How To Get Into Speed Skating
Erin Jackson was an inline speed skater and roller derby player, and now she'southward skating in the Olympics for the U.s.a. on ice | Stacy Revere/Getty Images.
By Beth Skwarecki
If speeding downwards a long lane of water ice seems like your matter, or hugging tight corners while trying to get ahead of whoever is leading the pack, perchance y'all should consider lacing upwardly a pair of speed skates. Y'all don't have to have Olympic-size thighs to endeavour information technology out, although that would certainly help. I stopped by a practise to get the lowdown.
The events
Olympic speed skating comes in two flavours: long and brusk rail. The long track events are timed, and typically two skaters compete at a time, in separate lanes. Whoever posts the fastest fourth dimension wins. Just to continue things interesting, there is as well a team pursuit event, where groups of three skate the distance together.
Short track is a dissimilar story: several skaters line up next to each other, and jockey for position. The winner is determined past placement, so it doesn't affair how fast you go as long as you're the first 1 across the line. (Long track volition include a similar mode event this yr, called a mass start event.)
If you lot're hoping to get into traditional long track speed skating, at that place are only ii full size rinks in the U.s.a. where you lot tin can exercise it properly: 1 in Utah and one in Wisconsin – and only two in Canada. [1] U.s.a. Speedskating has been poaching skaters who race on roads in rollerblades, since there are no Olympic events for roller skating. So if you have your centre set on skating long straightaways with your arms swinging, the easiest path into the sport may exist inline speed skating.
Short rail is simpler, though: the regulation rails fits hands inside a hockey rink. So if yous go looking for a speed skating club, it may be easier to find people preparation for, and competing in, curt track.
What information technology's like
I met up with the Pittsburgh Speedskating Club at a rink nearly the city during open skate hours. (Hockey is so popular that information technology's hard to get dedicated ice fourth dimension at a reasonable toll. Information technology's difficult out there for obscure winter sports.) They do short track skating, and ane of this yr's short-track competitors, John-Henry Kreuger, trained with this club when he was young.
They allow me borrow a pair of skates, which you lot can see in the photograph higher up. Speed skates take longer, straighter blades than effigy or hockey skates. (All water ice skates are "rockered," or shaped slightly like the lesser of a rocking chair, which helps you to glide in a curved path when y'all're leaning on the side of the skate.) They also have very low ankles, then you can bend your knees and get your body weight closer to the ice.
I'chiliad not gonna prevarication: the hardest part of skating with speed skates on is merelyskating. If you're new to the ice in general, it will take a while to get comfortable on skates. Lessons in effigy or hockey skating might be a skillful first step before you testify upwardly to speed skating practise.
I've done a tiny bit of figure skating (I can do a 3-turn and a waltz spring, and that's the cease of my repertoire) simply near of my skating experience is on wheels. I used to play roller derby, which involves doing speedy laps with stiff crossover pushes around a tightly curved oval track. I'vegot this, correct? But as shortly every bit I stepped on the ice it was like I had to learn to skate all over once again. I talked to another newbie whose prior experience was in figure skating; we both felt lost.
So for the next hr the coaches helped us larn the simple art of putting a foot down, pushing, shifting weight, and picking the other foot up. You want your toe, knee joint, and confront to all exist lined up on peak of each other, one coach told me. On one side of that vertical line are your opposite arm and leg. Merely on the other side of that line, countering that weight, all you have is your hip. The lower yous get, and the more than you stick your hip out, the more stable you'll be.
Likewise shifting weight, the other tricky skill was finding my edges. All water ice skates have two edges, meaning that big pocketknife on your foot is really, if you look closely, 2 parallel knives. When you're gliding direct frontward, you'll be on both edges of the blade. Simply equally shortly every bit you lean into a turn, you're on merely 1 edge or the other.
When you're skating counterclockwise, every time you get to the turn you practice crossovers. Your correct foot crosses in front of the left, so you lot're contacting the ice with the within edge of your correct skate, and theoutside edge of your left. Being on the outside edge is a piddling scary, because y'all're relying on the blade to cut into the water ice and hold y'all. If the bract slips, yous state on your ass.
So I spent nearly of the time practicing my crossovers and finding the exact mode to position my weight and my feet to go that outside edge to dig into the water ice. Of course, I wiped out in one case—I was going around a turn, and before I knew it I was sliding and rolling on the ice. I don't know exactly what happened but I got upward and was covered in shaved ice from waist to toes. Hey, falling on your first day is practiced, right? Information technology means you're trying.
*Beth Skwarecki is wellness editor of the Lifehacker website, where this article was first published.
Endnotes added by amateursport.wordpress.com
one.Co-ordinate to Wikipedia, there are a grand total of 35 indoor speed skating rinks in the world – eight of which are in holland.
There are only two in Canada: one in Calgary (the Olympic Oval) and the other in Fort St John in northeastern British Columbia built in 2010.
With the completion of a new projection, being congenital on the grounds of the electric current outdoor Gaétan Boucher Oval in Quebec City, Canada will count one more indoor covered long track oval available for training and contest purposes. The 68.7 M$ project of the "Center de slippery", slated to open in 2019-2020, volition include a 400m indoor ice rink that tin can exist used past the public year-round and meets international standards for long runway speed skating. The facility will also incorporate two additional rinks to be used for various water ice sports, for a full of 4, and include training facilities and office space.
