSC world champion and Canadian and North American record holder Eugene Kurmey (Men 75+) from Winnipeg, as well as Canadian record holder Mickey Kupchyk (men 50-59) from Regina, and Canadian and North American record holders Agatha Van Der Starre (women 70+), Peter Blokker (men 70+) and Gary Link (men 60-69), and Canadian record holder Diane Silzer (Women 40-49) - all from British Columbia.
The 5-day program
began with a refresher in the essentials of basic position, edge control and weight transfer; and progressed through straight-away and cornering drills to starts. These technical drills were interspersed with plenty of multi-lap intervals permitting skaters to apply both techniques and coaching advice. The week culminated with timed 400m laps and tempo skating both to prepare and seed competitors for the optional mass start races held the following Saturday morning.
Each of the 2 daily on-ice sessions was preceded by, both indoor and outdoor, dry-land warm-ups involving jogging, calisthenics and dynamic stretching. Non-runners were afforded use of the Oval’s numerous stationary bicycles, which were also available for day-end warm-down.
On-ice and dry-land coa
ching was led by current and former national team skaters, Neal Zaluski, Selina Elm and Beth Whitmee with assistance from Kyle Parrot, Mark Wild, national team coach Neal Marshall and olympian Kevin Crockett.Mid-day seminars covered a variety of subjects including an ask-and-answer session with national team long track equipment guru Alex Moritz and presentations by national junior team coach Todd McClements on decision-based training, mental preparation and recovery.
Many participants too
k advantage of available University of Calgary conference housing while others camped on the campus and made use of the shower facilities in the athletics centre. Weather conditions were near ideal with mostly warm sunny days, low humidity and relatively little rain.
There was much interest in the upcoming international masters speed skating championships scheduled for February 23 to 25, 2007 at the Calgary Olympic Oval where over 300 competitors from over 10 nations are expected to attend. For some, this camp was part of a preparation plan leading up to that competition.
For photos, see http://home.cogeco.ca/~mss/OvalMastersCamp2006/index.html
Wednesday, July 19, 2006
MASTERS CANADIAN RECORDS - CORRECTIONS
Speed Skating Canada recently made corrections to its May 16, 2006 update of records achieved during the 2005-06 season.
Congratulations to Mickey Kupchyk of Regina who set a new indoor olympic style long track 1500m time for Masters 3 Men of 2:12.86 at the Calgary Olympic Oval Finale on March 23, 2006. For the full story on Mickey's experience at this event, see http://mastersspeedskatingnews.blogspot.com/2006/06/calgary-olympic-oval-finale-2006.html
Masters 3 Men indoor olympic style long track records for 1000m and 3000m, set by Ronald Johnston of Calgary in 1999 and 1995 respectively, remain unbroken.
Congratulations to Mickey Kupchyk of Regina who set a new indoor olympic style long track 1500m time for Masters 3 Men of 2:12.86 at the Calgary Olympic Oval Finale on March 23, 2006. For the full story on Mickey's experience at this event, see http://mastersspeedskatingnews.blogspot.com/2006/06/calgary-olympic-oval-finale-2006.html
Masters 3 Men indoor olympic style long track records for 1000m and 3000m, set by Ronald Johnston of Calgary in 1999 and 1995 respectively, remain unbroken.
Sunday, July 02, 2006
SPEED SKATING NEWS NOW ALSO IN FRENCH
A french version of Master Speedskating News is now on line at http://patinagedevitessemaitre.blogspot.com/
LA PAGE DES PATINEURS MAÎTRES MAINTENANT EN LIGNE
La version française de Master Speedskating News est maintenant en ligne à http://patinagedevitessemaitre.blogspot.com/
LA PAGE DES PATINEURS MAÎTRES MAINTENANT EN LIGNE
La version française de Master Speedskating News est maintenant en ligne à http://patinagedevitessemaitre.blogspot.com/
Saturday, July 01, 2006
INTERNATIONAL MASTERS SHORT TRACK COMPETITION - MILWAUKEE 2006
The West Allis Speed Skating Club is considering incorporating an International Masters Short Track Competition as part of the Great Lakes Short Track Championships to be held in Milwaukee during November 4 to 5, 2006.
Preliminary plans, subject to interest, would be for 10 year age groups including 30-39, 40-49, 50-59, 60-69 and 70+. The masters competition would include heats and finals in 4 shorter distances and a super-final in the longest distance. The Club is looking at using the Masters' International medallion as the award for first through third, and are trying to negogiate a fourth place medallion.
As the International Masters Speed Skating Committee only focuses on international long track competition, this is a great opportunity for masters skaters with preference for the indoor 111m oval and the excitement of short track.
The Club needs to assess interest in order to confirm the feasibility of this meet. For further information and to express your interest, please contact:
Al Jakubowski - ajjskate@core.com
or Alice Hagen - alice_hagen@hotmail.com
Preliminary plans, subject to interest, would be for 10 year age groups including 30-39, 40-49, 50-59, 60-69 and 70+. The masters competition would include heats and finals in 4 shorter distances and a super-final in the longest distance. The Club is looking at using the Masters' International medallion as the award for first through third, and are trying to negogiate a fourth place medallion.
As the International Masters Speed Skating Committee only focuses on international long track competition, this is a great opportunity for masters skaters with preference for the indoor 111m oval and the excitement of short track.
The Club needs to assess interest in order to confirm the feasibility of this meet. For further information and to express your interest, please contact:
Al Jakubowski - ajjskate@core.com
or Alice Hagen - alice_hagen@hotmail.com
Thursday, June 15, 2006
MASTERS SPEED SKATING NEWS GOES ON-LINE
Many past issues of Masters Speed Skating News have now been posted to:
http://mastersspeedskatingnews.blogspot.com/
as will some future editions.
The comment feature will make this newsletter more interactive. Simply click on the COMMENT button, select "Other" as your identity, enter your name and send your message.
We look forward to hearing from you and enjoy reading!
Sunday, June 11, 2006
MASTERS CANADIAN & NORTH AMERICAN RECORDS
Speed Skating Canada recently published updated records achieved during the 2005-06 season.
Congratulations to the following masters skaters who set new standards:
Agatha Van Der Starre (Burnaby) (Women 70+)
Canadian Short Track
- 1500m: 3:59.18 (Esquimalt - Mar 13/06)
North American Short Track
- 500m: 1:18.20 (Kamloops - Mar 25/06)
- 777m: 2:05.51 (Kamloops - Mar 26/06)
- 1000m: 2:41.67 (Kamloops - Mar 24/06)
- 1500m: 4:26.88 (Kamloops - Mar 2606)
Judy Van Hyfte (Red Deer) (Women 50-59)
Canadian Indoor Long Track Mass Start
- 1500m: 2:36.42 (Calgary - Jan 14/06)
Canadian Short Track
- 1000m: 1:58.02 (Red Deer - Nov 19/05)
Jan Zurcher (Direct) (Women 50-59)
North American Indoor Long Track Mass Start
- 500m: 48.90 (Salt Lake City - Jan 29/06)
- 800m: 1:19.59 (Salt Lake City - Jan 28/06)
- 1000m: 1:42.19 (Salt Lake City - Jan 28/06)
Kaari Cox (GMSA) (Women 40-49)
North American Indoor Long Track Mass Start
- 1000m: 1:36.87 (Salt Lake City - Jan 28/06)
- 1500m: 2:29.08 (Salt Lake City - Jan 28/06)
