Australian Speed Skating

Pure Skating News - The Australian Ice Adventure

2010-10-21T12:19:00.003+08:00

They just packed their bags and left to the Netherlands, with nothing but a dream. That is, to compete at the Olympic Games of Sochi, 2014. Australians Joshua Lose and Daniel Greig literally live their dream and decided to become professional athletes to achieve it.

Both are Australian, former inline skaters, starting their third season as ice skaters............

Read More Here >>>>>

Erfurt (GER) International Event

2010-10-19T20:30:00.003+08:00

This past weekend saw the Australian speed skaters head to the German city of Erfurt to compete in the Erfurt international.

On Saturday, Josh Lose broke the Australian record for the non-traditional mens 3km distance in a time of 4:02.17 to finish the distance in 4th place.
Josh also competed in the 1500m distance, finishing in 2nd place from 25 skaters in a time of 1:54.12.
Sunday saw Josh skate the 5km distance in a time of 6:55.56 to finish in 6th place.

Sprinter Daniel Greig skated his pet events of the 500m and 1000m on both Saturday and Sunday with the following results and times:
Sat 16th - 500m, 23rd of 87 - 37.45
Sat 16th - 1000m, 14th of 18 - 1:14.79
Sun 17th - 500m, 8th of 28 - 37.31
Sun 17th - 1000m, 5th of 27 - 1:15.38

Saturday saw Brooke Lochland skate her 2nd fastest ever 3000m in 4:34.19. Brooke also skated the 500m finishing in 31st in a time of 43.66.

Sunday saw Brooke compete in her 2nd 3km event of the weekend finishing in a time of 4:38.56.
Considering the low altitude of Erfurt, these result are very promising for this time of the season and with the first World Cup of the season only a month away, it looks like a very exciting season is ahead for the Australian skaters.

SHANE DOBBIN BLOG

Saturday, October 9, 2010

What's been happening
Written by T Dobbin
It has been a while since any posting on here, but thought it was time to get back into the swing of things and keep everyone updated on the upcoming 2010-2011 winter. With only five weeks to go before the first World Cup of the season, Shane is hard into his training phase and getting ready to hit the season in shape.

After last winter, Shane decided it was time he needed a change and a refocus so that he can prepare himself not just this winter but hopefully.......... Read More >>>>

The Season is here!

2010-10-12T09:00:00.007+08:00

After what has seemed like a super long off-season, the new skating season is now upon us.

The Australian Long Trackers hit the ice in Heerenveen last weekend for their first official recorded times of the season.

Daniel Greig, Josh Lose and Brooke Lochland skated in various distances at the Trainingswedstrijd KNSB - en Merkenteams in Heereveen.

Daniel skated a 37.98 500m, which is less than .2 of a second off his personal best (and national record) over the sprint distance.
Josh skated a 4:04.24 3000m, to be only .15 off his personal record for that distance.
In her second season on the ice, Brooke Lochland skated a 1:27.71 1000m, to be just over 3 seconds off her best in that distance.

Sophie Muir, recently retired after her Australian history making Olympic Games, was honoured by Australian Ice Racing on the 2nd of October by winning the Outstanding Achievement award at the presentation dinner of the Australian Short Track Titles held in Melbourne. Congratulations go out to Sophie, who is back working full time in Australia (and so rumour has it) saving to go backpacking once again!

I know many in Australia (and overseas) are really looking forward to seeing the Australians climb to the top divisions in LT this season.

SHORT TRACK

The Australian domestic season wrapped up on the 2nd of October in Melbourne with the Australian Short Track Championships held for the first time at the world class Docklands Ice House.

Senior champions were Olympian Lachlan Hay in the Men and Julie Jung in the Ladies. The talent in the senior mens and ladies fields was promising for the sport in this country, an example being 15 year-old Deanna Lockett lowering the Senior Ladies 3000m record which had stood for 18 years.

Many Australian records were broken over two weekends of racing at the new facility, with Masters, Senior and Sub-junior records falling in many distances, including the club relays.

Images of the event can be found here at MTB Images.

HAS TATIANA BORODULINA GONE?

Rumours circulating in the short track scene indicate that the Russian born Australian Olympian has been persuaded back to her motherland to compete for Russia in the lead up to the Sochi 2014 games.

An Italian winter sport site has reported the news (in Italian). Read Article >>>

Whether she decides to skate for Russia or Australia, we wish her all the best. Whilst training and competing for Australia, she has become a positive role model for the younger girls in this country to succeed in the sport of short track. Although some may have questioned her past, there is no denying that she has done good things for the sport here in Australia - good luck Tania.

THE BIG MOVE SOUTH

Many of Australia's short trackers have recently relocated southeast to Melbourne where the Olympic Winter Institute and Elite Development squads are now based under the watchful eye of national coach Ann Zhang.

Just this morning, Aussie favourite, Ronnie Caldecutt, posted his OWI time for the 1000m, paying back his commitment to relocate to Melbourne.

With most of Australia's top skaters residing together in Melbourne, hopefully Australia can lift its ST profile to become, once again, one of the dominant countries in the sport.

All the best of luck to both the ST and LT skaters for the coming season. I will be updating readers on both disciplines from now on, and will be supporting the rise of all Australian skaters through this blog. :-)

Off Season News - Brooke Lochland

2010-05-27T23:07:00.002+08:00

Australia's newest long tracker is in the news with a couple of inline wins in the Netherlands. I have attached a link to a story from Pure Skating News, and a video interview posted yesterday.

Brooke Lochland: Made for Dutch Racing

She won three marathon races in the Netherlands so far, and many track races. She demonstrated to be the strongest girl in the Dutch criterium race culture of this moment. "My body is suited for this style of racing", she explains.

19-year old Australian Brooke Lochland spends the whole year skating on the other side of the World................ read more >>>>>>

Illness Forces Lose Withdrawal

2010-03-21T06:56:00.002+08:00

Josh Lose has been forced to withdraw from the remainder of the World Allround Championships after suffering the effects of a stomach bug.

His coach Desly Hill advised that after racing on day 1, Josh was really suffering from a lack of energy after suffering the stomach illness for the previous 5 days.

Josh has had great year, and although there was the disappointment of missing the Olympic Games, Josh should be extremely proud of his performances in what is undoubtedly the most competitive group of Australian skaters in decades.

Good luck for next season Josh and wish you a speedy recovery.

KIWI NEWS

Shane Dobbin has maintained his 17th position after the running of the 1500m event. Shane skated a 1:50.20 to finish in 20th place for the distance.

SHORT TRACK

Tatiana Borodulina skated in the 4th heat of the 500m, finishing in 4th place and failing to advance to the 1/4 finals in a time of 45.341. Current World Record holder and dual Olympic gold medalist Wang Meng was the winner of Tania's heat.

Good luck for the 1000m event later today Tania.

World Allrounds and World Short Track Championships - Day 1

2010-03-20T18:49:00.007+08:00

Josh Lose skated his first two distances on Friday in the World Allround Championship being held in Heerenveen.

Josh recorded a 39.22, 500m to end up in 24th position. Given that Josh is more of a distance skater, this was a respectable time.

He then backed up to skate the 5000m and recorded a 7:02.12 to once again finish in 24th place. Given that Josh was only invited to compete at this event in the days prior to it commencing, I'm sure his preparation was not what would be expected of someone expecting to compete. Given this, I think that Josh's time are respectable.

Josh is sitting on 81.432 points leading into the 1500m event today.

SHORT TRACK

Tatiana Borodulina failed to advance beyond the 1/4 finals of the Ladies 1500m at the World Short Track Championships in Sofia, Bulgaria yesterday, finishing fourth in her race.

Today, Tania has competed in the preliminary round of the 500m, and in round 10 has finished 2nd to Katherine Reutter of the USA in a time of 44.990 to advance to the heats.

At the time of writing, the heat start lists had not been published.

KIWI NEWS

At the World Allround Championship in Heerenveen, our Kiwi brother Shane Dobbin has finished the first day of the competition in 17th position overall. After finishing 22nd in the 500m, Shane backed this up with a strong 9th place 6:30.64, 5000m metre race.

Junior World Championship Video Report - with a twist of humour

2010-03-19T16:44:00.006+08:00

Daniel Yeow has produced a new instalment of his largestprime YouTube skating reports.

With over a million out of work comedians world wide, what does it matter to add one more? Enjoy.

Thanks for the link Daniel. Check the video links for some of Daniel's more popular work this season.

World Junior Championship Final Results

2010-03-17T20:41:00.005+08:00

Daniel Greig completed his weekend at the World Junior Championships in Moscow by finishing 7th in the 2 x 500m samalog.

In the first 500m , Daniel skated a 36.18 to finish in 6th place.
The second 500m saw him finish in 9th place in a time of 36.55.
The combined times gave him a score of 72.73, placing him 7th overall in the world (juniors) for the discipline.

Sunday saw Daniel line up for the 1000m distance in which he posted a 1:12.16 to finish in 11th position.

Considering that Daniel has less than two years ice experience, these results are a fantastic finale to his season, especially after narrowly missing Olympic selection.

Saturday saw Brooke Lochland continue her steady progress in ice skating, posting a 1:24.06 1000m and a National Record time of 4:31.84 in 3000m to finsih in 24th position in the allround category.

At these championships, Brooke posted two new national records, one in the 1500m and one in the 3000m.

Congratulations to Daniel and Brooke on your great results.

LATE NEWS:

Josh Lose was placed as a 2nd reserve for this weekend's World Allround Championship to be held in Heerenveen and the ISU has given him an offer to skate the event. I know it will never compensate for missing the Olympics by one position, but it is a nice consolation to get one last hit out for the year. Good luck Josh.

SHORT TRACK:
Tatiana Borodulina will contest the World Short Track Championships in Sofia, Bulgaria this weekend as well. I'm sure Tania will consolodate her strong Vancouver performances, and who knows, maybe she could end up with a WC medal?
Good luck Tania.

Junior World Championships - Greig Finishes in Top 10

2010-03-13T07:34:00.004+08:00

Day 1 of the World Junior Speed Skating Championships in Moscow, Russia has seen Daniel Greig take out a top ten finish in the 500m distance, taking out 6th place. His time of 36.18 was just .01 off his national record posted in January this year.

This is a massive improvement on last year's result where Daniel finished in 45th place in the same event.

Brooke Lochland, contesting her first real international event for Australia skated a personal record 500m, registering a 42.93 to finish in 52nd place.