The showtime indoor artificial speed skating oval was the Sportforum Hohenschönhausen in East Berlin, Germany in 1985. The offset indoor bogus speed skating oval used in the Winter Olympics was the Olympic Oval in Calgary, Alberta, Canada in 1988. Since the 1994 Wintertime Olympics in Lillehammer, Kingdom of norway all speed skating competitions have been held in indoor ovals.
The Richmond Olympic Oval in British Columbia congenital for the Vancouver Winter Olympics and the Sport und Koncert Komplex (Winter Stadium) built for the Lillehammer Winter Olympics are the only venues to take been dismantled – unbelievably – as a speed skating rink, in 2010 and 1992 respectively.
The Ontario Speed Skating Oval
The Ontario Speed Skating Oval is an outdoor rink in Lakefield, simply east of Peterborough. The Lakefield Oval provides local skaters and speed skaters from across Ontario with the unique opportunity to skate outdoors on a 400-metre track of well-maintained outdoor ice. During the winter there are regular free public skating sessions, order practices, sessions for schoolhouse groups and special events. It is entirely community-financed, without a cent of government funding. Visit their website here.
Quebec City hosts Speed Skating Canada's National Historic period Class Long Track Championships
Quebec City, February 8, 2018 – A total of 143 immature long track speed skaters from across the country were in action Sabbatum and Sunday, February 10-eleven, at the Gaétan Boucher Oval in Quebec Urban center (930, avenue Roland-Beaudin) for Speed Skating Canada'southward National Age Class Long Track Championships.
Quebec Urban center, February 8, 2018 – A total of 143 young long rail speed skaters from across the country volition be in action Sabbatum and Sunday, February ten-11, at the Gaétan Boucher Oval in Quebec Urban center (930, artery Roland-Beaudin) for Speed Skating Canada's National Historic period Class Long Track Championships.
The Olympic Style 500m, 1500m, and Mass Kickoff 300m, 3000m, relays, 1500m Super Final and Team Pursuit events are presented in the Girls 11, 12, xiii and 14, as well equally Boys 12, 13, xiv and 15 categories. Races will be start at nine:15 am Sat and 8:45 am Sunday.
The Canadian Age Class Long Runway Championships, hosted this twelvemonth past the Fédération de patinage de vitesse du Québec and the Centre d'entraînemenent de patinage de vitesse de la région de Québec, nether the supervision of Speed Skating Canada, is intended to be the focal point of athlete preparation for skaters in the "Preparation to Train" (T2T) stage of development and is too intended for skaters at the "Learning to Compete" phase of development who have not met Canada Cup fourth dimension standards. This competition provides a meaningful, high profile and developmentally appropriate effect which is a source of motivation and opportunity for recognition of the all-time developing long rails skaters in Canada, and will serve equally a main introduction to national competitions where skaters represent their Branch in contest.
More info, including the full schedule and results, are available on Speed Skating Canada's Website: www.speedskating.ca.
Speed skating clubs and other resources
Clubs
A section on the website of Speedskating Canada contains a list of clubs useful information regarding how to start a speed skating club, as well as the guidelines, the organisation, the management and the finances of a gild.
If you have whatever question or would like more information, please contact Speed Skating Canada at ssc@speedskating.ca.
Racing on Skates
Speed Skating Canada'southward Racing on Skates makes specific recommendations for competitions at each stage of skater evolution. Skaters in the FUNdamentals (FUNd) and Learn to Railroad train (L2T) stages should exist racing shorter races (less than 45 seconds), with a focus on speed skating skills. Later in the L2T stage, skaters can begin participating in longer aerobic events. The competitions should exist at the club or Interclub level, lasting four to eight hours, with each skater participating in many races during each contest.
Across the country, clubs take incorporated these recommendations into fun and meaningful competitions for FUNd and L2T skaters. Some suggestions include:
- Incorporating a mixture of more than traditional speed skating races (e.g. 50m, 100m, 200m, 300m and 800-1200m mass start counterclockwise races) with "skills-based races". Skills-based races are different from "games" in that they have a designated race course, a start and a finish. Examples include: the Loop'd'Whirl and Candy Cane races. The BC Speed Skating Association has developed an online events transmission with suggestions for skaters at this developmental level: http://bcssaregionalstreamevents.blogspot.ca/.
- Providing a mixture of individual and squad events. Team events for younger skaters tin can include a Push button-and-Chase relay, or a Race Car relay.
- Where (short runway) facilities allow, use an 85m track for young and developing skaters.
Other suggestions to make the competitions fun, without interfering with the racing, include:
- Prepare a theme for the upshot. Decorate the arena, apply stickers on posted event information and encourage volunteers to clothes up!
- Provide private recognition awards for all skaters. These differ from participation awards because they bespeak out a specific accomplishment for a skater. For case, a ribbon for all skaters who skated personal best (Pb) times, a special pin for any skater participating in their first competition, or a "cookie medal" for anyone achieving their first crossover in a competition. A designated award ceremony, with fourth dimension for pictures, is a great opportunity to hand out awards.
Source: https://amateursport.wordpress.com/2018/02/14/how-to-get-into-speed-skating/
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