- 3000m: 4:59.32(Salt Lake City - Jan 29/06)
Patricia Tank (Michigan) (Women 30-39)
North American Indoor Long Track Mass Start
- 1000m: 1:39.28 (Salt Lake City - Jan 29/06)
- 1500m: 2:36.32 (Salt Lake City - Jan 29/06)
- 3000m: 5:17.19 (Salt Lake City - Jan 28/06)
Peter Blokker (BC) (Men 70+)
North American Short Track
- 500m: 1:10.22 (Kamloops - Mar 25/06)
- 777m: 1:47.54 (Kamloops - Mar 26/06)
- 1000m: 2:20.85 (Kamloops - Mar 24/06)
- 1500m: 3:32.91 (Kamloops - Mar 2606)
Gary Link (Vernon) (Men 60-69)
Canadian Indoor Long Track Mass Start
- 3000m: 5:29.97 (Calgary - Jan 15/06)
Canadian Short Track
- 1500m: 2:50.75 (Fort St. John - Mar 12/06)
North American Short Track
- 500m: 54.45 (Kamloops - Mar 25/06)
- 777m: 1:26.17 (Kamloops - Mar 26/06)
Bob Irvine (Calgary) (Men 50-59)
Canadian Outdoor Long Track Mass Start
- 500m: 43.74 (Red Deer - Jan 22/06)
- 1000m: 1:30.74 (Red Deer - Jan 21/06)
Canadian Indoor Long Track Mass Start
- 500m: 42.51 (Calgary - Jan 14/06)
- 1000m: 1:25.63 (Calgary - Jan 15/06)
- 1500m: 2:08.67 (Calgary - Jan 14/06)
Brian Johnston (Edmonton) (Men 50-59)
Canadian Outdoor Long Track Mass Start
- 1500m: 2:19.95 (Red Deer - Jan 21/06)
Canadian Indoor Long Track Mass Start
- 3000m: 4:39.17 (Calgary - Jan 15/06)
Boris Leikin (Direct) (Men 50-59)
North American Indoor Long Track Mass Start
- 500m: 39.38 (Salt Lake City - Jan 29/06)
- 800m: 1:02.55 (Salt Lake City - Jan 28/06)
- 1000m: 1:20.11 (Salt Lake City - Jan 28/06)
- 1500m: 2:10.75 (Salt Lake City - Jan 29/06)
Al Overend (Calgary) (Men 50-59)
Canadian Short Track
- 500m: 50.40 (Medicine Hat - Mar 4/06)
- 777m: 1:21.04 (Red Deer - Nov 20/05)
- 1000m: 1:46.92 (Calgary - Feb 19/06)
Lynn Sugden (Edmonton) (Men 50-59)
Canadian Indoor Olympic-Style Long Track
- 1000m: 1:24.18 (Calgary - Jan 8/06)
- 1500m: 2:11.84 (Calgary - Jan 7/06)
- 3000m: 4:44.35 (Calgary - Nov 26/05)
Blaine Hill (Alberta) (Men 40-49)
North American Short Track
- 777m: 1:17.97 (Kamloops - Mar 26/06)
Brad Hudey (Regina) (Men 40-49)
Canadian Indoor Olympic-Style Long Track
- 500m: 40.10 (Calgary - Jan 7/06)
- 1000m: 1:17.48 (Calgary - Jan 6/06)
Drew Schemmer (Calgary) (Men 40-49)
Canadian Indoor Olympic-Style Long Track
- 1500m: 1:57.97 (Calgary - Mar 22/06)
Stuart Black (Calgary) (Men 30-39)
Canadian Indoor Long Track Mass Start
- 1500m: 2:08.30 (Calgary - Jan 14/06)
Andrew Love (N. New York) (Men 30-39)
North American Indoor Long Track Mass Start
- 500m: 37.46 (Salt Lake City - Jan 29/06)
For all other current records, see:
Congratulations to the following masters skaters who set new standards:
Agatha Van Der Starre (Burnaby) (Women 70+)
Canadian Short Track
- 1500m: 3:59.18 (Esquimalt - Mar 13/06)
North American Short Track
- 500m: 1:18.20 (Kamloops - Mar 25/06)
- 777m: 2:05.51 (Kamloops - Mar 26/06)
- 1000m: 2:41.67 (Kamloops - Mar 24/06)
- 1500m: 4:26.88 (Kamloops - Mar 2606)
Judy Van Hyfte (Red Deer) (Women 50-59)
Canadian Indoor Long Track Mass Start
- 1500m: 2:36.42 (Calgary - Jan 14/06)
Canadian Short Track
- 1000m: 1:58.02 (Red Deer - Nov 19/05)
Jan Zurcher (Direct) (Women 50-59)
North American Indoor Long Track Mass Start
- 500m: 48.90 (Salt Lake City - Jan 29/06)
- 800m: 1:19.59 (Salt Lake City - Jan 28/06)
- 1000m: 1:42.19 (Salt Lake City - Jan 28/06)
Kaari Cox (GMSA) (Women 40-49)
North American Indoor Long Track Mass Start
- 1000m: 1:36.87 (Salt Lake City - Jan 28/06)
- 1500m: 2:29.08 (Salt Lake City - Jan 28/06)
- 3000m: 4:59.32(Salt Lake City - Jan 29/06)
Patricia Tank (Michigan) (Women 30-39)
North American Indoor Long Track Mass Start
- 1000m: 1:39.28 (Salt Lake City - Jan 29/06)
- 1500m: 2:36.32 (Salt Lake City - Jan 29/06)
- 3000m: 5:17.19 (Salt Lake City - Jan 28/06)
Peter Blokker (BC) (Men 70+)
North American Short Track
- 500m: 1:10.22 (Kamloops - Mar 25/06)
- 777m: 1:47.54 (Kamloops - Mar 26/06)
- 1000m: 2:20.85 (Kamloops - Mar 24/06)
- 1500m: 3:32.91 (Kamloops - Mar 2606)
Gary Link (Vernon) (Men 60-69)
Canadian Indoor Long Track Mass Start
- 3000m: 5:29.97 (Calgary - Jan 15/06)
Canadian Short Track
- 1500m: 2:50.75 (Fort St. John - Mar 12/06)
North American Short Track
- 500m: 54.45 (Kamloops - Mar 25/06)
- 777m: 1:26.17 (Kamloops - Mar 26/06)
Bob Irvine (Calgary) (Men 50-59)
Canadian Outdoor Long Track Mass Start
- 500m: 43.74 (Red Deer - Jan 22/06)
- 1000m: 1:30.74 (Red Deer - Jan 21/06)
Canadian Indoor Long Track Mass Start
- 500m: 42.51 (Calgary - Jan 14/06)
- 1000m: 1:25.63 (Calgary - Jan 15/06)
- 1500m: 2:08.67 (Calgary - Jan 14/06)
Brian Johnston (Edmonton) (Men 50-59)
Canadian Outdoor Long Track Mass Start
- 1500m: 2:19.95 (Red Deer - Jan 21/06)
Canadian Indoor Long Track Mass Start
- 3000m: 4:39.17 (Calgary - Jan 15/06)
Boris Leikin (Direct) (Men 50-59)
North American Indoor Long Track Mass Start
- 500m: 39.38 (Salt Lake City - Jan 29/06)
- 800m: 1:02.55 (Salt Lake City - Jan 28/06)
- 1000m: 1:20.11 (Salt Lake City - Jan 28/06)
- 1500m: 2:10.75 (Salt Lake City - Jan 29/06)
Al Overend (Calgary) (Men 50-59)
Canadian Short Track
- 500m: 50.40 (Medicine Hat - Mar 4/06)
- 777m: 1:21.04 (Red Deer - Nov 20/05)
- 1000m: 1:46.92 (Calgary - Feb 19/06)
Lynn Sugden (Edmonton) (Men 50-59)
Canadian Indoor Olympic-Style Long Track
- 1000m: 1:24.18 (Calgary - Jan 8/06)
- 1500m: 2:11.84 (Calgary - Jan 7/06)
- 3000m: 4:44.35 (Calgary - Nov 26/05)
Blaine Hill (Alberta) (Men 40-49)
North American Short Track
- 777m: 1:17.97 (Kamloops - Mar 26/06)
Brad Hudey (Regina) (Men 40-49)
Canadian Indoor Olympic-Style Long Track
- 500m: 40.10 (Calgary - Jan 7/06)
- 1000m: 1:17.48 (Calgary - Jan 6/06)
Drew Schemmer (Calgary) (Men 40-49)
Canadian Indoor Olympic-Style Long Track
- 1500m: 1:57.97 (Calgary - Mar 22/06)
Stuart Black (Calgary) (Men 30-39)
Canadian Indoor Long Track Mass Start
- 1500m: 2:08.30 (Calgary - Jan 14/06)
Andrew Love (N. New York) (Men 30-39)
North American Indoor Long Track Mass Start
- 500m: 37.46 (Salt Lake City - Jan 29/06)
For all other current records, see:
http://www.speedskating.ca/eng/records/index.htm
Congratulations, as well, to all other masters speed skaters who set personal bests and club, provincial and unofficial records last season.
Congratulations, as well, to all other masters speed skaters who set personal bests and club, provincial and unofficial records last season.
Tuesday, June 06, 2006
INTEREST BUILDS IN CALGARY IMSSC GAMES
Based on communications to date from interested masters skaters, Brett Arnason reports the following estimated level of Canadian interest in the 16th Masters International Speed Skating Games scheduled for the Calgary Olympic Oval during February 23 to 25, 2007:
Manitoba - 8
Saskatchewan - 7
Alberta - 28
British Columbia - 10
Ontario - 10
Quebec - 10
Maritimes - 10
This is the best opportunity for Canadians to participate in this premier masters speed skating event which will return to Europe in 2008 at Erfurt Germany. To assist meet organizers to assess interest, please advise Brett Arnason (brett@arnasons.ca) if you're planning to attend. Responses before Brett reports to the next IMSSC meeting in the Netherlands on May 27 would be appreciated.
Manitoba - 8
Saskatchewan - 7
Alberta - 28
British Columbia - 10
Ontario - 10
Quebec - 10
Maritimes - 10
This is the best opportunity for Canadians to participate in this premier masters speed skating event which will return to Europe in 2008 at Erfurt Germany. To assist meet organizers to assess interest, please advise Brett Arnason (brett@arnasons.ca) if you're planning to attend. Responses before Brett reports to the next IMSSC meeting in the Netherlands on May 27 would be appreciated.