Brooke's 1500m time was a new Australian senior record in 2:11.37, taking another 1/2 second off her January record time to place 45th. The current samalog placings after day one of the championship has Brooke sitting in 34th place.

We wish Daniel and Brooke continued success over the next two days of the championship.

Erfurt World Cup

2010-03-13T07:14:00.002+08:00

Last weekend saw Daniel Greig and Sophie Muir travel to Erfurt, Germany for the last regular world cup of the season.

This world cup cosisted of the sprint events of the 500m and 1000m.

Sophie skated a 39.87, 500m in the ladies B division, finishing in 5th place, but it is understood that she withdrew from the 1000m with an illness.

On Saturday, Daniel Greig skated a 36.40, 500m to finish 7th (of 17) in the men's B division, then posted a 1:12.69, 1000m to finish in 10th (of 16).

Sunday saw Daniel contest another 500m, posting a 36.97 to take out 12th position in B division. Daniel did not compete in the final 1000m distance.

This weekend will see Daniel and Brooke Lochland compete in Moscow at the World Junior Championships.

This will be Daniel's second Junior Championships and it will be Brooke's debut for Australia at such an international event. Good luck.

A Quick Games Wrap-up

2010-03-04T05:14:00.007+08:00

After a brilliant Winter games for the entire Australian Team, the skating team can certainly take some positives out of the results from Vancouver.

Sophie Muir, after training in the ice discipline of speed skating for less than two years under the tutelage of Desly Hill and Rogina De Jong, achieved a placing of 29th in the 500m samalog. After her first 500m, Sophie had been in 31st position and skating .2 of a second faster in her second race, moved up two positions.

Her 1000m race saw Sophie finish in 30th place overall with a time of 1:18.79, just 2.23 seconds behind the winner. Given the big slices of time that Sophie has taken off her ice times in the past two seasons would suggest that with another 4 years training, a podium in Sochi is not out of the question. It needs to be remembered that Sophie has been a world champion in the world of inline, which is where a lot of the past and current medalists have come from in the world of LT speed skating.

SHORT TRACK:

Tatiana (Tanya) Borodulina competed in all three distances of 500m, 1000m and 1500m.

Short track is a very fickle sport in that one ill fated move, one mistimed overtake or one small bump can change the outcome of a race. Tanya's performances were very credible given that the 500m has been the event in which she has won her two World Cup gold medals and is the event in which she probably didn't fulfil her expectations - whereas her other two events probably exceeded them.

500m - 3rd Heat 2 - ranking 21st based on time and position
1000m - 4th B Final - ranking of 7th based on position
1500m - 3rd B Final - ranking of 11th based on position

Lachlan Hay competed in the 1000m event in Vancouver but failed to make it out of his heat. Lachlan stayed with the pack but was unable to make a move into an advancement position. It was the closest heat of the games with all four skaters being within .217 of a second of the heat winner LEE Ho-Suk, the eventual silver medalist

1000m - 4th heat - ranking 26th based on time and position

THE FUTURE:

There are several long track skaters working in the background competing in small events and working towards lowering their times. The future for Australian LT is arguably at its strongest in decades. Hopefully the appearance of Sophie at the Vancouver Games will inspire other inliners across to the challenge of training in wintery conditions, and who knows, maybe some more short trackers like Ben Southee.

There are of course the skaters who narrowly missed out on Olympic selection in Daniel Greig, Joshua Lose and Ben Southee whose careers in skating are far from over - all of them possessing world class talent which has been displayed during this season's world cups.

Sophie and Daniel will be competing in the World Cup Final in Erfurt this coming weekend. We wish them the best for this event.

The Australian Speed Skating Blog will continue to report on Australians competing in long track but I will also start to report on the short track scene in an attempt to boost the support for that area of the sport as well.

Congratulations to Sophie, Tanya, Lachie, Desly and Ann on their Olympic appearances for Australia.

Argy-bargy on ice leaves Borodulina out of finals

2010-02-15T21:52:00.003+08:00

In her first Olympic competition in the green and gold, Russian-born short track speed skater Tatiana Borodulina has narrowly missed out on finals progression in the women’s 500 metres event.

Despite drawing a favourable heat positioned in lane one without any of the formidable Korean or Chinese racers beside her, Borodulina was unable to finish in the top two over the line, ruling her out of any finals racing.

“I felt really good all day and during the warm up,” Borodulina said. “I don’t know what happened.”

Borodulina skated in the second heat of the night at Vancouver’s Pacific Coliseum and the race was marred by two false starts.

“Tatiana was very tense before the race,” her coach Ann Zhang said. “It is no excuse but the false starts definitely did not help. She just wanted to get out there and race.”

The four racers got off to a clean start the third time round with Borodulina off the mark from the beginning.

Regaining speed and control around the first bend, it appeared that the 25-year-old from Brisbane was back in the race. Argy-bargy in the second half of the short sprint edged Borodulina back however, and she crossed the line third in a time of 44.901 seconds.

The roar of the local crowd filled the icy stadium as Canadian Marianne St-Gelais qualified in first spot. Just moments later, event favourite Wang Meng of China, not only took out her heat but secured a new Olympic record on the way with a time of 43.926.

“Starting with the 500m event is very hard,” Zhang said after the race.

“It would have been better to start with the 1500 so she could work into her race.”

Borodulina now has a week to prepare for the 1500, taking place on Day 9 (Saturday 20 February – Vancouver time).

Despite the early disappointment for Borodulina, she remains positive and determined for her coming events.

“When I’m on the ice, all I think about is how to race not about how hard it was.”

Alice Wheeler
AOC - Vancouver

Article courtesy of www.olympics.com.au

Short track skaters ready for action

2010-02-12T16:58:00.003+08:00

Australian short track speed skaters Tatiana Borodulina and Lachlan Hay have this morning completed a smooth training session at the Kilarney Centre.

With the figure skaters taking centre stage for practice at the Pacific Coliseum, the venue that will host both figure skating and short track speed skating, Borodulina and Hay were shifted to the official training venue, 30 minutes drive south of the Coliseum.

Originally the Australian skaters had been scheduled to train at 9pm Canadian time, but due to the clash with the Australian Team Reception, the Japanese squad allowed the two Australians to train alongside them.

Under the watchful eye of head coach Ann Zhang, Borodulina and Hay skated with confidence and rhythm as they each prepared for their second Olympic Games, Borodulina’s first for Australia.

There was a relaxed atmosphere around the smaller Kilarney Centre and laughter and jokes were being shared by all athletes who took to the ice. The Russian team session also crossed over with the Australian and Japanese and Borodulina even managed to share a light hearted game of scissors, paper, rock with her former teammates.

Borodulina will open her schedule in the heats of the women’s 500m on Day 2 (Saturday 13 February) in which she is ranked three in the world, before contesting the 1000m and 1500m later in the two week program.

Hay begins his Olympic campaign on Day 6 (Wednesday 17 February) in the 1000m, after making his Olympic debut in Torino in the 5000m relay, where the team gained a sixth place finish.

David Polglase
AOC - Vancouver

Article courtesy of www.olympics.com.au

Muir shows good form in trial races

2010-02-11T19:04:00.003+08:00

Debutant Olympian Sophie Muir has successfully completed her two trial races this afternoon at the Richmond Olympic Park.

All speed skating athletes had the chance to race over 500,1000 and 1500 metre distances as they fine tune their preparations ahead of the first day of racing on Day 2 (Saturday 13 February). (Ladies 500m 8am AEDST Wed 17th, 1000m 8am AEDST Fri 19th)

Muir started in the inside lane in her 500m race against Denmark’s Cathrine Grage and was in control throughout the first straight to establish a lead at the bell.

Muir raced a smooth first bend and back straight to move more than three seconds clear of her Danish opponent before crossing the line in a time of 39.64. Grage finished in 43.70.

After a one hour break Muir raced her 1000m trial against 1998 bronze medallist...... read more >>>>>

Article courtesy of www.olympics.com.au, story by David Polglase, photo by Steve Cuff of www.sportsphotographics.com.au

Aussies have podiums on their mind

2010-02-11T18:59:00.004+08:00

Six confident members of the Australian Olympic Winter Team, from the sports of short track speed skating and snowboard, spoke with the world’s media in Vancouver today.

For Holly Crawford (halfpipe), Damon Hayler (snowboard cross), Alex Pullin snowboard cross) and Tatiana Borodulina (short track speed skating) a podium finish at these Olympics is firmly in their sight. All four have won either a World Championship or World Cup medal in the past two seasons.

Lachlan Hay (short track) and Jo Shaw (snowboard PGS) arrive in Vancouver in great shape with.......... read more >>>>>

Article and photo courtesy www.olympics.com.au

Meanwhile........the talent pool deepens!

2010-02-10T18:16:00.003+08:00

Whilst Sophie Muir was travelling to Vancouver to make history as the first ever Australian Olympian female speed skater, season newby Brooke Lochland was in Erfurt, Germany competing in an international race meet.
Results >>>

Brooke skated her way to a new Australian senior and junior record in the 3000m, skating a 4:35.31 to take the record away from Melissa Kah which was set in 1993.

This adds to her 1500m National record set in early January this year.

Comparitively, Brooke's times in the 500m and 1000m are pretty much on par with where Sophie's times were at this time last year, which is promising for the sport's future. Hopefully under Desly's direction, this time in 4 years in Sochi may see our second female speed skater at an Olympic games?

Selection News - by Daniel Yeow

2010-02-05T17:28:00.004+08:00

There has been a great deal of anxiety surrounding the final list of competitors for speed skating in the upcoming Olympic Winter Games. I suppose, if we follow the AP style guide, the most important information should come first, so here it is: Sophie is in, the rest of the Aussie guys are not. What follows is an explanation of how this came to be.

First of all, the sport of speed skating is governed by a body called the international skating union, or ISU............ read more >>>>

From danielyeow.com

Editor Note: Due to the high media exposure during the Winter Olympic Games, my posts will be limited during this time but where possible, I will link to other media reports about Sophie Muir and the short trackers.

Daniel Yeow will be attending particular events during the games and I have no doubt that Daniel will update his site with informative reports and video directly from the site of the games and when possible, I will link to those articles.

After the games, I will begin using the site to deliver articles and news about all Australian ice speed skating, including short track.

