ISU Fall World Cup

Ivanie Blondin of Ottawa and Ted-Jan Bloemen, who arrived in Calgary from his native Netherlands in June with plans to skate for his father’s homeland, won Friday’s distance races at Speed Skating Canada’s ISU Fall World Cup Long Track Selections at the Calgary Olympic Oval.

Blondin skated a strong four minutes, 07.70 seconds to win the women’s 3,000m while Bloemen blazed to a personal best of 6:15.75 in the men’s 5,000m.

Ottawa skaters swept the top three women’s spots.  Lauren McGuire was second in 4:13.66 and Isabelle Weidemann took third in 4:13.85, a personal best.

Markham’s Jordan Belchos was second in the men’s 5k in 6:32.56. Stefan Waples of Winnipeg placed third in 6:35.86.

She has set personal bests in three distances already, including a 4:04.99 in the 3,000m during a time trial at the Olympic Oval on Sept. 26. That time is also the fastest in the world for a 3k this season.

Blondin will skate again Saturday in the 5,000m race as will Bloemen in the men’s 10,000m event. Also on the schedule will be the men’s and women’s 500m races. Skating starts at 1 p.m. local time and admission is free.

Bloemen has had quite a week and received written proof of his Canadian citizenship — his father, Gerhard-Jan, was born in New Brunswick — and he had to go to downtown Calgary on to get his passport.

Once Bloemen receives approval from the International Skating Union, he will be eligible to skate for Canada on the World Cup circuit. He hopes that will happen in time for the opening event in Obihiro, Japan, Nov. 14-16.

Bloemen admitted he was surprised by his time Friday, which gave him the victory by a margin of 16.81 seconds. His time is the fastest recorded in a 5,000m event in the world this season.

“With five laps to go, I felt like I wasn’t going to hold on — that I was going to crack — but I ended up going even faster,” he said. “So, I said ‘OK, I’ll just keep going and try to get a PB’. I was surprised. Apparently I’m still underestimating myself.”

On the women’s side, McGuire almost established a new personal best in the 3,000m, coming within 0.66 seconds of doing so. She is coming off a tough 2013-2014 season, in which she was dealing with her father’s terminal illness. Joe McGuire died last winter of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).

“I was really focusing on my race, trying to stay calm and strong. This race means so much to me, because last year I struggled so much with the loss of my dad,” she said.

“Working with (coach) Crispin (Parkinson) again after a three-year hiatus has allowed me to be positive. He has been so suppportive. This is the beginning of a great season for me.”

Canada has a fall World Cup quota of three skaters for the women’s 3,000m and 5,000m events, and of two for the men’s 5,000m and 10,000m races.

The selections wrap up Sunday, with races starting at 2 p.m. Both 1,000m events and the two spectator-friendly mass starts are scheduled.

Thanks to Speed Skating Canada for the info and for full results visit: www.speedskating.ca.