GAETAN ROCHETTE RETIRES AS CANADIAN REPRESENTATIVE TO IMSSC
After more than 10 years of voluntary service to the Canadian masters speed skating community, Gaétan Rochette of Québec City has announced he is stepping down as the Canadian representative to the International Masters Speed Skating Committee.
Having held this position since 1995, Gaétan was also the IMSSC's Statistician and a member of the ISU Master's Speed Skating Group for North America. In addition to being the international voice for Canadian masters speed skating, Gaétan also co-organized two International Masters Speed Skating Games in 1996 and 2001, both in Québec City.
In recent years, Gaétan has become more involved in marathon speed skating and now continues to serve as a volunteer with Marathon Skating International. He hopes he will have more personal time to devote to actual speed skating in the coming years. Gaétan is also continuing to help organize masters speed skaters within the Province of Québec.
Gaétan wishes to acknowledge the contributions of many others involved in the masters speed skating community including Pierre Gagné, also of Québec City, who has been working for skaters for the last 50 years. Gaétan is looking forward to seeing many masters speed skaters in Calgary next February.
Since Gaétan's retirement, Brett Arnason of Winnipeg has been appointed interim Canadian representative to the IMSSC. Brett represented Canada at the 22nd and 24th sessions of the IMSSC in Baslega de Piné and Helsinki respectively, where he also was a competitor in the 55-59 year division. In addition to organizing masters speed skaters in Manitoba, Brett is now preparing to attend the upcoming 25th IMSSC session in Haarlem NED on May 27.
I hope all Canadian masters speed skaters will join in supporting Brett as he carries on the fine work that Gaétan performed.
Having held this position since 1995, Gaétan was also the IMSSC's Statistician and a member of the ISU Master's Speed Skating Group for North America. In addition to being the international voice for Canadian masters speed skating, Gaétan also co-organized two International Masters Speed Skating Games in 1996 and 2001, both in Québec City.
In recent years, Gaétan has become more involved in marathon speed skating and now continues to serve as a volunteer with Marathon Skating International. He hopes he will have more personal time to devote to actual speed skating in the coming years. Gaétan is also continuing to help organize masters speed skaters within the Province of Québec.
Gaétan wishes to acknowledge the contributions of many others involved in the masters speed skating community including Pierre Gagné, also of Québec City, who has been working for skaters for the last 50 years. Gaétan is looking forward to seeing many masters speed skaters in Calgary next February.
Since Gaétan's retirement, Brett Arnason of Winnipeg has been appointed interim Canadian representative to the IMSSC. Brett represented Canada at the 22nd and 24th sessions of the IMSSC in Baslega de Piné and Helsinki respectively, where he also was a competitor in the 55-59 year division. In addition to organizing masters speed skaters in Manitoba, Brett is now preparing to attend the upcoming 25th IMSSC session in Haarlem NED on May 27.
I hope all Canadian masters speed skaters will join in supporting Brett as he carries on the fine work that Gaétan performed.
CALGARY OLYMPIC OVAL MASTERS SPEED SKATING CAMP
This camp is an excellent opportunity for masters skaters of all ages and abilities to receive great long track coaching in the truly inspirational environment of the fastest ice on earth.
Last year's camp offered 2 ice sessions per day - each one preceded by a high quality dryland warm-up both inside and outdoors. Every mid-day, there was a seminar on various subjects including equipment, nutrition, mental preparation and coaching theory.
Instruction last summer was provided in roughly a 1:13 (coach:skater) ratio resulting in plenty of one-on-one contact with the 3 full-time coaches - Neal, Marcin and Andrea. Guest coaches included Olympic speed skaters Kevin (Overland) Crockett and Denny Morrison.
The on-ice program was largely technical with some interval training and plenty of opportunity to freely skate and apply the coaches' instructions.
There was great camaraderie, both on and off the ice, amongst the various participants who came from many parts of Canada and the USA.
When off the ice for warm-up or cool-down, there was lots of opportunity to watch the national teams of several countries training on the oval. More than one master skater came home with autographs from famous Canadian Olympians including Catriona Lemay Doan, Cindy Klassen and Jeremy Wotherspoon.
This year's camp runs from July 10th to 15th. Complete information and registration form is available at http://www.oval.ucalgary.ca/Camps/Camps2006/masters_ss.pdf
Last year's camp offered 2 ice sessions per day - each one preceded by a high quality dryland warm-up both inside and outdoors. Every mid-day, there was a seminar on various subjects including equipment, nutrition, mental preparation and coaching theory.
Instruction last summer was provided in roughly a 1:13 (coach:skater) ratio resulting in plenty of one-on-one contact with the 3 full-time coaches - Neal, Marcin and Andrea. Guest coaches included Olympic speed skaters Kevin (Overland) Crockett and Denny Morrison.
The on-ice program was largely technical with some interval training and plenty of opportunity to freely skate and apply the coaches' instructions.
There was great camaraderie, both on and off the ice, amongst the various participants who came from many parts of Canada and the USA.
When off the ice for warm-up or cool-down, there was lots of opportunity to watch the national teams of several countries training on the oval. More than one master skater came home with autographs from famous Canadian Olympians including Catriona Lemay Doan, Cindy Klassen and Jeremy Wotherspoon.
This year's camp runs from July 10th to 15th. Complete information and registration form is available at http://www.oval.ucalgary.ca/Camps/Camps2006/masters_ss.pdf
BRITISH COLUMBIA MASTERS REPORT
The following reports were gratefully received from Mike Hagen of the Burnaby Haida Speed Skating Club. Mike advises there about 14 masters skaters in this club, which he believes makes it one of the largest masters groups in the province.
At the British Columbia short track championships held in Fort St. John during March 11 to 12, the competiton included 9 masters skaters who appear to have broken several provincial records during the meet. Rick Lee, of Fort St. John, set a new 500m Masters 2 Men's record (40-49) of 51.20 sec. Gary Link, of Vernon, also appears to have set several Masters 4 Men's records (60-69) in the 500m (54.37 sec), 777m (1:25.07) and 1000m (1:52.40). Gary's records are curious, however, as he holds faster Canadian masters records in these same distances - 500m (52.81), 777m (1:23.93) and 1000m (1:48.28) all set in Medicine Hat in 2005.
Complete meet results can be seen at http://home.cogeco.ca/~mss/BCST%202006%20Masters.xls
Mike also reports that, at the BC long track championships in January, Ross Knudson of the Mackenzie Speed Skating Club set a new national Masters 3 Men's record (50-59) with a time of 1:34.88 in the 1000m outdoor mass start. Ross, who also apparently set a new provincial record in the 500m, got a good pull from other Masters 2 skaters in the 1000m pack including Rick Lee (1:32.56), Trevor Nelson (1:32.86) and Lyle Dickenson of Prince George (1:33.39).
At the British Columbia short track championships held in Fort St. John during March 11 to 12, the competiton included 9 masters skaters who appear to have broken several provincial records during the meet. Rick Lee, of Fort St. John, set a new 500m Masters 2 Men's record (40-49) of 51.20 sec. Gary Link, of Vernon, also appears to have set several Masters 4 Men's records (60-69) in the 500m (54.37 sec), 777m (1:25.07) and 1000m (1:52.40). Gary's records are curious, however, as he holds faster Canadian masters records in these same distances - 500m (52.81), 777m (1:23.93) and 1000m (1:48.28) all set in Medicine Hat in 2005.
Complete meet results can be seen at http://home.cogeco.ca/~mss/BCST%202006%20Masters.xls
Mike also reports that, at the BC long track championships in January, Ross Knudson of the Mackenzie Speed Skating Club set a new national Masters 3 Men's record (50-59) with a time of 1:34.88 in the 1000m outdoor mass start. Ross, who also apparently set a new provincial record in the 500m, got a good pull from other Masters 2 skaters in the 1000m pack including Rick Lee (1:32.56), Trevor Nelson (1:32.86) and Lyle Dickenson of Prince George (1:33.39).
CALGARY OLYMPIC OVAL FINALE 2006 - ALAIN MEILLEUR'S STORY
Over 300 skaters from more than 10 nations took part in the Oval Finale in Calgary during March 21 to 25. Alain Meilleur of Montreal, Quebec was among the many masters competitors and sent his personal report as follows.
First evening in Calgary on a cloudy and humid day, it seems that I have been waiting forever to skate. At 6:30 pm it is finally time to go to the oval. Some stress, some anxiety and when I finally get there WOW! What a sight. Approximately 150 skaters from different countries are speeding around on the ice (many junior skaters), I am very impressed. I take my time to embrace all this and slowly walk to the underground passage to go to the center of the oval. I finally get on the famous ice: "The fastest ice on earth" and after just a few strides and with the vortex created by the other skaters, it glides perfectly. I speed up and it gives me the sensation as if the blades were glued to the ice but in fact they were cutting perfectly. But, the effects of the altitude and dry air told me to restrain myself. I was happy to skate in the warm-up lane, just inches away from some crazy skaters skating 30 seconds laps. After a good hour of pure delight, it was time to get off the ice to let the zamboni on.