I will take this opportunity to congratulate Sophie and Desly on their selection to represent Australia at the games, and I extend my sympathy to all the boys for missing out. To miss out by only 0.2 of a second or so , or by a single place is a bitter pill to swallow. I hope the guys keep training hard and refocus on the remaining world cup season and world championships.

Go Sophie!

Frank Anderson

Joshua Lose - Talking Pictures

2010-01-23T20:35:00.006+08:00

On the weekend that Joshua Lose attempts to qualify for the World Allround Championships at the Intercontinental event in Calgary, his good friend Daniel Yeow has been busy video editing and has produced a quick insight into the 'skater' who is Joshua Lose. For those Aussie ST fans, look closely and catch a quick glimpse of Lachie Hay training in the background in a few frames.

Click to watch in HD >>>>

Good luck for the weekend Josh.

The three men awaiting decisions on whether they have made the Australian Olympic Team, should have answers before the end of next week as to whether they get to attend the biggest winter sports event on earth! Hopefully we get to see the full compliment of Sophie and the three guys skate in Vancouver. Fingers crossed!

World Sprint Championship Results

2010-01-19T22:08:00.004+08:00

Sophie Muir and Daniel Greig competed at the World Sprint Championships this past weekend in Obihiro, Japan.

Sophie finished 20th overall in the samalog placings, with the following results in each race.

Day #1 500m - 39.78, 21st place
Day #1 1000m - 1:19.81, 22nd place
Day #2 500m - 39.74, 18th place
Day #2 1000m - 1:19.27, 17th place

Daniel managed to skate 2 x 500m and 1 x 1000m but did not manage to make the final 24 for the last 1000m round, finishing in 33rd place overall.

Day #1 500m - 37.16, 36th place
Day #1 1000m - 1:13.66, 35th place
Day #2 500m - 37.57, 35th place

Full ladies clasification here >>>
Full mens clasification here >>>

As of today, I am still not aware of any news in relation to Daniel Greig, Josh Lose or Ben Southee having been offered Olympic starting status yet. Hopefully news will be forthcoming very shortly.
Well done Sophie and Daniel on your efforts in Japan.

Joshua Lose will be competing in the 2010 Continentals Event in Calgary this coming weekend, which is a qualifying event for the allround World Championships. Good luck for the weekend Josh.

Lochland Sets New 1500m Record

2010-01-12T11:34:00.005+08:00

Australian Long Track newcomer, Brooke Lochland, set a new National Record for the ladies 1500m in Heerenveen this past weekend. Brooke skated to a 2:11.94 1500m to take a second off Melissa Kah's (nee Sandford) previous record of 2:12.92, set back on the 19th December 1993 in Calgary. Congratulations Brooke. Brooke also set a new personal record in the 500m with a time of 44.10 which bettered her previous best by 2.57 seconds!

Sophie Muir also competed at the Heerenveen event, skating a 40.25 500m and a 1:23.53 1000m to take first placing in both distances.

Daniel Greig skated the weekend in Heerenveen with a 37.50 500m and a 1:17.11, 1000m prior to his departure to Japan with Sophie.

We wish Sophie and Dan all the best for the World Sprint Championships next weekend.

CALGARY REPORT

In Calgary, Daniel Yeow skated in the Canada Cup #1, competing in various distances over the three days.

Day #1 - 500m, 43.22 - 91st place, 1000m, 1:24.25 - 47th place
Day #2 - 1500m, 2:11.14 - 78th place
Day #3 - 500m, 42.68 - 80th place

By his own account, he was unhappy with his times and it is understood that he suffered a muscular back injury during the race meet. We wish Daniel a speedy recovery and a return back to training and racing as soon as possible.

ANOTHER NEW KID ON THE BLOCK

Another newcomer for Australia is 23-year-old Calgary based, former triple jumper and 400m sprinter, Relja Cvjeticanin.

Relja started skating last year and on the 3rd of January, competed in his first competition, skating a 49.41sec 500m. Relja says that he slipped at the start and after 200m or so, coasted to the finish.

Prior to the start of 2009, Relja had never skated in any form, so to be able to hit a sub 50 within a year is not bad going! We look forward to seeing more results and PB's from Relja in the near future.

Correction To Previous Update

2010-01-06T06:59:00.002+08:00

In my previous post, I indicated that the World Junior Speed Skating Championships were to be held in Innsbruck, Austria. They will in fact be held in Moscow, Russia from the 12th to 14th of March. I need to look at the correct year in future and stop living in the past :-)

Thankyou to those who emailed me to inform me of the correct information, I appreciate you guys helping out.

An update from Desly advises me that Brooke Lochland will be racing this weekend over 3 distances in Heerenveen and she is confident of Brooke taking the 3k national record. I will keep you posted with the results.

New Year Update - Overdue!

2010-01-05T21:07:00.009+08:00

After the final Olympic qualifying event in Salt Lake City, the Australian skaters kicked back slightly before getting back into some heavy training.

Sophie Muir, the only confirmed Olympic qualifier at this stage, advised me the other day that after 7 weeks of intense competition, she was feeling exhausted but was enjoying training and not having to race at the moment.

The whole Australian team are hanging out to see the revised lists for the Vancouver games, which after seeing some countries not taking all their allocated placings, should see several, if not all three guys, head to the games.

I believe that the ISU/IOC will announce the final country placings for the Games by the 17th of January.

WORLD SPRINT CHAMPIONSHIPS

Daniel Greig and Sophie have been selected to compete for Australia at the World Sprint Championships at the Meiji Hokkaido-Tokachi Oval, Obihiro, Hokkaido, Japan on January 16th & 17th. I would suggest that this will be the last big hit out for Sophie and Dan before the Vancouver Games. We wish Dan and Sophie all the best for this event.

On the weekend of the 23rd and 24th of January in Calgary, Josh Lose will be skating the ISU Regional Qualifying event for the World Allround Championships, which will be held in Heerenveen in late March.

All going to plan, the whole team will meet up in Vancouver around the 7th or 8th of February, all going well.

I am advised that Ben Southee has continued to train hard over the Xmas break, not letting go of the hope of making the Australian Team for Vancouver as well.

Good luck to all the skaters over the coming weeks.

NEW KID ON THE BLOCK

Brooke Lochland, although debuting on the ice earlier this year in Enschede, skated a fantasic first ever 3000m on Sunday in Heerenveen, missing the Australian record by under a second, skating a 4:37.09.

Look for more to come from Brooke, at just 18 years-old and coming from a strong inline background, expect some great things under the tutelage of Desly Hill. (Although Sunday saw Sophie take a break from her role of skater to that of Brooke's coach)

Brooke's time for the 3000m is only a couple of seconds off her qualifying for the World Junior Championships to be held in Innsbruck, Austria in late February. Good luck for your future ice career Brooke. Sochi 2014 is looking very promising!

MUIR FUNDRAISER IN AUSTRALIA

Sophie Muir's partner, Chris Hunt has organised a fundraiser night for Sophie back in Australia at the end of January.

Details:

HELLO TO ALL

SOPHS FUNDRAISER IS NOW ON FRIDAY 29TH JANUARY at MIRANDA HOTEL FUNCTION ROOM

IT IS $20 TO COME - FUNDRAISE FEE and to have a good fun crazy night.

The money raised will go towards helping Soph in Vancouver, her skating and to make life a little easy - as she has been doing it from her own pocket for 16 months.

730pm - 830pm is FREE BEER WINE, SOFT DRINK so come early to get your $$$ worth

some finger food is included in your entree

We have over $2500 worth of gifts/prizes to give away already and will have more as the weeks come.

we will have raffles, auctions, lucky door prizes, games etc during the night to help raise money and to have some fun too. Get your gold coin donations ready for raffles.

if you cant make it but still would like to help/donate something, then that would be awesome. just let us know

BRING YOUR FRIENDS, SPREAD THE WORD, LET GET ON THE BANDWAGON FOR AUSTRALIA'S FIRST EVER FEMALE SPEED SKATER.

PLS RSVP IT HELPS US KNOW NUMBERS

CHEERS AGAIN AND SEE YOU ON FRIDAY THE 29TH

CHRIS

For Chris's contact details, click the link to the Facebook page - Sophie Muir Fundraising Night.
If you don't have a FB account and you can't access the page, email me and I will forward Chris's contact details.

Megan Muir posted some BEFORE and AFTER images which are quite amusing, and show the transformation from retired inliner/backpacker to being the first ever female speed skating (LT) representative for Australia.

If you have any prizes or donations of any sort, please feel free to donate to the cause.

ANOTHER PHOTO SITE

Erik Pasman from the Netherlands has a skating photo site and he has some photos from the Berlin World Cup from November last year.

SCHAATSFOTO'S ONLINE is is Dutch but if you follow the links to Berlin (B) on each day, you will find some great action shots of the Austrlian skaters. Thanks Erik for the link and the photo's.

Now, time to respond to those emails!!! More to come soon.+

Sorry! Shop Was Closed for Xmas Break

2009-12-31T19:00:00.003+08:00

To all the followers of Australian Speed Skating, I apologise as I have taken a couple of weeks break which was really needed.

I will post an update of all the news (and Links) I have tomorrow or the day after and I will be back into the reporting full swing leading up to the Olympics.

The German and Norwegian teams have announced their skaters for the Vancouver games, which by calculating what skaters won't be attending, theoretically allows gaps for Ben Southee, Daniel Greig and Joshua Lose to fill the reserve positions within their respective qualified distances. Although nothing official has been released (as far as I know since I have been on holidays!) I am aware that all skaters are training hard in the hope that they will make the team - here's hoping!!!

I hope everyone had a great Christmas and I wish everyone a very happy new year.

To those who have emailed me without a response, I also apologise and I will reply to you over the next day or so.

Regards
Frank

Skates on, Ice House Will Rock Docklands

2009-12-16T07:35:00.002+08:00

MELBOURNE'S reputation as the world's greatest sports city will receive another boost when the world's largest ice sports centre opens at Docklands early next year.

The $58 million development at Waterfront City will have two Olympic-size rinks and will offer recreational skating every day of the year from 6am until late at night.

Ice Sports Australia director Andrew Shelton said....................... Click Here For More >>

Article courtesy of The Herald Sun

The Australian - Retired Rollerskating World Champion Sophie Muir Pursues Winter Olympics Goal

2009-12-14T14:48:00.002+08:00

IF you had asked Sophie Muir in August last year, about the time of the Beijing Games, if she could ever become a winter Olympian, she would have thought it impossible.

