ISU World Cup Long Track

If you have never tried it you should at least do it once, but don’t think you can figure it out simply because you skate and play hockey, because it’s completely different.

Along with several other hockey officials we once tried this when we were on a hockey related tournament in Holland of all places and while we started slow, eventually we mastered the art.

Speed Skating Canada was founded in 1887 a full five years before the International Skating Union, which became a member in 1894.

In 1854, three British army officers raced on the St. Lawrence River making the way from Montreal to Quebec City allowing this to become Canada’s first recorded ice skating race.

It is also believed that from then on, ice skating races became a part of the Canadian Culture allowing the formation of the Amateur Skating Association.

Eventually in 1905 Speed Skating Canada (SSC) was formed in 1887, soon to be followed by the Amateur Skating of Canada in 1939.

The sport has come a long way and British Columbia formed the Association which has approximately 1800 skaters, coaches, officials and volunteers, which is known as BC Speed Skating.

Locally there are a number of exceptional clubs and one such one is located at the Richmond Oval named the Richmond Rockets Speed Skating Club.

There are 28 member clubs that belong to the Association which has provided support to it’s member clubs since it’s beginning 1957 in Dawson Creek.

Given all the success with the program Canada is sending 22 skaters at the second ISU World Cup Long Track Speed Skating of the season to be held November 20-22 at Utah’s Olympic Oval in Salt Lake City.

The 9 Women and 13 Men will skate in the first 500m event, the women’s 5000m and the men’s 1500m on Friday (November 20) and in the second women’s 500m event and 1500m and the men’s 1000m and 10,000m (Saturday) as well as in the second men’s 500m, the women’s 1000m, and in the team sprint and mass start events Sunday, November 22.

At the first World Cup of the season held last weekend in Calgary, Canada won a total of seven medals, the most since December 2009 where the Canadian team climbed eight times on the podium.

The World Cup mass start overall champion (2014-2015) Ottawa’s Ivanie Blondin won Bronze in the mass start season opener race.

William Dutton (Humboldt, SK), Ted-Jan Bloemen (Calgary) and Sherbrooke’s Alex Boisvert-Lacroix all won their first-ever individual World Cup medals.

Dutton won Silver and Bronze medals in the two weekend (500m) events while Bloemen won a Bronze medal in the 5000m as did Boisvert-Lacroix in the second 500m of the weekend.

We wish them well on the trip and will follow the travels of our Canadian Speed Skaters in Salt Lake City.

Members of the Canadian national team for ISU World Cup Long Track #2 in Salt Lake City are as follows:

WOMEN                                                             
-BLONDIN, Ivanie (Ottawa, ON) – 1000m, 1500m, 5000m, mass start
-CHRIST, Kali (Regina, SK) –1500m
-GREGG, Jessica (Edmonton, AB) – 500m
-HUDEY, Marsha (White City, SK) – 500m
-IRVINE, Kaylin (Calgary, AB) – 500m, 1000m
-McLEAN, Heather (Winnipeg, MB) – 500m, 1000m
-SPENCE, Josie (Kamloops, B.C.) – 5000m, mass start
-TUTT, Brianne (Airdrie, AB) – 1500m
-WEIDEMANN, Isabelle (Ottawa, ON) – 5000m, mass start

MEN
-BELCHOS, Jordan (Toronto, ON) – 10,000m, mass start
-BLOEMEN, Ted-Jan (Calgary, AB) – 10,000m
-BOISVERT-LACROIX, Alex (Sherbrooke, QC) – 500m, 1000m
-CORBETT, Martin (Uxbridge, ON) – 1500m
-De HAÎTRE, Vincent (Cumberland, ON) – 1000m, 1500m
-DONNELLY, Ben (Oshawa, ON) – 1500m
-DUBREUIL, Laurent (Lévis, QC) – 500m
-DUTTON, William (Humboldt, SK) – 500m
-JEAN, Olivier (Lachenaie, QC) – 1500m, mass start
-JUNIO, Gilmore (Calgary, AB) – 500m, 1000m
-ST-JEAN, Alexandre (Quebec City, QC) – 500m, 1000m
-WAPLES, Stefan (Winnipeg, MB) – 10,000m
-WATSON, Robert (Whitby, ON) – mass start