Next day, I watched the last races of the world cup the whole afternoon. Another pure delight. What is there more to say about the races, the atmosphere in the oval created by the crowd, many coming from the Netherlands, Norway and as well as locals. Cindy was great but my favorite was Martina Sablikova, from the Czech Republic who finished second in the 5000m. Why? Simply because she was able to have only 6 strides on the straights and 12 to 14 cross-over. Superb.
Monday, I trained in the morning and afternoon with Martine Charbonneau. Still very excited, I could not leave the ice, which resulted in a higher heart rate at bedtime. Instead of the normal 60, I had 85 and the next day still at 80 for my first 500m race. As usual, like all other 500m I have done before, I am feeling slightly nervous. I get ready, warm up and start the race like an old wet broom. After 250m, I regain my composure and finish strong with a 45,90sec. Not too bad. My best time was 48,35sec but my race could be classified as a nightmare.
After this first race and some rest, I prepare myself for the 3000m race in the afternoon. More relaxed and confident, I concentrate on the technical aspects and aim to lower my previous time of 5:15 min to 4:40 - 4:45 min. My start is slightly slow but good. It glides without much effort. At the finish line, I look up at the clock and see 4:40, but since we started in quartette I thought it could not be me… But, yes it was my time! Is it possible? And yes, nothing extraordinary but how gratifying.
Next day, a short 1500m, my favorite distance. I start confident from my previous race, Good start, good cross-over, everything goes well and this time I see 2:12 min. My previous PB had been forever at 2:29. During the evening, I start to think. Mind you this is something that happens sometimes in life… I think about the 5000m race and since I like to calculate, I started calculating. Before getting to Calgary, I was aiming to do below 9 minutes, between 8:30 to 8:40. I noticed that if I do laps slower than for the 3000m, I might be able to have a time below 8 minutes. In my head, this all seems now possible. For the first time in my life, I decided to slowly polish my blades. In the morning, I asked Martine to show me the lap times with the coach’s typical board. The start is given and I start quickly. I decide then to slow down slightly to maintain my pace. Martine shows me the times, it all looks good. I see 38sec and I kick myself in the butt to keep my objective. Two laps to go and it was in the bag because I still had some energy left in me. Final time: 7:52,71. Wow, I broke my previous PB by 71 seconds. After the race, Gaston was there with me to share my happiness and then Martine.
The simple advice that I want to give you when you skate in Calgary: Believe in yourself and the ice will help you.
Next trip in Calgary is planned for October and of course at the end of February at the World Masters. I would like also say hi to my friends from the Netherlands, some of whom have over 30-40 years of experience in skating, one of them being Victor van den Hoff. To see them skate gave me an objective for the next World Masters. Finally, a sweet thought for the greatest Canadian female sprint skater, Catriona Lemay-Doan. She was there almost every day, very accessible, very charming and she gave me advice in French for a good 500m.
Get ready for next year, here I come.
- Alain Goode Meilleur
English translation by Anika Bédard
ONTARIO MASTERS SHORT TRACK CHAMPIONSHIPS 2006
Results for this meet held March 25 to 26 recently appeared on the host club (Gloucester Concordes) website. 26 masters competitors took part including 16 men and 10 women in a variety of age classifications. All skaters had heats and finals in 500m, 777m and 1000m plus a 1500m final in groups separated by gender.
Cameron Boyd of London took top honours for Masters Men 2 (40-49) placing first in 3 of 4 distances.
In Masters Men 3 (50-59), Ken Wetzel of Gloucester took 1st place overall and set new provincial records in all 4 distances. Running a close second, Doug Dunn of Niagara-on-the-Lake also bettered his own previous provincial records in the 777m and 1000m events.
John Ambrose of Brockville was awarded top spot for Masters Men 4 (60-69).
Skating in Masters Women 1 (30-39), Alicia Weiss of Ottawa finished 1st overall, winning 3 of 4 events in her age class.
Josee Bertrand of Gloucester was fastest in the 500m and 777m to finish with the top ranking for Masters Women 2 (40-49).
In the Masters Women 3 (50-59) category, Sheila McGinn of Ottawa placed first overall and established provincial records in every distance for this classification.
Complete results can be seen at http://www.gloucesterconcordes.ca/Gloucester%20Concordes-Eng/GloucesterMar25-26_RegionalStreamChampionships.pdf
Cameron Boyd of London took top honours for Masters Men 2 (40-49) placing first in 3 of 4 distances.
In Masters Men 3 (50-59), Ken Wetzel of Gloucester took 1st place overall and set new provincial records in all 4 distances. Running a close second, Doug Dunn of Niagara-on-the-Lake also bettered his own previous provincial records in the 777m and 1000m events.
John Ambrose of Brockville was awarded top spot for Masters Men 4 (60-69).
Skating in Masters Women 1 (30-39), Alicia Weiss of Ottawa finished 1st overall, winning 3 of 4 events in her age class.
Josee Bertrand of Gloucester was fastest in the 500m and 777m to finish with the top ranking for Masters Women 2 (40-49).
In the Masters Women 3 (50-59) category, Sheila McGinn of Ottawa placed first overall and established provincial records in every distance for this classification.
Complete results can be seen at http://www.gloucesterconcordes.ca/Gloucester%20Concordes-Eng/GloucesterMar25-26_RegionalStreamChampionships.pdf
CALGARY MASTERS SKATERS PREPARING FOR 16TH IMSSC GAMES
Tawnya Yard, Head Coach of the Calgary Speed Skating Association has advised that the CSSA is working on initiatives to have a strong Albertan contingency participating in theupcoming 2007 Masters Games. They are starting dryland training May 1st and hope to have a few groups training with the games as their focus this season. They are also planning to have some Masters camp opportunities in the Fall where skaters can come and skate Saturday races and then have extra training and coaching opportunities.
For additional information, or to express your interest, contact Tawnya at tmyard@ucalgary.ca
or
Calgary Speed Skating Association
Olympic Oval
2500 University Drive NW
Calgary, AB
T2N 1N4
Tel. 403-220-4417
For additional information, or to express your interest, contact Tawnya at tmyard@ucalgary.ca
or
Calgary Speed Skating Association
Olympic Oval
2500 University Drive NW
Calgary, AB
T2N 1N4
Tel. 403-220-4417
INTERNATIONAL MASTERS SPEED SKATING EVENTS 2006-2007
The International Masters Speed Skating Committee (IMSSC) has published its provisional calendar of events for next season at
http://www.imssg.org/06INCA_2ProvIntCalendar06-07_06-46.pdf
For North American masters skaters planning a winter trip to Europe, some of these events may provide the basis of a memorable speed skating vacation.
http://www.imssg.org/06INCA_2ProvIntCalendar06-07_06-46.pdf
For North American masters skaters planning a winter trip to Europe, some of these events may provide the basis of a memorable speed skating vacation.
MILWAUKEE INTERNATIONAL MASTERS MEET 2007
According to the latest news on the International Masters Speed Skating Group (IMSSG) website, the 2007 Milwaukee International Masters Meet is potentially scheduled for February 17 to 18, the weekend before the 16th International Masters Speed Skating Games in Calgary. This will give international skaters, visiting North America, the opportunity to participate in the 2 largest masters speed skating events on the continent during 2007.
The Milwaukee is a fun action-packed event in an excellent indoor 400m oval that will appeal to masters skaters of all abilities and ages. Here's a group shot of last year's competitors courtesy of Zen and the Art of Speed Skating.
For more details, see http://www.imssg.org/05LNIG%20051204%20Latest%20News%20IMSSG%2005-46.htm
The Milwaukee is a fun action-packed event in an excellent indoor 400m oval that will appeal to masters skaters of all abilities and ages. Here's a group shot of last year's competitors courtesy of Zen and the Art of Speed Skating.
For more details, see http://www.imssg.org/05LNIG%20051204%20Latest%20News%20IMSSG%2005-46.htm
Monday, June 05, 2006
NORTH AMERICAN SHORT TRACK CHAMPIONSHIPS 2006
Masters skaters turned in record-breaking performances at this event, which was held during March 24 to 26 at the McArthur Island Sports Centre in Kamloops British Columbia.
In addition to winning the overall Master 2 Men category (40-49 years), Blaine Hill of Edmonton Alberta set a new North American 777m record time of 1:17.97.
Reg van Drecht of Fredricton, New Brunswick had a similar performance in the Master 3 Men classification (50-59 years) setting a new British Columbia 500m provincial record of 50.64 seconds.
In the Master 4 Men division (60-69 years), Gary Link of British Columbia established a new North American 777m record time of 1:26.17 as well as winning the overall age group.