At that stage, she was a retired in-line rollerskating world champion and qualified nurse who was half-way through a round-the-world backpacking holiday with her boyfriend.

But then fate took a hand. She arrived in The Netherlands to crash on the couch of her former skating coach, Desly Hill. They went to see a speed-skating event, and Hill asked ...................... click here for more>>>

Article courtesy of The Australian Newspaper

More Records Fall!

2009-12-14T07:15:00.007+08:00

Sophie Muir and Daniel Greig have finished off World Cup #5 by smashing the 1000m national records for their respective division.

Sophie finished just outside the top 10 with a fantastic 1:16.18 to take 1.42 sec off her previous national record set last weekend in Calgary. Given the fast times and a 31st place (overall) for this world cup, Sophie is almost certainly assured of having qualified outright for Vancouver in this distance.

Daniel also took off a huge amount of time from his own national record set in Calgary two weeks ago, posting a 1:10.09 to take off .87 of a sec. Daniel finished in 20th place in the men's B division of the 1000m.

I would have to do more calculations to see whether Daniel has qualified for a position in Vancouver Games, but given the results of the all Australians, it is possible that we could be sending the largest ever LT team to a winter games, along with the first ever female representative in LT at a winter games.

These results and records bring the total of Australian National records broken by all Australians this season to 23.

Ladies:
500m - 4 times
1000m - 5 times

Men:
500m - 6 times
1000m - 2 times
1500m - 4 times
5000m - 2 times

Obviously we need to await confirmation from the ISU about final Olympic placings and allocations, but it is definately exciting times ahead. I know I will be signing up for Foxtel so I can see the Vancouver racing live! (No, Foxtel do not sponsor me - yet!)

Congratulations to all the skaters, we hope all your dreams are on the way towards being realised.

KIWI News:

Shane Dobbin has qualified outright for the Vancouver Games in the 5000m. With the top 16 on world cup points earning an automatic spot, Shane has finished the first 5 world cups in 14th place overall. Congratulations Shane.

Salt Lake World Cup - A Photographer's View

2009-12-13T21:40:00.006+08:00

Daniel Yeow is a skater who trains with the current Australian national team members under the watchful eye of Desly Hill; and he is also a fantastic photographer who has the ability to capture on film (well, digitally), the essence of what is World Cup speed skating.

I have only attached the Aussies and Shane Dobbin here, but you can see a full compliment of his photos from Salt Lake at the Darkroom - Salt Lake page.

I am sure you will appreciate them as much as I do.

1500m Rankings - Correction

2009-12-13T21:15:00.004+08:00

I have adjusted the rankings on the 1500m after some careful perusal by one of the site's avid fans. I apologise for the errors, but as a result, it shows that Ben Southee currently sits in 42nd place in the rankings for this distance.

This now puts him in as 2nd reserve for country quota positions for this event in Vancouver and at this point in time, he hasn't outright qualified for one of the 40 automatic positions.

Sorry for any concerns this error created.

This is the corrected bottom half of the rankings:

Further ranking by World Cup times :
NED 6 Sven Kramer 32 1:43.54 WC5
21 SWE 1 Joel Eriksson 42 1:43.90 WC5
NED 7 Simon Kuipers 19 1:44.09 WC4
22 FRA 1 Alexis Contin 25 1:44.73 WC4
23 RUS 3 Aleksey Yesin 46 1:44.96 WC5
24 GER 1 Robert Lehmann 37 1:45.03 WC5
25 POL 2 Zbigniew Brodka 17 1:45.48 WC4
26 JPN 1 Teruhiro Sugimori 34 1:45.49 WC5
27 CAN 4 Steven Elm 29 1:45.50 WC4
USA 5 Jonathan Kuck 27 1:45.76 WC4
28 GER 2 Samuel Schwarz 11 1:45.79 WC5
29 SWE 2 Johan Röjler 9 1:45.85 WC4
30 LAT 1 Haralds Silovs 8 1:45.90 WC5
31 CHN 1 Xuefeng Gao 0 1:46.03 WC4
32 RUS 4 Aleksandr Lebedev 8 1:46.24 WC5
33 GER 3 Jörg Dallmann 16 1:46.28 WC5 & WC5
34 JPN 2 Takaharu Nakajima 2 1:46.35 WC4
35 KOR 2 Jong-Woo Lee 10 1:46.39 WC4
36 SWE 3 Daniel Friberg 3 1:46.66 WC4
CAN 5 Mykola Makowsky 0 1:46.91 WC5
37 NOR 3 Henrik Christiansen 0 1:47.09 WC 5
38 NOR 4 Fredrik van der Horst 0 1:47.32 WC5
NED 8 Erben Wennemars 33 1:47.49 WC2
NOR 5 Sverre Lunde Pedersen 0 1:47.53 WC4
39 FRA 2 Pascal Briand 0 1:47.53 WC4
40 KOR 3 Joon Mun 31 1:47.57 WC4

Reserves – country quota
41 KAZ 2 Aleksandr Zhigin 0 1:47.61 WC5
42 AUS 1 Ben Southee 0 1:47.65 WC5
43 GER 4 Stefan Heythausen 0 1:47.66 WC4
NOR 5 Christoffer Fagerli Rukke 17 1:47.72 WC1
44 KOR 4 Hong-Seon Ha 6 1:47.86 WC4
CAN 6 Jeff Kitura 19 1:47.92 WC

Lose Sets New Aussie Record in 5000m

2009-12-13T11:03:00.005+08:00

Joshua Lose finished his last 5000m for Olympic selection skating a new Australian record of 6:27.03. This gave Josh his highest ever world cup finish with a 6th placing in the mens B division.

This time is also an Olympic qualifying time and by my calculations, places him in 26th position on the Olympic ranking list. The top 28 on this list are given placings for the Vancouver games. These all need to be confirmed, but it is looking good for Josh to have qualified for Vancouver, based on today's results.

So far, I have re-calculated the Men's 1500m, Men's 5000m and the Ladies 500m. Based on my workings (and I could have made mistakes, so please don't book tickets to Vancouver just yet!), I see the following skaters have qualified for Vancouver.

Ben Southee - Rank 38th - required Top 40
Josh Lose - Rank 26th - required Top 28
Sophie Muir - Rank 30th - required Top 36

Once again, the skaters in italic are excess to the country quota allowed of 4 skaters (3 in the 5000m).

Skaters still need to be selected by the AIR and the AOC after confirmation by the ISU that a skater has won a position for the Vancouver Games. Congratulations to all three skaters on their results, and good luck to Daniel Greig and Sophie for tomorrow's 1000m races.

Men’s 5000m Olympic Ranking by World Cup points :
1 NED 1 Sven Kramer 400 6:11.11 WC4
2 NED 2 Bob de Jong 380 6:08.76 WC5
3 RUS 1 Ivan Skobrev 325 6:10.58 WC5
4 NOR 1 Håvard Bøkko 305 6:13.25 WC5
5 NED 3 Carl Verheijen 230 6:12.50 WC5
6 ITA 1 Enrico Fabris 223 6:06.06 WC5
NED 4 Wouter Olde Heuvel 176 6:20.47 WC4
7 USA 2 Chad Hedrick 139 6:13.51 WC5
8 KOR 1 Seung-Hoon Lee 137 6:14.67 WC5
9 USA 1 Shani Davis 132 6:15.64 WC5
10 FRA 1 Alexis Contin 125 6:15.74 WC5
11 NOR 2 Henrik Christiansen 112 6:15.41 WC5
12 SWE 1 Johan Röjler 94 6:19.11 WC5
13 NZL 1 Shane Dobbin 89 6:17.78 WC5
14 GER 1 Marco Weber 81 6.24,48 WC4
15 CAN 1 Lucas Makowsky 74 6.24,72 WC4
16 JPN 1 Hiroki Hirako 69 6:22.02 WC5
NED 5 Koen Verweij 64 6:24.22 WC1

Further ranking by World Cup times :
NED 6 Bob de Vries 25 6:10.56 WC5
NED 7 Jan Blokhuijsen 50 6:15.84 WC4
17 LAT 1 Haralds Silovs 25 6:17.13 WC5
18 NOR 3 Sverre Haugli 61 6:18.09 WC4
19 GER 2 Patrick Beckert 49 6:19.82 WC5
20 ITA 2 Luca Stefani 30 6:20.71 WC4
21 GER 3 Tobias Schneider 16 6:22.08 WC4
22 USA 3 Brian Hansen 18 6:23.44 WC4
23 POL 2 Slawomir Chmura 36 6:23.99 WC5
24 JPN 2 Shigeyuki Dejima 22 6:24.13 WC4
NOR 4 Øystein Grødum 51 6:24.511 WC5
25 CAN 2 Mathieu Giroux 61 6:24.515 WC5
USA 4 Jonathan Kuck 23 6:25.05 WC4
USA 5 Ryan Bedford 12 6:25.49 WC4
26 AUS 1 Joshua Lose 6 6:27.03 WC5
27 CAN 3 Steven Elm 4 6:27.25 WC5
28 ITA 3 Matteo Anesi 4 6:28.37 WC4

Men’s 1500m Olympic Ranking by World Cup points :
1 USA 1 Shani Davis 500 1:41.04 WC5
2 NOR 1 Håvard Bøkko 350 1:42.89 WC5
3 USA 2 Chad Hedrick 268 1:42.14 WC4
4 CAN 1 Denny Morrison 218 1:42.74 WC4
5 NED 1 Mark Tuitert 200 1:43.65 WC4
6 CAN 2 Lucas Makowsky 198 1:43.53 WC5
7 RUS 1 Ivan Skobrev 197 1:43.49 WC5
8 NED 2 Stefan Groothuis 190 1:43.48 WC4
9 ITA 1 Enrico Fabris 153 1:43.48 WC5
10 NED 3 Rhian Ket 136 1:44.06 WC4
11 USA 3 Trevor Marsicano 118 1:43.88 WC5
12 KOR 1 Tae-Bum Mo 115 1:42.85 WC5
13 POL 1 Konrad Niedzwiedzki 106 1:43.71 WC5
14 RUS 2 Yevgeny Lalenkov 103 1:43.99 WC5
15 CAN 3 Mathieu Giroux 92 1:44.64 WC4
16 NED 4 Remco Olde Heuvel 92 1:46.00 WC3
17 NOR 2 Mikael Flygind Larsen 87 1:44.41 WC5
18 ITA 2 Matteo Anesi 85 1:43.83 WC5
19 USA 4 Brian Hansen 71 1:44.45 WC5
NED 5 Kjeld Nuis 49 1:44.43 WC4
20 KAZ 1 Denis Kuzin 47 1:46.00 WC4

