1ST MASTERS INTERNATIONAL USA SINGLE DISTANCE CHAMPIONSHIPS

Brett Arnason, Canada's representative to the IMSSC, recently received the following message from USA master skater, Kaari Cox:

Bruce Conner asked me to email the attached letter about our upcoming US masters single distance championships. Don't let the name scare you; we'd love to have as many Canadians as possible, and it would be a nice opportunity for them to get familiar with Milwaukee before North Americans in early February. It's also the first opportunity in living memory for women to do a masters-sanctioned indoor 5K/10K, and men to do a 10K in North America.

Email Olu if you have any questions, and we hope to see you there!

Additional meet information and entry form are now available.

CONSTANT MONTPELLIER RECOVERING

For those who may not have heard, Constant was seriously injured in short track practice in Montreal on November 8. After stepping on a corner block, he went head first into the mats fracturing several vertebrae, tearing the muscles around them, breaking two ribs and a few teeth. Now sidelined for the season, we recently checked up on Constant to see how he's doing and got the following response:

I'm feeling better, moving a little better everyday. The doc said I shouldn't do anything for 6 to 8 weeks. But if I can just get on my stationary bike whenever possible, I will. I have a feeling that I'm gonna get through this fairly quick (positive thinking) lol. My short track season is definitely out, but I think I might be able to put on my long track skates before the end of the season. Long track is lot more safe, well, I think anyway. So, I'll let time tell me but I have not scratched the possibility of skating the worlds in Calgary yet. Of course I will not take any risk to damage myself even worse.

It's been two weeks now and I'm sooooo bored.

World Masters Sprint Championships - 1000m - Milwaukee, February 2010 - Photo by Steve Penland

Fellow masters wishing to send Constant their best wishes and help him through this difficult time, can contact him through e-mail at constantmontpellier@hotmail.com or look him up on Facebook.

CALGARY MASTERS INTERNATIONAL SPEED SKATING GAMES - UPDATE

Excitement is building for the 20th Masters International Speed Skating Games with 97 skaters registered as of November 12 and entries yet to be made by the Netherlands and Norway pending their internal registration processes ending December 3. A list of who's coming so far can be seen here on the Calgary Olympic Oval website.

Photo courtesy of Olympic Oval Facebook page.

Less than 3 weeks remain until the December 10, 2010 registration deadline, after which unused spaces from the 95 skater quota for Canadian entries will be given away to other nations on a first-come-first-served basis. As of November 12, 49 masters have entered from many provinces including Nova Scotia, Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba, Alberta and British Columbia.

Photo courtesy of Olympic Oval Facebook page.

Although no final registration deadline is given, it is expected that skaters can continue to enter after December 3, but will be accepted on a first-come-first-served basis up to the overall limit of 353 skaters. Entries can be made on-line via the IMSSC website.

HALIFAX 2011 CHAMPIONNAT CANADIEN DES MAÎTRES

Cette compétition de style olympique aura lieu les 15-16 janvier 2011 sur le fameux site des Commons à Halifax. Toute l’information et le formulaire d’inscription sont maintenant disponibles en ligne.

Vous avez jusqu’au 7 janvier pour vous inscrire en ligne.

Pour ceux qui désirent prolonger leur séjour, Marathon Skating International a organisé d’autres événements aussi ouverts aux maîtres et qui auront lieu la fin de semaine précédant le championnat.

Nous vous encourageons à participer en grand nombre à cet événement unique puisque l’anneau sera démantelé après les Jeux du Canada.

HALIFAX 2011 - CANADIAN MASTERS CHAMPIONSHIPS

Event information and registration form are now available for this olympic-style long track competition to take place January 15 - 16 on Halifax's famous Commons.

The entry deadline is January 7 and registration can be done on-line.

The temporary refrigerated oval, being constructed for the 2011 Canada Winter Games, is quickly taking shape.

Photos courtesy of 2011 Canada Winter Games Facebook Page

For those wishing to have an extended skating vacation, Marathon Skating International has organized additional events, which are open to masters for the preceding weekend.

Masters skaters are encouraged to take advantage of this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to skate outdoors in this historic maritime city.

MASTERS FALL CAMP IN MILWAUKEE

Seven skaters from Canada and USA accepted Alain Meilleur’s (coach, National Level III) invitation to his first master fall training camp. It was held during the week of October 25-30, 2010 at the Pettit National Ice Center in Milwaukee, (WI), USA.



The main objective of this camp was not to improve the level of fitness but to go back to the basics of long track technique and improve overall speed. For many skaters who train in short track mostly or on an outside oval, it was to excellent opportunity to have perfect conditions to work on the more than 80 technical points in speed skating.

The daily program included two ice sessions and afternoon presentations with viewings of videos of excellent and well known speed skaters. Campers were also paired to film each other and the videos were reviewed to observe progress and technical points to be improved. Most skaters stayed over the weekend to conclude with time trials, which are held every weekend at the center.


Campers: Ross Hanham, Anika Bedard, Suzanne Dionne, Julie Houle, Kathie Zapotocki, Yves Garneau, Alain Meilleur (coach) and Sheila Mc Ginn

Many thanks to Alain who generously put this camp together and for his commitment to us masters to enjoy faster strides!