Peter Blokker, also of British Columbia, captured the Master 5 Men overall title (70-79 years) and set new records in 3 of 4 distances skated - 500m (1:10.22), 777m (1:47.54) and 1000m (2:20.85).
In the Master 5 Women category, Agatha Van Der Starre of British Columbia also won the overall age group while creating new records in 3 of 4 distances skated - 500m (1:18.20), 777m (2:05.51) and 1000m (2:41.67).
Complete event results can be seen at http://kamloopslongblades.com/page11.html
In addition to winning the overall Master 2 Men category (40-49 years), Blaine Hill of Edmonton Alberta set a new North American 777m record time of 1:17.97.
Reg van Drecht of Fredricton, New Brunswick had a similar performance in the Master 3 Men classification (50-59 years) setting a new British Columbia 500m provincial record of 50.64 seconds.
In the Master 4 Men division (60-69 years), Gary Link of British Columbia established a new North American 777m record time of 1:26.17 as well as winning the overall age group.
Peter Blokker, also of British Columbia, captured the Master 5 Men overall title (70-79 years) and set new records in 3 of 4 distances skated - 500m (1:10.22), 777m (1:47.54) and 1000m (2:20.85).
In the Master 5 Women category, Agatha Van Der Starre of British Columbia also won the overall age group while creating new records in 3 of 4 distances skated - 500m (1:18.20), 777m (2:05.51) and 1000m (2:41.67).
Complete event results can be seen at http://kamloopslongblades.com/page11.html
Sunday, June 04, 2006
CALGARY OLYMPIC OVAL FINALE 2006 - MICKEY KUPCHYK REPORTS
Over 300 skaters from more than 10 nations took part in the Oval Finale in Calgary during March 21 to 25. Mickey Kupchyk of the Regina Speed Skating Club in Saskatchewan was among the many masters competitors and sent the following amazing report.
Congratulations to Mickey who set a new Canadian 1500m olympic style indoor record for Masters Men 3 (50 -59 years) with a time of 2:12.86.
Complete event results can be seen at http://www.oval.ucalgary.ca/Long_Track.asp
Day 1 – Practice
On Monday, March 20 I arrive in Calgary for the 2006 ING Olympic Oval Finale. Over 300 skaters from ten different countries will be competing in this weeklong event. A short drive from the airport ends at the University of Calgary campus and the Olympic Oval. After having skated at the Milwaukee Oval four weeks earlier, I’m not as intimidated when I enter this building. That would change quickly.
Members of the Canadian, U.S.A., Chinese, and Japanese Olympic teams are on the ice training. Dankers, Klassen, Wotherspoon, Morrison, Groves, and Remple zip around the ice in a train. I sit in the stands for an hour mesmerized watching these elite athletes skate. Until you actually see it live, you cannot believe the speed they are going. What the heck am I doing here?
At 6:00 P.M. I’m back for the Group C practice time. Group A consists of national team skaters, Group B includes national team developmental skaters, and Group C is left for the dregs of the world. I find a place to sit by a couple of other Masters skaters; safety in numbers is my motto. The ice is a milky white and looks almost like plastic. Later I’m told this is because they add something to the water, which forces the oxygen to the top, which in turn makes the ice faster. Whatever they do, it definitely works the ice is very fast.
Two hours later I return to the bench where I meet Cor Zwaal, a sixty-year-old gentleman from The Netherlands. He will be skating Friday and Saturday in the sprints (500m and 1000m), meanwhile he’ll spend the rest of the week coaching. He asks where I’m from and whom I’m with. When I explain that I was from Regina and here by myself, he offers to coach me for the week. Great, someone to give me lap times!
Little did I know that as a coach for the Dutch National team his idea of coaching was going to be a lot more then just calling lap times.
Day 2 – The Coach
7:00 A.M. I get to the rink for the practice session. At any time there’s at least 75 skaters on the ice. Team Canada and Team U.S.A. skin suits flash by. Okay, now I’m really starting to get nervous and this is just practice. Well just like swimming, at some point you have to get in the water.
I step on to the ice in my black and green Regina skin and start to pick up speed in the warm up lane. I slide in behind a lady from China who is moving at a comfortable pace. Look mom I’m skating. All of a sudden she breaks, gone like a shot from 20 to 45 km/hr in 10 strides. It’s a good thing there’s no flies in the Oval because I’m sure they would have all landed in my open mouth.
Time for me to try a couple of accelerations. Just as I hit top speed Arne Dankers blows around the outside of me like I’m standing still. What little confidence I may have had gets quickly sucked into the vortex left behind him.
As I’m sitting on the bench wondering if I can still make the 10:00 A.M. WestJet flight back to Regina, Cor shows up. “So you’re all warmed up and ready to go?” Oh I’m ready to go all right, home. “You will be fine”, he assures me, “just do your best and have fun”. How many times have I told my kids the same thing?
During the week I will be competing in the Men’s ARS (500m, 1500m, 3000m and 5000m). Today starts with the 500m.
Thankfully they’ve paired me with another Masters skater Roy Gaston from Quebec. When the gun goes off I get my customary mediocre start and accelerate down the front straight. As I come out of the first corner onto the back straight to my surprise I see Cor standing on the ice in the middle of my lane just like you see in the Olympics. He’s pumping his arms frantically from side to side yelling “swing your arms, push, push, PUSH!” Dumbfounded, I comply as best I can.
During the cool down lap Cor skates up beside me and says, “You had a poor start and a sloppy first corner but you picked it up nicely after that and finished strong. A good time, that was a second and a half personal best.” I didn’t know how to explain that he’d scared the heck out of me, so I didn’t say anything. “I see you’ve played a lot of hockey, we need to work on those starts. You’re wasting too much energy and losing speed.” How many times have Doug and Dave said the same thing to me at practice, old habits are hard to break.
Cor calls over one of the Dutch national team skaters and says something in Dutch. “Dennie will show you how to do it. You see, six to eight quick steps then switch to longer powerful strides to the side. Easy.” I guess if I’d started speed skating when I was in diapers like Dennie than it would be easy.
The next race isn’t for another 3 hours, time for a bathroom break. When I reach the nearest washroom I find that its been magically transformed into a Doping Control center. Toto, I don’t think we’re in Kansas anymore.
All of the athletes stay in continuous motion: stretching, running, biking, and jumping. I watch as two Romanian skaters do standing jumps from the bottom of the stands to the top one step at a time. Then they do it again two steps at a time. You can’t be serious, now they’re doing it again three steps at a time! Looks like I’ll be the only one sipping Pepsi around here.
Cor finds me and tells me its time to get ready for the 3000m. He asks me how I normally skate it. I explain that since it’s a longer race I like to start slowly, skate the corners clean and push hard on the straights. “No, no, no, that’s all wrong. I want you to start fast, push hard, and accelerate in the first corner. Continue to build speed on the front straight and push hard in the next corner. Then I want you to relax and glide the back straight. Skate all of the corners hard and don’t lose any speed then relax and glide the straights. What sort of time do you skate?” I explained that I did a 4:51 in Milwaukee in a mass start race. “That means you need 37.5 to 38 second laps”. He knew the numbers right off the top of his head.
For the 3000m we’re doing a quad start. In a quad, two skaters start on the line and once they are half way around the track a second pair of skaters are then started. This helps to save time and keep things moving along.
I’m paired with Coen VanBeek from the Netherlands. He’s in his late thirties and there’s not an ounce of fat on him. Send him to Saskatchewan, we’ll put some meat on those bones. The start goes much better then the 500m. As I enter the back straight to get my first full lap time, Cor holds up the board showing 3.3 and yells, “good keep it up”. As I pass him I realize that I just did a 33.3 second lap, I’ve never done a 33 second lap before. Next time around 34.2. “Good, relax on the straights”. Three laps later the times have dropped off a bit but I’m still doing low 38’s.
Then with a lap and a half to go disaster strikes! My contacts have dried out. Coming down the back straight both lens blow out of my eyes. Stopping to pick them up didn’t seem like a good option so I carried on blind as a bat. Halfway through the corner I step on a puck and start the big slide. Its amazing how many things run through your mind as you slide backwards on your butt across two lanes of ice towards the inevitable crash into the mats, like why is it so hard to get the silver cap off the top of a new ketchup bottle and why didn’t they pick some younger guys for the Olympic hockey team this year?
After the race Coen VanBeek comes up to me and asked if I was okay then said, “I really want to thank you.” I asked for what, not taking him into the mats with me? “You took off so fast, so I just tried to stay with you as long as I could. I ended up doing a 20 second personal best,” he beamed.
Cor laughed when I explained what happened, “that was a great race until you crashed, you were on pace to do a 4:28.” Holy crap, I would have beat the Canadian Masters 3 record by over 30 seconds!
I couldn’t wait until the next day.
Day 3 – The Record
Practice seems a little bit different today. Why are all the other skaters going a bit slower then yesterday? Strange.