Further ranking by World Cup times :
NED 6 Sven Kramer 32 1:43.54 WC5
21 SWE 1 Joel Eriksson 42 1:43.90 WC5
NED 7 Simon Kuipers 19 1:44.09 WC4
22 FRA 1 Alexis Contin 25 1:44.73 WC4
23 RUS 3 Aleksey Yesin 46 1:44.96 WC5
24 GER 1 Robert Lehmann 37 1:45.03 WC5
25 POL 2 Zbigniew Brodka 17 1:45.48 WC4
26 JPN 1 Teruhiro Sugimori 34 1:45.49 WC5
27 CAN 4 Steven Elm 29 1:45.50 WC4
USA 5 Jonathan Kuck 27 1:45.76 WC4
28 GER 2 Samuel Schwarz 11 1:45.79 WC5
29 SWE 2 Johan Röjler 9 1:45.85 WC4
30 LAT 1 Haralds Silovs 8 1:45.90 WC5
31 CHN 1 Xuefeng Gao 0 1:46.03 WC4
32 RUS 4 Aleksandr Lebedev 8 1:46.24 WC5
33 GER 3 Jörg Dallmann 16 1:46.28 WC5 & WC5
30 JPN 2 Takaharu Nakajima 2 1:46.35 WC4
31 KOR 2 Jong-Woo Lee 10 1:46.39 WC4
32 SWE 3 Daniel Friberg 3 1:46.66 WC4
CAN 5 Mykola Makowsky 0 1:46.91 WC5
33 NOR 3 Fredrik van der Horst 0 1:47.32 WC5
NED 8 Erben Wennemars 33 1:47.49 WC2
34 NOR 4 Sverre Lunde Pedersen 0 1:47.53 WC4
35 FRA 2 Pascal Briand 0 1:47.53 WC4
36 KOR 3 Joon Mun 31 1:47.57 WC4
37 KAZ 2 Aleksandr Zhigin 0 1:47.61 WC5
38 AUS 1 Ben Southee 0 1:47.65 WC5
39 GER 4 Stefan Heythausen 0 1:47.66 WC4
NOR 5 Christoffer Fagerli Rukke 17 1:47.72 WC1
40 KOR 4 Hong-Seon Ha 6 1:47.86 WC4
CAN 6 Jeff Kitura 19 1:47.92 WC3

Muir Breaks 500m Record and Qualifies for Games

2009-12-13T08:53:00.006+08:00

Sophie Muir this morning grabbed her first top 10 finish in a world cup by skating a record breaking 38.60 in the ladies 500m B division at Salt Lake. This saw Sophie take 8th place along with 2 world cup points.

I have re-calculated the ISU rankings for the ladies 500m after this event and my calculations have Sophie qualified for Vancouver in 30th position based on time. The rankings are based on total WC points for the first 20, then for the next 16, it is based on time.

I have added my calculations to this blog! Any skater in italics is above the country quota of 4 skaters, but even with those skaters included, Sophie would still be in the top 36.

Ben Southee skated the 2nd Mens 500m today and although finishing under the old national record, he could not better Daniel Greig's time from yesterday, finishing in 24th place with a 36.27. Congratulations Ben on your new personal record. Unfortunately, this means that no Australian men will qualify for this distance in Vancouver.

Yesterday, Ben skated to a new NR in the 1500m. Here is the YouTube video of that race.

Daniel Greig will compete in the mens 1000m tomorrow, and hopefully he can skate into Olympic qualification in this distance. Here are the current world cup rankings for the men's 1000m

Ladies 500m - Ranking by World Cup points :
1 GER 1 Jenny Wolf 660 37,17 WC5
2 CHN 1 Beixing Wang 600 37,02 WC5
3 KOR 1 Sang-Hwa Lee 435 37,24 WC5
4 NED 1 Annette Gerritsen 355 37,85 WC4
5 NED 2 Margot Boer 315 37,64 WC4
6 JPN 1 Nao Kodaira 301 37,80 WC4
7 RUS 1 Yuliya Nemaya 275 37,66 WC4
8 JPN 2 Sayuri Yoshii 224 37,86 WC5
9 CHN 2 Shuang Zhang 173 38,04 WC4
10 CAN 1 Christine Nesbitt 153 38,17 WC5
11 JPN 3 Shihomi Shinya 135 38,00 WC5
12 NED 3 Thijsje Oenema 128 38,04 WC4
13 JPN 4 Tomomi Okazaki 122 38,20 WC4
14 NED 4 Laurine van Riessen 124 37,88 WC5
15 USA 1 Elli Ochowicz 120 38,06 WC5
JPN 5 Sayuri Osuga 111 38,29 WC5
16 CHN 3 Aihua Xing 107 38,09 WC5
17 CHN 4 Peiyu Jin 105 38,00 WC4
18 USA 2 Heather Richardson 103 38,159 WC5
CHN 5 Jing Yu 76 38,44 WC5
19 GER 2 Heike Hartmann 74 38,62 WC4
20 RUS 2 Svetlana Kaykan 59 38,07 WC4

Further ranking by World Cup times :
21 GER 3 Judith Hesse 50 38,155 WC5
22 GER 4 Monique Angermüller 40 38,22 WC4
23 RUS 3 Yekaterina Malysheva 57 38,250 WC5
24 RUS 4 Olga Fatkulina 27 38,256 WC5
CHN 6 Xiaomei Sheng 56 38,257 WC5
NED 5 Natasja Bruintjes 20 38,37 WC5
CHN 7 Hui Ren 60 38,38 WC4
25 CAN 2 Shannon Rempel 32 38,39 WC5
NED 6 Marianne Timmer 61 38,42 WC1
26 USA 3 Jennifer Rodriguez 9 38,44 WC4
27 KOR 2 Min-Jee Oh 6 38,51 WC5
28 BLR 1 Svetlana Radkevich 4 38,53 WC5
29 PRK 1 Hyon-Suk Ko 17 38,55 WC4
30 AUS 1 Sophie Muir 2 38,60 WC 5
31 ITA 1 Chiara Simionato 16 38,63 WC5
32 KOR 3 Jee-Min Ahn 15 38,64 WC5
33 CAN 3 Anastaisa Bucsis 0 38,64 WC4
34 KOR 4 Bo-Ra Lee 29 38,65 WC4
35 KAZ 1 Yekaterina Aydova 11 38,70 WC4
36 USA 4 Rebekah Bradford 0 38,72 WC5

Salt Lake World Cup - Day 1

2009-12-12T09:48:00.004+08:00

Daniel Greig skated a 36.17 to set a new Australian record for the 500m finishing in 22nd place in the Men’s B Division. Daniel needed to skate a sub 36 to be eligible for selection for this distance at the Vancouver Games, however, he still has an opportunity to qualify in the 1000m distance in the coming days. We wish him all the best as we cross our fingers for an Olympic Qualifying result.

Sophie Muir skated a 39.02 to finish in 17th place in the Ladies B division. This time is only marginally outside her personal best for this distance and I know she will be hoping to get under the 39 sec barrier in her next 500m. Sophie also has the 1000m to skate in the coming days.

Ben Southee finished off the Australians day at SLC with a record smashing 1:47.65 in the 1500m, giving him his highest placing yet at a world cup with 13th place in the Men’s B division. Having skated under Olympic qualifying time, this should effectively place Ben in the top 40 rankings (dependant on excess country quotas)for the Vancouver games in the ISU ranking.

So, all in all, a great day for the Aussies with two new national records - congratulations Ben and Daniel.

Salt Lake World Cup Team Announced

2009-12-08T22:11:00.004+08:00

The AIR tonight announced the team for this weekend's Salt Lake City World Cup #5.

Sophie Muir:
500m
1000m

Daniel Greig:
500m(1)
1000m

Ben Southee:
500m(2)
1500m

Josh Lose:
5000m

Good luck to all the athletes for this weekend's racing. This is the last chance for the skaters to post Olympic qualifying times for Vancouver, so it would be great to see all skaters hit those times in their respective distances.

Special thanks goes out to Daniel Yeow for the use of his great photos from last weekend's Calgary World Cup in my previous posts. Hopefully he will take a whole heap more this week too. You can see the full collection of his photo's for the Calgary event at The Darkroom.

Muir Lowers Australian 1000m Record

2009-12-07T20:25:00.007+08:00

Day 3 of the Calgary World Cup saw Sophie lower her own 1000m national record, taking out 19th spot in the Ladies B Division with a 1:17.65. This was Sophie's first time under the 1:18 mark. Sophie wasn't pleased with her 500m efforts so this was a nice way for her to finish off her Calgary weekend.

Daniel Greig also competed in the 1000m distance, posting a 1:11.42, placing him 28th in the Men's B Division.

On Friday, Ben Southee established a new national record for the mens 1500m, here is a video of the race. The second video is of Ben's record equaling 500m race.

Good luck to all the skaters for next weekend. I will post up the selectors' nominations for distances for next weekend's Salt Lake World Cup as soon as I'm aware of them.

Daniel Greig Explains

2009-12-07T09:27:00.003+08:00

I had received a couple of emails questioning why Daniel was disqualified from the 1st 500m of the Calgary World Cup. To those patient people, here is the response from the man himself; thanks for the response Daniel.

"Daniel Greig said...
I can explain why I was disqualified.
I had a mis-step into the last corner that completely threw me off balance and I spend the rest of the corner avoiding from crashing which unfortunately took me into the other lane.
Up until that point I was going extremely well opening in 10.01 my fastest this season by .2, and I drafted my opponent down the back straight to enter the last turn with a lead and the most speed i have ever had. Had i not mis-stepped it surely would have been sub 36 but as fate has it I will need to wait till next week to post olympic qualifying for this event."

Good luck for next week, can't wait to see that sub 36!

Day 2 - Calgary World Cup

2009-12-06T17:43:00.008+08:00

Day 2 of the Calgary World Cup has seen Ben Southee post an Australian record equaling 36.36 500m, recording the exact time that Daniel Greig recorded last weekend to establish the new national mark. This placed Ben in 27th position in the Men's B division

If people thought that this weekend's selections were difficult, I can tell you that I do not envy the AIR selectors' job this coming week!