While sitting on the bench drying my skates after practice a distinguished looking gentleman of about 65 walks up to me. He said, “I was skating in the 3000m quad behind you yesterday, you must have really gotten up fast after your fall?” I told him it was too bad I didn’t get up one second sooner, because I would have broken the Masters 3 record. “I noticed that when I saw your time,” he said with a rather serious look on his face.
“Looks like we’ll be skating the 1500m together,” he said. I told him I was looking forward to the race because I might have an outside shot at breaking the record. I reached into my bag and pulled out Canadian Records sheet to show him. Pointing to the sheet I said look at this Ronald Johnston’s times, isn’t he amazing he’s had most of these records for over ten years. First he sets all four of the Masters 3 records and then when he turns 60 he goes on to set all of the Masters 4 records with even faster times. He gives me a fatherly smile and says, “I’m Ron Johnston.”
At that very moment it seemed like everyone stopped. Everything went absolutely quiet. Everyone in the whole rink turned towards me. They all wanted to see if a person could actually fit both feet into their mouth at the same time.
This time I recovered even faster then my pratfall yesterday. I explained to Ron that there were a couple of things that I had really wanted to accomplish this week and one of them was to meet Ronald Johnston. Ron just patiently smiled as I went on and on about how great his accomplishments were and how much it motivated me. We spent the next half hour getting to know each other. It turns out that Ron is a professor of electrical engineering at the University of Calgary and plans to retire within a few months.
As Cor comes up to me during warm up I ask him if I should skate the 1500m the same as I skated the 3000m. “No, no, no, the 1500m is totally different from the 3000m. I want you to go out much harder then yesterday. It’s only a sprint.” A sprint? Not where I come from, but he’s the coach so I‘ll do what he says. “I want a fast opener and I want back-to-back thirties.” Something must be wrong with my hearing. Did he just say back-to-back thirties, I just did my first 33-second lap yesterday and now he wants thirties!
The race was a blur. I only remember seeing my first lap time, 32.3. After that it was total tunnel vision. My head was spinning from lack of oxygen as I crossed the line. Sweeping onto the back straight, there was Cor standing in the middle of the track with a huge smile on his face. He lifted his hand to give me a high five as I went by and only said, “very good”. It was a ten second personal best. He knew we had the record.
Later as we stood by the stands Cor called over one of his good friends, “Catriona, come over here I want you to meet my friend Mickey Kupchyk. He just broke the Canadian Masters 3 1500m record.” I turned to see Catriona Le May Doan walking towards us with a huge smile. She shook my hand firmly as only a prairie girl could and congratulated me. At this point I had to correct Cor and explain to Catriona that I hadn’t broken the record, we had.
I told her it was about time that I saw someone else from Saskatchewan. She flashed a big smile and said, “Didn’t you know, everyone here is from Saskatchewan and for those that aren’t, they wish they were.” As we posed for a picture, she threw her arm around my shoulder like a big sister.
As I turned and started to walk away feeling like I’d just won a gold medal in the Olympics Cor stopped me dead in my tracks, “I want 3 more seconds in tomorrow’s 1500m”. I guess it was time to stop reveling in glory and to start preparing again for what needed to be done next.
Day 4 – Meet The Star
7:00 a.m. practice time again. Just then the sun came through the windows on the east side to light up the track. And then I see her coming around the track, Canada’s current queen of speed skating, Cindy Klassen. I sit and watch in amazement as she effortlessly laps the oval while her coach calls out “32.0, 32.1, 32.0”. This is shear poetry in motion, absolutely no wasted effort.
As she slowly approaches on a cool down lap I just have to ask her for a picture. She flashes me a big smile, “If it wouldn’t be too much trouble can we do it after my training?” Yes, I think I could probably fit her in.
Out on the ice I start to pick up speed. Then I see Cindy coming around the track on another hot lap. What the heck lets see if I can keep up with her. So I light up the afterburners and take off after her. As I approach Mach 1, I start seeing stars from lack of oxygen to the brain. Maybe this wasn’t such a bright idea after all. Well I almost kept up to her for one lap as she roared off into the distance.
An hour later down on my knees sharpening my skates a sweet voice says, “Well how about we do that picture now.” I look up to see the cherub face of Cindy smiling down at me. How appropriate that I’m down on my knees, I definitely was not worthy. After the picture she stayed and chatted for a bit. I congratulated her on her Olympic results, but she would have none of it as she humbly said, “the whole team did fantastic I’m so proud of all of them.” The men’s Olympic hockey team could learn a lot from this lady. I told her I had raced at Winnipeg in January and wondered if she missed skating in minus 28 degrees there. She laughed, “Winnipeg yes, the cold no.” Two days later she will set a new 1000m World Record and claim the $25,000 prize.
Time to talk over race strategy with Cor. I ask him if we should do it the same as yesterday. “No, no, no. Today I want you to go out much harder. I want you to push, push, push until you feel like you will die. Then I want you to get it across the finish.” What was that part about dieing?
A faster opener, faster first lap, faster second and then the legs give out. The last lap feels like I’m skating through two-foot Saskatchewan snowdrifts. Somehow I manage to slog across the finish two one hundredths faster then yesterday. During the cool down Cor says, “See, you can go faster. Now you need to build more stamina”. No, now I need to go lay down and die somewhere.
Finally, it’s the dreaded 5000m. Apparently some people in the Netherlands consider this to be a sprint. They are definitely crazy I’m thinking to myself as I walk around the oval making mental notes of where all the oxygen tanks are located. I’ve only skated a fun 5000m mass start race once before. Not knowing the strategy for a real race, I solicit tips from anyone who will talk to me. The consensus seems to be that the race doesn’t even start until lap eight, so you need to conserve enough energy to be able to finish.
It will require a heroic effort to break eight minutes. As I watch skaters in the three races before me struggling to complete the distance the wisdom that comes with age kicks in. Forties for a fifty year old will do just fine today. After stringing off eleven forty second laps in a row I hear my coach back home Dave Beitel’s voice in my head “there’s no use taking it home, leave it on the ice”, so I dig down for the last remains of energy and put it into the last lap. It’s done!
“Well done Mickey, you skated very consistent lap times” Cor smiled. “You skated a technically perfect race for the skill level that you are at now.” High praise in deed from the Master coach, but I knew what was coming. “If you would have started with a 39 then it’s just as easy to maintain a 39 as a 40.” Next time my friend.
Sitting on the bench putting away my skates for the last time this year I look up to see Ron Johnston approach. Ron extends his hand for a warm handshake and smiles, “Well it looks like the records are going to be yours for a while now.” How true, they’ll only be mine for a short while, records are meant to be broken.
Epilogue
As WestJet wings me back home to my wife and two kids in Regina I try to sleep. Although totally exhausted sleep won’t come. The whole fantastic week keeps running through my head: the Oval, the racing, the atmosphere, and new friends. It was only fourteen month ago that I first put on speed skates and stepped on to the windswept outdoor oval in Regina. What a storybook ending to my first year of speed skating.
The people around me on the plane must be wondering what this guy with the silly grin is thinking. They will never know until they lace up speed skates.
16th MASTERS INTERNATIONAL SPEED SKATING GAMES - CALGARY 2007
The International Masters Speed Skating Committee has announced that this event will be held during February 23 to 25, 2007 at the Olympic Oval in Calgary Alberta. Up to 300 competitors will be accepted for this all-round olympic-style long track competition based on separate mens and womens 5 year age groups from 30 years up. In past versions of this event, skaters from up to 14 different nations have participated with skaters ranging up to 85+ years in age.
91 places are reserved for Canadians and 50 for American skaters until a cut-off date (likely early December 2006) after which unused places will be allocated to applicants from other nations on a first come-first served basis.
This past weekend, I was a spectator at the World All Round Championships in Calgary where, in the course of 2 days; 3 world records, 22 national records and 81 personal records were broken, confirming once again that this venue offers the fastest ice on earth. At these upcoming IMSSC Games, masters skaters will also have the opportunity to set their own personal best times.
Complete event information will be available at http://www.imssc.org/ and http://www.imssg.org/ in October 2006.
This is the best opportunity for Canadians and Americans to participate in this premier masters speed skating event which will return to Europe in 2008 at Erfurt Germany. To assist meet organizers to assess interest, please advise Brett Arnason (brett@arnasons.ca) if you're planning to attend. Responses before the next IMSSC meeting in the Netherlands on June 10 would be appreciated.
91 places are reserved for Canadians and 50 for American skaters until a cut-off date (likely early December 2006) after which unused places will be allocated to applicants from other nations on a first come-first served basis.
This past weekend, I was a spectator at the World All Round Championships in Calgary where, in the course of 2 days; 3 world records, 22 national records and 81 personal records were broken, confirming once again that this venue offers the fastest ice on earth. At these upcoming IMSSC Games, masters skaters will also have the opportunity to set their own personal best times.
Complete event information will be available at http://www.imssc.org/ and http://www.imssg.org/ in October 2006.
This is the best opportunity for Canadians and Americans to participate in this premier masters speed skating event which will return to Europe in 2008 at Erfurt Germany. To assist meet organizers to assess interest, please advise Brett Arnason (brett@arnasons.ca) if you're planning to attend. Responses before the next IMSSC meeting in the Netherlands on June 10 would be appreciated.
15th INTERNATIONAL MASTERS SPEED SKATING GAMES
The 2006 edition of this penultimate all-round international masters speed skating event was held during March 3 to 5, 2006 in Helsinki, Finland. Canadian masters skater, Brett Arnason of Winnipeg Manitoba, sent the following report:
For 2006, Canada was represented by Eugene Kurmey, Brett Arnason, and Patrick Kelly.
Eugene, Brett, and Brett’s wife Marnie left Winnipeg on February 22, 2006. We were picked up in Amsterdam by Aris Dijksman. Aris is the King of Master’s Speedskating in Holland. We spent four great days getting used to the time change and touring around. We did some skating at Haarlem. They have a great facility. The numbers of skaters is just overwhelming. From 10:00 to 11:00 p.m. is the time they skate. Over two hundred Masters were out training. Not much room for high speed training. They have the opposite problem to us. Many skaters and little ice time.
Eugene, Brett, and Brett’s wife Marnie left Winnipeg on February 22, 2006. We were picked up in Amsterdam by Aris Dijksman. Aris is the King of Master’s Speedskating in Holland. We spent four great days getting used to the time change and touring around. We did some skating at Haarlem. They have a great facility. The numbers of skaters is just overwhelming. From 10:00 to 11:00 p.m. is the time they skate. Over two hundred Masters were out training. Not much room for high speed training. They have the opposite problem to us. Many skaters and little ice time.
Helsinki was a well run event. The mayor hosted the welcome drink at City Hall. The host hotel was about 20 minutes by bus from the oval. The weather was less than ideal for the first two days. But the sun shone for a great day on Sunday.
Eugene Kurmey successfully defended his world title against three other competitors in the 75 year category.
Patrick Kelly blew them all away in the 500 meters and worked hard at the other three distances to end up second overall.
Brett Arnason was 10th in the 500 meter and ended up 20th out of 29 in the 55 year old division.
The photo of the Canadian skaters includes Brett Arnason (left), Patrick Kelly (left centre), Karen Courtland-Kelly (right centre) and Eugene Kirmey (right).
Complete event results can be seen at http://www.kolumbus.fi/kloponen/hlk/Sivusto/r3.pdf
Brett also represented Canada at the 24th Session of the IMSSC and reports the following:
There is great enthusiasm from all the skaters about Calgary in 2007. We have a quota of 90 plus skaters for Canada. The overall quota is 300. We are going to have to work together across Canada to get as many as possible to attend.
Complete event results can be seen at http://www.kolumbus.fi/kloponen/hlk/Sivusto/r3.pdf
Brett also represented Canada at the 24th Session of the IMSSC and reports the following:
There is great enthusiasm from all the skaters about Calgary in 2007. We have a quota of 90 plus skaters for Canada. The overall quota is 300. We are going to have to work together across Canada to get as many as possible to attend.
CANADIAN MASTERS OLYMPIC STYLE CHAMPIONSHIPS
19 masters skaters, including 16 men and 3 women, participated in this event during March 3, 4 and 5, 2006. Under very cold and windy conditions over 3 consecutive days, competitors skated 500m, 1000m, 1500m and 3000m on the Anneau de Glace Gaetan Boucher in Sainte-Foy Quebec.
Participants included skaters from Calgary, Edmonton, Cambridge, Burlington, Brampton, Toronto, Kingston, Ottawa, Montreal, Sainte-Foy, Quebec City, Levis and Matanne.
Results can be seen at http://www.fpvq.org/doc/Resultats/ResultatsCanmaitres.pdf
For the first time, this event was combined with a Canada Cup meet. Competitors included 2005 Olympic Oval Masters Speed Skating Camp coaches Neal Zaluski and Marcin Goszczynski.
Many thanks to meet coordinator Maryse Poudrier and her team of volunteer officials.
Participants included skaters from Calgary, Edmonton, Cambridge, Burlington, Brampton, Toronto, Kingston, Ottawa, Montreal, Sainte-Foy, Quebec City, Levis and Matanne.
Results can be seen at http://www.fpvq.org/doc/Resultats/ResultatsCanmaitres.pdf
For the first time, this event was combined with a Canada Cup meet. Competitors included 2005 Olympic Oval Masters Speed Skating Camp coaches Neal Zaluski and Marcin Goszczynski.
Many thanks to meet coordinator Maryse Poudrier and her team of volunteer officials.
MILWAUKEE INTERNATIONAL MASTERS MEET
10 Canadian masters were among the over 70 competitors who participated in the Milwaukee International Masters Meet held at the Petit Center during February 18 to 19, 2006.
The competition was almost non-stop with 11 events scheduled within 2 half-day sessions. The 5 year age groups for men and women skated both olympic-style (metric) 500m and 1000m; mass-start (pack-style) heats and finals over 500m, 800m and 1000m; and mass-start (pack-style) finals for 1500m and 3000m. The final event saw all competitors in a 5000m drop-out mass-start race.
Canadian participants included 5 skaters from Manitoba, 1 from Saskatchewan and 4 from Ontario with overall placements as follows:
Men 35-39
- Bernie Enns, Winnipeg: 3rd
Men 40-44
- Randy Plett (Winnipeg): 4th
- Barend Tollenaat (Winnipeg): 10th
Men 50-54
- Bob Laurence (Cambridge): 1st
- Mickey Kupchyk (Regina): 2nd
- Ross Hanham (Burlington): 5th
Men 70-74
- Don Ego (Newmarket): 1st
- Gerry Bos (London): 3rd
Women 35-39
- Leela Braun (Winnipeg): 1st
Women 40-44
- Karla Cybulsky (Winnipeg): 2nd
Courtesy of Andrew Love, a group photo of all skaters can be seen at
http://www.andrewlove.org/blog/blogpics06/mastersinternational/biggroup.jpg
with additional photos and stories at
http://andrewlove.org/blog/?p=234
http://andrewlove.org/blog/?p=235
http://andrewlove.org/blog/?p=238
Complete event results, courtesy of meet coordinator Al Jakubowski, can be seen at:
http://home.cogeco.ca/~mss/2006MIEvents.pdf
http://home.cogeco.ca/~mss/2006MIOverall.pdf
This was a tremendous fun event for masters skaters of all abilities and ages where Canadian competitiors were welcomed with open arms. Many thanks to meet co-organizers Harry Dingle and Stephen Gunther, as well as to Al Jakubowski and his team of volunteer officials.
The competition was almost non-stop with 11 events scheduled within 2 half-day sessions. The 5 year age groups for men and women skated both olympic-style (metric) 500m and 1000m; mass-start (pack-style) heats and finals over 500m, 800m and 1000m; and mass-start (pack-style) finals for 1500m and 3000m. The final event saw all competitors in a 5000m drop-out mass-start race.
Canadian participants included 5 skaters from Manitoba, 1 from Saskatchewan and 4 from Ontario with overall placements as follows:
Men 35-39
- Bernie Enns, Winnipeg: 3rd
Men 40-44
- Randy Plett (Winnipeg): 4th
- Barend Tollenaat (Winnipeg): 10th
Men 50-54
- Bob Laurence (Cambridge): 1st
- Mickey Kupchyk (Regina): 2nd
- Ross Hanham (Burlington): 5th
Men 70-74
- Don Ego (Newmarket): 1st
- Gerry Bos (London): 3rd
Women 35-39
- Leela Braun (Winnipeg): 1st
Women 40-44
- Karla Cybulsky (Winnipeg): 2nd
Courtesy of Andrew Love, a group photo of all skaters can be seen at
http://www.andrewlove.org/blog/blogpics06/mastersinternational/biggroup.jpg
with additional photos and stories at
http://andrewlove.org/blog/?p=234
http://andrewlove.org/blog/?p=235
http://andrewlove.org/blog/?p=238
Complete event results, courtesy of meet coordinator Al Jakubowski, can be seen at:
http://home.cogeco.ca/~mss/2006MIEvents.pdf
http://home.cogeco.ca/~mss/2006MIOverall.pdf
This was a tremendous fun event for masters skaters of all abilities and ages where Canadian competitiors were welcomed with open arms. Many thanks to meet co-organizers Harry Dingle and Stephen Gunther, as well as to Al Jakubowski and his team of volunteer officials.
HOW DID YOU GET STARTED IN SPEED SKATING? - 1st in a series
Each masters speed skater has a unique story of how she or he got started in the sport. Some started when they were young and have been doing it for decades. Others only got into it recently.