Joshua Lose put any selection controversy behind him today to skate a new Australian record in the 5000m, taking over 6 seconds off his previous mark, posting a 6:35.22, finishing in 24th place in the B division. There is no denying that Josh is a world class quality skater, and hopefully next week will secure Josh a start for Vancouver in this distance. Prior to this weekend, Josh was 1st reserve on country quota to skate in Vancouver.

Sophie Muir skated her 2nd 500m today posting a 39.31, to finish in 21st place, one done on yesterday's placing. Her Facebook commentary indicated that she wasn't pleased with her day but she (like all the current team members), is a quality skater who will bounce back and post great results. Not every day can be a record breaker. Sophie will skate in the 1000m tomorrow, and it will be great to see her post an Olympic qualifying time and position. Good luck Sophie.

Daniel Greig will compete in the 1000m event tomorrow as well. I have recieved a couple of emails asking why he was disqualified but at this moment in time, I still haven't been able to find out. Hopefully my next post will have this information, but I would suggest the photo would explain it!

NEW NZ RECORD

Shane Dobbin today posted an A division top 10 finish in the 5000m event. In the process, Shane broke his own NZ record, skating a 6:20.97. Shane finished in front of superstars Shani Davis, Chad Hedrick and Enrico Fabris. This should effectively secure Shane a berth at the Vancouver games in February.

All photos courtesy of Daniel Yeow - www.danielyeow.com

Day 1 Results Calgary World Cup - New National Record

2009-12-05T16:39:00.003+08:00

Day 1 of the Calgary World Cup saw Daniel Greig disqualified from the Men's B division 500m. I am not aware of the circumstances surrounding this at the present time but I will try and find out more.

Ben Southee later contested the 1500m event and in doing so lowered Josh Lose's new record from last Saturday to skate a 1:48.24 to finish in 25th place in the Men's B division. This was after some perceived controversy surrounding the selection of Ben during the week to contest this event. Generally I will not publish political or potentially derogatory commentary through this site that may damage the reputation of skaters, selectors, the AIR or the sport in general, but if readers wish to read a particular viewpoint(s), click here as I believe that commentary about the sport should never be dissuaded.

Sophie Muir contested the Ladies B division 500m skating into 20th place with a 39.09.

Over the next two days, Josh Lose will contest the 5000m, Daniel Greig, the 1000m, Ben Southee, the 500m(2) and Sophie Muir, the 1000m.

Good luck guys.

NZ NEWS

Blake Skjellerup made his world cup debut today, and what a debut! Blake established a new NZ record in the 1500m, posting a 1:50.17 to finish in 33rd spot in the men's B division.

New 500m Record For Greig, Calgary World Cup Team Announced

2009-12-02T12:25:00.004+08:00

Last Sunday saw day 2 of the pre-world Cup Calgary time trials. Daniel Greig lowered his 500m national record from the previous day by skating a 36.36, taking just .07 of his previous day's time.

Josh and Ben both skated the 1500m with Josh posting a slightly faster 1:49.95, with Ben skating 1:50.08 after recovering from a cold the previous week.

Daniel Yeow also posted a new personal record of 2:05.06 in the 1500m.

Sophie skated a 39.10, 500m on Sunday which matched her 39.10 from the previous day - so we can't complain about her consistency!

Click on the below links to see the Vancouver 2010 profiles for our Olympic hopefuls:

Sophie Muir
Josh Lose
Ben Southee
Daniel Greig

CALGARY WORLD CUP TEAM ANNOUNCED
The AIR today announced the athletes and distances they will skate this coming weekend for the Calgary World Cup.

Sophie Muir
Ladies 500m
Ladies 1000m

Daniel Greig
Men's B 500m(1)
Men's B 1000m
Mens B 500m(2) Reserve

Ben Southee
Men's B 500m(2)
Men's B 1500m

Josh Lose
Men's B 5000m
Men's B 1500m Reserve

It is great to see all expected skaters competing for Australia in this World Cup. This World Cup and the following week in Salt Lake are the last two chances for the Australians to qualify positions for the 2010 Vancouver Olympics.

Good luck to all the skaters and coaches, and although I am back in Australia for these ones, I will endeavour to update the results as soon as I can for you all.

Calgary Time Trials - National and Personal Records

2009-11-29T07:57:00.002+08:00

Saturday saw 5 australian skaters take the ice in Calgary for time trials.

Sophie Muir skated the 500m and 1000m. Sophie skated a 39.10 in the 500m then smashed her own national record in the 1000m from last weekend, skating a 1:18.01.

Dan Greig, Ben Southee and Dan Yeow skated the 500m and 1000m.

Daniel Greig skated 2 national records posting a 36.43, 500m and a 1:10.96, 1000m, taking it under 1:11 and achieving an Olympic Qualifying time in the process.

Ben Southee skated directly after Daniel in the 500m and posted a time that was also under the old 500m record but was just .10 behind Daniel - you can't get much more competitive than that! In the 1000m, Ben posted another PB skating a 1:11.69.

Daniel Yeow posted two personal records, recording a 40.44 500m and a 1:20.21 1000m.

Josh Lose skated the 1500m distance and posted a new national record and posted an Olympic qualifying time in the process. Josh skated a 1:48.59 to take .20 off Ben Southee's previous record.

So all in all, a very productive and competive day for the Aussies in Calgary in preparation for next week's world cup, and once again, a tough week is ahead for the selectors! Well done to all skaters.

NZ news - Blake Skjellrup skated a personal best time of 1:13.69 in the 1000m at the above time trials.

CTV Olympics Article - Joshua Lose

2009-11-25T05:44:00.003+08:00

HAMAR, NORWAY - Every Winter Olympics needs its Jamaican bobsleigh team, and Vancouver may have already found its.

Meet Joshua Lose, a 23-year-old Australian long track speed skater who is determined to be at the Games in February. Sure he may come from a country that doesn't have a single speed skating track, he may have learned to skate only a year ago, and he may have been cursed by the most unfortunate surname in sports, but Lose is blessed with one thing: eternal optimism. Lose may not win, but he figures he can skate fast enough over the next few months to make it into the Games. Still, he knows the question before it is asked.......

Read the full article at CTV Olympics

Photo: Courtesy www.ctvolympics.ca

It's Daniel's Turn!

2009-11-23T07:14:00.004+08:00

The final day of competition at the Calgary CAN-AM event saw Daniel Greig snatch back the Australian 500m record from Ben Southee, skating a 36.76 to knock .02 of a second off the record. Daniel finished 7th of 44 skaters.

Sophie continued her great form to skate a 39.35 to take second place in her second 500m race.

If my count is correct, that is a total of 8 Australian records this season by all Australian skaters.

Ben Southee: 1500m, 500m
Sophie Muir: 500m x 3, 1000m x 2
Daniel Greig: 500m x 1

Don't expect to see our skaters break records every time they skate, but I can assure you, none of the skaters presently representing Australia have produced their 'potential best', so I predict you will see more records this season.

A great weekend's racing and some fantastic results and personal bests for those who competed, great work.

In regards to Shane Dobbins's (NZ) 10000m in Hamar, Desly Hill emailed me overnight and advised that Shane was on target for a 13:23 result and was only 3 secs behind Enrico Fabris with 6 laps to go when he crashed coming out of the corner.
He got up very fast and skated a 42sec lap even with the fall and went back to holding 33sec laps for the last laps, finishing in a 13:47.
In was unfortunate that Shane's fall saw him spend 30m extra in the outer lane which lead to his disqualification from the event.
It was an impressive effort and was unfortunate as it was a sure qualifier for Vancouver.

Hamar World Cup - 10000m

2009-11-22T23:40:00.003+08:00

Josh Lose has skated a 14:01.02, 10000m in the B division at the Hamar World Cup Long Distance event. This time placed him 23rd out of 28 competitors.

Below are his lap times that show just how consistent Josh is over the 25 lap distance.

400m 37.73 37.7
800m 1:10.31 32.5
1200m 1:43.52 33.2
1600m 2:17.04 33.5
2000m 2:50.82 33.7
2400m 3:24.15 33.3
2800m 3:57.81 33.6
3200m 4:31.22 33.4
3600m 5:04.66 33.4
4000m 5:37.69 33.0
4400m 6:11.04 33.3
4800m 6:44.55 33.5
5200m 7:18.22 33.6
5600m 7:52.00 33.7
6000m 8:25.59 33.5
6400m 8:58.47 32.8
6800m 9:31.78 33.3
7200m 10:05.28 33.5
7600m 10:38.97 33.6
8000m 11:12.86 33.8
8400m 11:46.90 34.0
8800m 12:20.43 33.5
9200m 12:54.08 33.6
9600m 13:27.80 33.7
10000m 14:01.02 33.2

Shane Dobbin (NZ) was disqualified in his A division race, but skated a 13:47.18 for the 10000m .

1st Place and National Record for Muir

2009-11-22T12:38:00.003+08:00

Sophie Muir continued her great Calgary form to drop over 1 second off her 1000m National record set in Heerenveen just last weekend. In the process, Sophie took out 1st place for the ladies 1000m and finally posted an Olympic qualifying time for this distance.

Daniel Greig has also begun to hit his straps skating a season best 1:11.76 for the 1000m, and a second best ever time for this distance. This placed him 9th in the group of 74 men.

Daniel Yeow skated a personal best 1:20.26 to finish in 35th, moving up 3 positions from Friday's skate. This time improved on his previous best by over a second.

Ben Southee had returned to Calgary due to illness but has recovered well and trained earlier today and is back on track for the Calgary World Cup starting on the 4th of December.

Josh is due to skate the 10k in Hamar later today Aussie time (along with Shane Dobbin).

Shane Dobbin is sitting 13th in the overall rankings and on last news, was unsure whether he would skate A or B division.

Here is an interview with Shane about his Olympic prospects, and also some good comments by Chad Hedrick.

I managed to meet Shane, Roy and Tanya in Heerenveen and they are nice, down to earth people and I encourage the Aussie supporter group to follow Shane and cheer for him when they watch him in Vancouver, obviously along with cheering on the Aussies!

Hamar World Cup - Personal Record

2009-11-22T00:23:00.003+08:00

Josh Lose today skated the 1500m in the Hamar World Cup #3, posting a personal best 1:50.60 to finish in 21st position in the Men's B division. Congratulations Josh.

I am unsure why Ben didn't skate, but after talking with him last Sunday, he had come down with a cold and was undecided whether he would skate the event. I will attempt to find out more in the coming days.

Once again, congratulations to Josh on his personal milestone.

I am in the middle of processing video from the first two world cups, so hopefully I will have that done real soon.

Same Story, Different Venue - National Record!

2009-11-21T23:50:00.005+08:00

Sophie Muir, skating in the Can-Am competition in Calgary has hit an Olympic qualifying time in the 500m and in the process, once again lowered her own national record to hit a sub 39sec, 38.99 500m. On day 2 of the competition, this placed her in second place in the ladies open division of the 500m (76 competitors).

Daniel Greig finally got to strut his stuff and skated a personal best 36.80, just .02 shy of Ben Southee's current National record, also set in Calgary earlier this year. Daniel finished a fantastic 21st out of 109 competitors in the open men's division.

Daniel Yeow also made the trek over to Calgary earlier this week and skated a 41.68 today, finishing in 67th place. Daniel had also skated the 1000m event the previous day, posting a 1:23.01, just two days after arriving in Calgary from Heerenveen to finish in 38th position.

Ben Southee and Josh Lose are in Hamar (NOR) this weekend for the long distance events, Josh skating the 10k and Ben skating the 1500m. I will post those results as soon as I am aware of them.

Having seen the Berlin and Heerenveen world cups first hand, I can say with hand across heart, there are some amazingly talented skaters representing Australia and international supporters and skaters alike are really standing up and taking notice. I can also say that all of the skaters are genuinely nice young people who represent Australia well in all areas, both on and off the ice.

The fact that the skaters are presently fighting for one position per distance, is driving all to skate the hardest they can to gain a spot for the Vancouver Olympics.

Prior to this weekend, Sophie was on the ISU list of qualified skaters for Vancouver, sitting on 32nd (of 36 places)on the ranking system. She had not skated an Olympic qualifying time until today's race. Had this time been skated in a world cup, it would now rank her in 23rd position!

Ben Southee is sitting as first reserve for 'country quota' placing (1500m) and Josh is listed as 5th reserve for 'country quota' placing (5k) for an Olympic berth. Skaters must meet the AIR/AOC standards for Olympic selection also. Ben (1500m) and Sophie (500m) are presently the only two to have met these time standards. I have no doubt that Josh and Daniel will be striving to hit the required marks as well.

Richard Goerlitz was listed to start in yesterday's 1000m event but did not start.

Another Australian Record for Muir in Heerenveen

2009-11-16T05:40:00.004+08:00

Today, Sophie Muir marginally lowered her own 1000m National record skating a 1:19.54 to finish in 18th place in B group.

Sophie had a very successful World Cup with two new national records in the 500m and 1000m and finishing one spot out of the WC points in Friday's 500m.

Sophie and Daniel Greig head to Calgary on Tuesday to compete in the Can-Am event starting on Friday. I am also lead to believe that Richard Goerlitz will contest this event as well.

Ben Southee capped off a mixed competition with a solid 1:13.09 and a very strong last 400m. Ben and Sophie had both woken up with colds and stuffy heads in the morning, as I think many athletes had, so good results given they both felt quite unwell.

Ben and Dayoung will travel to Hamar tomorrow to prepare for the lond distance world cup where he will compete in the 1500m.

Click here for video of Ben's 1500m race in Berlin.

Josh and Desly will travel up there on Thursday to take on the monster 10k event along with Kiwi jet Shane Dobbin.

So, for the two world cups, the skaters achieved the following results:

Ben Southee:

Berlin 500m #1 - 36.98, 24th B group
Berlin 500m #2 - DQ/Fall
Berlin 1000m - 1:12.63, 26th B group
Berlin 1500m - 1:50.29, 20th B group

Heerenveen 500m #1 - 37.60, 30th B group
Heerenveen 500m #2 - 36.96, 27th B group
Heerenveen 1000m - 1:13.09, 27th B group
Heerenveen 1500m - 1:53.03, 30th B group

Sophie Muir:

Berlin 500m #1 - 40.24, 14th B group
Berlin 500m #2 - 40.10, 13th B group, National Record
Berlin 1000m - 1:20.45, 22nd B group

Heerenveen 500m #1 - 39.68, 11th B group, National Record
Heerenveen 500m #2 - 39.81, 16th B group
Heerenveen 1000m - 1:19.54, 18th B group, National Record

Josh Lose:

Berlin 5000m - 6:44.24, 20th B group
Heerenveen 5000m - 6:45.67, 25th B group

Shane Dobbin (NZ)

Berlin 5000m - 6:24.88, 2nd B group, NZ National Record
Berlin 1500m - 1:52.28, 26th, B group

Heerenveen 5000m - 6:30.90, 13th A group

Good luck to all skaters in the coming weeks.

World Cup #1 Berlin - Videos

2009-11-15T21:47:00.003+08:00

Here are the first videos I have managed to upload from the Berlin World Cup held 6th to 8th of November.

Apolgies in advance for the dodgy camera work!

Ben Southee - First 500m Berlin
Sophie Muir - First 500m Berlin

Both have been uploaded in HD,
Frank

World Cup Heerenveen - Day 2

2009-11-15T07:24:00.005+08:00

Well, no Aussie records beaten today but good solid performances were put in by Josh, Sophie and Ben.

Sophie backed up her national record skate from yesterday with a second sub 40sec 500m, finishing with a 39.81 and taking out a 16th place. In an event that is unforgiving with around half a second separating the top 16 in B group, Sophie is truly making an impact that will undoubtebly see her compete in Vancouver.

Ben, after a 'not so good' day yesterday, skated a 36.96 500m to improve on his 37sec+ time from the day before. I did not get a chance to chat with Ben about his performance but given the results of other WC skaters and their PB's he can be positive about the result.
Male or female, the sprint distances are a tough gig, with less than a second separating 30 skaters, it only takes one mistake to create the distance that is 10th from 30th!

Josh Lose competed in the 5k event this evening finishing in 25th place in the B division. Josh skated a 6:45.67 which was a Heereveen PB, beating his previous best by 12 seconds! Well done Josh.

Josh will travel to Hamar next weekend to compete in the 5k once again.

KIWI news:

Shane Dobbin moved into the A divsion for this week's 5k event after a strong B divison performance last week.

Shane performed strongly and took out a 13th place in 6:30.90. Shane is also off to the Viking Ship in Hamar next weekend to contest the 10k and hopefully secure himself an outright Vancouver berth by finishing top 12 in that event.

Shane with support crew of wife Tanya and Dad, Roy.

Tomorrow (today) sees Ben and Sophie contest the 1000m distances.

Muir Breaks 500m Record - Again!

2009-11-14T05:17:00.005+08:00

Day 1 of the Heerenveen world cup has seen Sophie Muir, once again, break her own Australian 500m record for the second time in 6 days.

Sophie skated a strong 10.80 first 100m to knock almost half a second of her previous mark and skate a 39.68, her first time under the 40 sec barrier. Sophie and Desly both believe there are more areas to improve on which means Sophie is well on her way to skating a qualifying time in this distance for the Olympics.

Sophie’s time also saw her finish just outside the top 10 of B division, taking out 11th place and improving two places from the Berlin WC second 500m race. Sophie's time is only .18 of a second off Olympic qualifying

A miscalculation of race timings saw Ben Southee skate his first 500m effectively without a warm-up. Ben finished well down the field with a 37.60, well outside his personal best of 36.78.

Ben later skated the 1500m, skating his 2nd worst time ever, skating a 1:53.03. Ben said that he is still getting used to race pace and varying his speeds throughout the race in an attempt to get things right. He had also made some alterations to his skate setup from last weekend. Ben was not making any excuse and he said that today, he just didn’t get it right and he wasn’t happy with either of his performances.

However, he has taken positives out of both races and he is looking forward to the 1000m and the 2nd 500m in the coming days (500m Saturday).

Josh Lose does not compete in the 5000m until tomorrow afternoon, but he is very keen to get out there and race.

Once again, there are positive signs coming out of every race and given the inexperience of the team at this level, Australian supporters should be very excited about the chance of seeing several skaters competing in Vancouver.

Daniel Greig is floating around and he looks like a wound up rubber band ready to just explode. To have a team that is so competitive is both exciting and frustrating. This is great for the future, but frustrating in the short term in that we can only have one Aussie competing in each distance!

Tomorrow sees Sophie and Ben skate their second 500's and the afternoon will see Josh compete in the 5000m with his new prescription Oakley M frames - so no more contacts popping out mid-race!

If you are impatient about my updates, you can always link to www.speedskatingresults.com as these results are updated reasonably close to real time.

More tomorrow,
Frank

Sophie Muir Breaks 500m National Record in Berlin

2009-11-08T20:17:00.009+08:00

Sophie Muir (here with coaches Desly and Rogina), skating in her 2nd 500m of the Berlin World Cup has lowered her own national record to skate a 40.10, placing her 13th in the field of 27 skaters, an improvement on the previous day where she finished 14th. Sophie's first 100m was slower than yesterday's but she skated a nice final 400m to take .08 of a second off the NR.

Considering that Calgary, where she set her previous record, is considered faster than Berlin, this is a great result and expect to see her skate under 40secs very soon, and to also hit the magical 39sec Olympic qualifying time by the Calgary and Salt Lake world cups.

Ben Southee skated his 2nd 500m this morning also, skating a PB 1st 100m of 10.30sec. Ben had the first outer and was much quicker than his opposition but got a little caught up in the transition, reverting back to his short track skills and jumping to the inside of the Argentinian skater. Ben had some great speed up the back straight and hit the last inner very fast and midway through the corner, he unfortunately booted out and ended up in the barrier. There is no doubt in anyone's mind that had he not fallen, this would have been a new national record also.
Famous US speed skater Shani Davis later gave Ben some helpful advise in the athlete's warm down area about how to best approach his next 500m and tips on transitioning in the back straight. It was nice that such a superstar in the sport took the time to approach a new comer and provide some constructive advise to help him develop.

Ben backed up and skated the 1500m, heading out in the 9th pairing. Ben skated his 2nd best ever time, a 1:50.29, which was still under the old national record that he broke last weekend. This placed him 20th in the field of 30 skaters and it was a nice consistent skate, with a reasonably fast opening 300m of 24.7sec.

I think all the results by Ben, Sophie and Josh are positive from this first world cup and all skaters acknowledge the areas where they can improve. I am sure that Desly, Rogina and Dayoung will be working intently over this week refining the necessary areas with the athletes, prepping them for the 2nd world cup in Heerenveen next weekend.