Masters Speed Skating News would like to hear how you got started and is grateful for this first contribution from Mickey Kupchyk of the Regina Speed Skating Club in Saskatchewan Canada:
We only have about 10 Masters in all of Saskatchewan. I keep telling all of the other parents that they should just try speed skating for the fun and exercise - they can race if they really like it. That's how I got started. My son Evan (now 10 years old) started speed skating 4 years ago. For the first 2 years I was a coach's helper on the ice in my hockey skates tying kids skates and wiping noses. Last year he moved up to group 2 so I couldn't help any more. Soon I got very bored with sitting at the rink for 1.5 hours three times a week. Last year at this time Randy Wrubleski the president of our club convinced me to try speed skates. What a laugh, I went out to the oval with my hockey gloves, shin pads, elbow pads and speed skates (what a sight) and promptly did about 5 face plants on the ice :-)
Within a couple of weeks I started to get the feel for speed skates and realized I wasn't going to kill myself or more importantly someone else. So I bought all of the gear including a skin suit (now that was not a pretty sight. I'm still getting nasty letters from Michelin over trade mark rights. I keep telling them that I look nothing like their mascot, besides I wear black and he wears white - no resemblance what so ever). The coaches convinced me to enter a short track meet in Moose Jaw in late February 2005. Thank God I got to skate with Masters only. It was a riot and I was hooked.
Bruce Hope from our club saw how much fun I was having so he took it up this year. Bruce is from New Zealand and had never been on skates in his life before last year. He's progressing amazingly well. He's now done 2 long track meets this year. He'll be someone to watch for in a few years. Bruce used to race motorcycles so speed is in his blood.
By the way Bruce Hope was absolutely beaming last week. Bruce has 2 boys age 8 and 10 in speed skating. Bruce finally beat both of them last week at short track practice.
One thing that I would like to point out is that we have exceptional coaching in Regina. We have 5 full-time coaches, 2 part-time coaches, and John Monroe the provincial coach comes out at least twice monthly. I would not have been able to accomplish anything without the help and encouragement of these guys.
Editor's Note: From this humble begining, Mickey now unofficially holds all Sasketchewan records in short track and long track for the Masters 3 (50-59) age class.
See http://www.saskspeedskating.ca/Results/2005-2006/RecordsBrokenJan%2030.pdf
Masters Speed Skating News would like to hear how you got started and is grateful for this first contribution from Mickey Kupchyk of the Regina Speed Skating Club in Saskatchewan Canada:
We only have about 10 Masters in all of Saskatchewan. I keep telling all of the other parents that they should just try speed skating for the fun and exercise - they can race if they really like it. That's how I got started. My son Evan (now 10 years old) started speed skating 4 years ago. For the first 2 years I was a coach's helper on the ice in my hockey skates tying kids skates and wiping noses. Last year he moved up to group 2 so I couldn't help any more. Soon I got very bored with sitting at the rink for 1.5 hours three times a week. Last year at this time Randy Wrubleski the president of our club convinced me to try speed skates. What a laugh, I went out to the oval with my hockey gloves, shin pads, elbow pads and speed skates (what a sight) and promptly did about 5 face plants on the ice :-)
Within a couple of weeks I started to get the feel for speed skates and realized I wasn't going to kill myself or more importantly someone else. So I bought all of the gear including a skin suit (now that was not a pretty sight. I'm still getting nasty letters from Michelin over trade mark rights. I keep telling them that I look nothing like their mascot, besides I wear black and he wears white - no resemblance what so ever). The coaches convinced me to enter a short track meet in Moose Jaw in late February 2005. Thank God I got to skate with Masters only. It was a riot and I was hooked.
Bruce Hope from our club saw how much fun I was having so he took it up this year. Bruce is from New Zealand and had never been on skates in his life before last year. He's progressing amazingly well. He's now done 2 long track meets this year. He'll be someone to watch for in a few years. Bruce used to race motorcycles so speed is in his blood.
By the way Bruce Hope was absolutely beaming last week. Bruce has 2 boys age 8 and 10 in speed skating. Bruce finally beat both of them last week at short track practice.
One thing that I would like to point out is that we have exceptional coaching in Regina. We have 5 full-time coaches, 2 part-time coaches, and John Monroe the provincial coach comes out at least twice monthly. I would not have been able to accomplish anything without the help and encouragement of these guys.
Editor's Note: From this humble begining, Mickey now unofficially holds all Sasketchewan records in short track and long track for the Masters 3 (50-59) age class.
See http://www.saskspeedskating.ca/Results/2005-2006/RecordsBrokenJan%2030.pdf
NORTH AMERICAN MARATHON CHAMPIONSHIPS RESULTS
Canadian masters skaters were among participants in this event held on Big Rideau Lake near Portland Ontario last weekend - January 29-29, 2006.
Top placing Canadian masters included:
5 km Men - Chris Allan (2nd, 30-39), Scott Spencer (1st, 40-49), Jake Maarse (1st, 50-59), John Ambrose (1st, 60-69), and Don Ego (1st, 70-79).
5 km Women - Cindy Anderson (1st, 30-39), and Veronica Goss (1st, 40-49).
10 km Men - Sergio Almeralla (1st, 30-39), Milan Skubnik (1st, 40-49), Jake Maarse (1st, 50-59), Graham Lodge (1st, 60-69), and Tony Zegers (1st, 70-79).
10 km Women - Marie-Josee Merritt (1st, 30-39), Catherine Kwiecien (1st, 40-49), Sue Peters (1st, 50-59), and Sheila McKeagle (1st, 60-69).
25 km Men - Ted MacDonald (2nd, 30-39), Paul O'Blenes (1st, 40-49), Brian Johnston (1st, 50-59), Willem Langenberg (2nd, 60-69), and Pierre Gagne (1st, 70-79).
25 km Women - Tanya Hoferek (1st, 30-39), Suzanne Dionne (1st, 40-49), and Ellen Mooney (1st, 50-59).
50 km Men - Youri Juteau (2nd, 30-39), Paul O'Blenes (1st, 40-49), Jake Maarse (1st, 50-59), Graham Lodge (1st, 60-69), and Tony Zegers (1st, 70-79).
50 km Women - Alicia Weiss (1st, 30-39), Suzanne Dionne (1st, 40-49), and Jill Relyea-Voss (1st, 50-59).
Complete results can be seen at http://www.marathonskating.org/indexe.htm?
Top placing Canadian masters included:
5 km Men - Chris Allan (2nd, 30-39), Scott Spencer (1st, 40-49), Jake Maarse (1st, 50-59), John Ambrose (1st, 60-69), and Don Ego (1st, 70-79).
5 km Women - Cindy Anderson (1st, 30-39), and Veronica Goss (1st, 40-49).
10 km Men - Sergio Almeralla (1st, 30-39), Milan Skubnik (1st, 40-49), Jake Maarse (1st, 50-59), Graham Lodge (1st, 60-69), and Tony Zegers (1st, 70-79).
10 km Women - Marie-Josee Merritt (1st, 30-39), Catherine Kwiecien (1st, 40-49), Sue Peters (1st, 50-59), and Sheila McKeagle (1st, 60-69).
25 km Men - Ted MacDonald (2nd, 30-39), Paul O'Blenes (1st, 40-49), Brian Johnston (1st, 50-59), Willem Langenberg (2nd, 60-69), and Pierre Gagne (1st, 70-79).
25 km Women - Tanya Hoferek (1st, 30-39), Suzanne Dionne (1st, 40-49), and Ellen Mooney (1st, 50-59).
50 km Men - Youri Juteau (2nd, 30-39), Paul O'Blenes (1st, 40-49), Jake Maarse (1st, 50-59), Graham Lodge (1st, 60-69), and Tony Zegers (1st, 70-79).
50 km Women - Alicia Weiss (1st, 30-39), Suzanne Dionne (1st, 40-49), and Jill Relyea-Voss (1st, 50-59).
Complete results can be seen at http://www.marathonskating.org/indexe.htm?
CANADIAN MASTERS AT NORTH AMERICAN LONG TRACK CHAMPIONSHIPS
Congratulations to Canadian masters speed skaters who competed in the North American Championships at the Olympic Oval in Salt Lake City, Utah last weekend - January 29-29, 2006.
Men 40-49: Lynn Sugden of Alberta - 3rd in 500m and 4th in 1000m, 1500m and 3000m.
Men 50-59: Brett Arnason of Winnipeg, Manitoba - 2nd in 500m, 800m, 1000m and 1500m.
For full results, see http://www.speedskating.ca/eng/results/documents/nalt_final_times_000.pdf
Men 40-49: Lynn Sugden of Alberta - 3rd in 500m and 4th in 1000m, 1500m and 3000m.
Men 50-59: Brett Arnason of Winnipeg, Manitoba - 2nd in 500m, 800m, 1000m and 1500m.
For full results, see http://www.speedskating.ca/eng/results/documents/nalt_final_times_000.pdf
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