Stay tuned for video of the races over the coming week (fingers crossed!).

Berlin - World Cup #1, 6-8th Nov

2009-11-08T05:38:00.008+08:00

6/11/2009 - Day one of the World Cup season opener in Berlin saw Ben Southee compete in the 500m and 1000m distances.

Ben skated a 36.98 in the 500m, finishing 24th in the men's B division. Ben backed up later to skate a smooth 1000m to finish in a time of 1:12.63, placing him in 26th position in the B division. This was Ben’s first long track world cup, and after only a few months of transitioning from short track to long track, this was a nice first day effort before his 1500m tomorrow. The rest of the team shouted support from the stands during Ben's racing, and in between, took time to respond to their fan mail.

Ben had a day’s break today and trained early before cheering on Sophie and Josh on their first day of racing for this world cup.

7/11/2009 - Sophie was first up in the 500m in her first world cup, skating in the first pair. Sophie skated a 40.24, just .06 off her own national record set on fast ice in Calgary in March, proving that she has moved forward from last season. This saw her finish a strong 14th in a field of 26 in the ladies B group.
After a very strong first 100m (PB), the first corner saw her have a small slip which no doubt cost her lowering the national record again. In her own self assessment, she says she can improve in a few areas, and there is no doubt that very soon she will go under the 40sec mark, and definately has the ability to head under 39 sec, sooner rather than later. Don't be surprised to see news of a new national record tomorrow when she skates her second 500m.

The 1000m saw Sophie skate a season best 1:20.45 to finish in 22nd place in the ladies B division. After seeing Sophie's suffering first hand, there can be no doubting that she gave her all in that 1000m.

In between Sophie's two races, Josh stepped up for his 5000m hit out, skating a very solid 6:44.24, his 2nd fastest ever 5000m, 3 secs shy of his national record skated in Calgary earlier this year. Both he and Desly believe there are many areas for him to work on and both expect big improvements and big time cuts throughout the world cup season. It can be said though, that he is a consistant and smooth skater and throughout most of the race, his laptimes were within .2 of a second. Josh placed 20th in B division which was highly competitive, with the top 2 skaters posting times that would have seen them top 10 in A division, and in the process setting new national records for their countries.

Tomorrow will see Sophie and Ben skate their 2nd 500m event, with Ben also skating in what is probably his strongest distance at present, the 1500m. I know Sophie's legs felt a bit heavy after the 1000m, but personally, I think there is potential for her own national record to be lowered tomorrow.

So far, all the Aussie skaters have put in good performances, skating nice races to build that experience which is world standard speed skating. As their experience grows, don't be surprised to see some great results.

KIWI NEWS

Shane Dobbin today skated a new NZ National record in the 5000m, smashing his previous personal best and national record by almost 8 secs, skating a 6:24.88, finishing on the podium in the men's B division.

This time would have seen him finish in the top 10 of A division, with a time marginally quicker than superstar Shani Davis.

This result will see Shane promoted to the A division for next week's world cup in Heerenveen.

Shane will also be competing in the 1500m tomorrow.

I have managed to get a fair amount of video of the Aussie skaters, but I am unable to process or edit it at the moment, but will post some up at the first opportunity.

World Cup #1 Skaters Announced

2009-11-03T21:59:00.004+08:00

The AIR today announced the Australian skaters and the distances they will skate for World Cup #1 starting in Berlin this Friday, the 6th November.

Sophie Muir 500m and 1000m
Ben Southee 500m, 1000m and 1500m
Joshua Lose 5000m

The schedule will see Ben skating the 500m and 1000m on Friday the 6th. On Saturday the 7th, Sophie will skate the 500m and 1000m, with Josh skating the 5000m.
Ben and Sophie will skate their 2nd 500m on the Sunday, along with Ben skating the 1500m.

I know that all who follow the skaters will wish them, the coaching staff and support crew all the best for the World Cup season. Feel free to post your comments of support up here or on the Facebook page - Australian Speed Skating Supporter's Group

I will be in Berlin and Heerenveen for the first two world cups so I will endeavour to provide regular updates about the competitions and hopefully I will be able to take some photos and some video.

Southee Sets New Aussie Records and Olympic Qualifying Time

2009-10-31T08:12:00.013+08:00

Ben Southee, during day 1 of the Calgary Invitational, has set new Australian records in the 500m and 1500m, with the 1500m time also being an Olympic Qualifying time.

Ben Skated a 1:48.79 to lower Richard Goerlitz's previous NR by almost two seconds. Richard Goerlitz also skated this event and posted a world cup qualifying time of 1:52.86.

Australia now has three skaters who have qualified to skate the 1500m at world cups this season.

In the 500m, Ben lowered Daniel Greig's national record, set in March, down to 36.78.

With selection of the national team for the first world cup in Berlin next weekend due to be finalised this weekend, the national selectors have a tough weekend ahead making their decisions.

The last couple of weeks saw Desly Hill take the Heerenveen crew to Berlin for a training camp and some racing.

The weekend of the 24th and 25th of October saw the group racing two events in Berlin.
Thanks to Daniel Yeow for the use of the photos - www.danielyeow.com

Sophie Muir skated season bests in the 500m and 1000m skating 40.25 and 1:21.31 respectively. The 500m time was only marginally slower than her personal best skated in Calgary in March, so very promising for the start of the world cup season.

Josh Lose competed in the 1500m and 5000m events. Josh posted a season best 1:54.50 in the 1500m. In the 5000m, Josh was up against the one and only Bob de Jong of the Netherlands. Bob is the 10000m gold medalist from the 2006 Turin Games and a 4 time world champion in the 5000m and 10000m disciplines. Josh skated an admirable 7:01.19 to finish 40sec behind de Jong who skated a season best time.

Daniel Greig competed in the 500m and 1000m disciplines, skating slightly off his best with a 38.43 and 1:16.57 respectively. Come world cup time, I am sure Daniel will be slicing times down once again.

Daniel Yeow recorded a personal best in the 1500m skating a 2:06.81 to slice 6 secs off his personal best. Daniel also skated the 500m and 1000m distances, recording 42.04 and 1:23.27.

Daniel pictured here with National Coach, Desly Hill.

Good luck to all the skaters for the first world cup, and as soon as I know the selector's decisions for Berlin, I will post them up.

General Update

2009-10-11T11:14:00.003+08:00

The past couple of weekends have seen Australian skaters putting down some times around the world.

Last weekend, Richard Goerlitz skated in Salt Lake - See his results here.

Ben Southee skated time trials over the last three weekends with good results in the 1000m and 1500m.

23rd Sept - Personal Record 1000m - 1:12.41 Calgary
3rd Oct - 1000m - 1:13.11 Calgary
10th Oct - Personal Record 1500m - 1:50.98 Calgary

Ben's 1500m time yesterday was a personal best by 2 and half seconds and only .46 of a second off the national record for that distance.

Rumour had it that Daniel Greig had returned to Australia and was visiting family in Melbourne last week after skating the World Inline Championships in China.
Daniel finished 10th in the 300m Time Trial, an event in which Joey Mantia set a new world record to win the title. A great first senior outing for Dan.

Daniel will be competing in the ISU Junior World Cup event to be held in Groningen in the Netherlands starting on the 21st November. Daniel is also the only Australian qualified to skate the 500m in World Cups so far, and he should be competing at the first World Cup in Berlin commencing the 6th of November.

Sophie Muir has already qualified for the 500m and 1000m for this season's world cups, and it is expected she will compete in Berlin. Yesterday she skated a season best 500m 40.72, and the weekend before she skated a season best 1000m 1:22.19, both in Heerenveen.

Josh Lose is the only Australian qualifier for the 5000m in World Cups this season.

The 1000m and 1500m distances are hotly contested and as per the Australian Ice Racing selection policy, the positions are yet to be decided for the upcoming World Cup season.

Josh and Ben have both met WCQT in the 1500m and Ben and Daniel in the 1000m. Preliminary entries will close tomorrow for Berlin but skaters will still have time to put down a season best time to decide who skates what distances.

Commentary has been thrown out there in regards to whether this is the best policy or not, but all skaters are aware of the qualification standard and they must now attempt to qualify based on the AIR selection policy.

Kiwi Shane Dobbin skated in Erfurt last weekend - read his blog post here.

Watch this space for more updates! It is looking like a very exciting season is about to commence!

Hill Appointed as National Coach

2009-09-22T21:25:00.004+08:00

The Australian Ice Racing Board announced today that Desly Hill will be appointed as Australian National Speed Skating Coach.

The board also thanked Dayoung Kwon for her nomination and look forward to her continued work with Ben Southee for the coming season.

Good luck to Desly and all Australian long trackers for the upcoming season.

It is an exciting time for the sport, and although the skaters are not based in Australia for obvious reasons, the fan base is definately growing and interest is strong, both from Australia and around the world.

I know Desly is working towards a 4-5 year plan and I for one am very excited about what the future holds - there are some world class athletes amongst the squad, and as they develop, watch the results!

Desert Classic 2009 - Salt Lake City

2009-09-20T12:58:00.005+08:00

The weekend of the 12th September saw Ben Southee and LT debutant Corey Williams skate the Desert Classic in SLC.

Although reports suggest that the ice was well below the normal SLC standard, some promising times were skated by Ben and Corey.

Ben skated two personal records in the 500m and 1000m distances.

Ben skated a 37.64 500m to finish 18th from 35 skaters, and a 1:12.68 1000m to finish 7th of 17.

In the 1500m, after 20mins break from his 1000m race, Ben skated a 1:53.56, finishing 4th from 10.

Corey Williams skated in the 500m and 1500m distances, skating in his RBC short track boots and a pair of 1997 Finn mechanism claps welded to a pair of Viking blades.

Corey posted a 40.82 500m and 2:06.64 1500m to finish down the field in both distances, but good for a debut. Corey advises that he had only tried the clap set up on the Thursday night, then raced on Saturday. Unfortunately, Corey is unable to represent Australia in world cups this season, but this will provide him with time to decide on his LT future. Corey orginates from Victoria but has skated for New Zealand in ST over the last few years, but plans to switch back to Australia.

Kiwi Shane Dobbin also competed, skating in the 500m and 5000m distances.
Shane posted a 38.63 500m and a 6:41.44 5000m finishing 2nd of 7.

Promising results for so early in the season.

A Bag O' Goodies

2009-08-12T21:36:00.004+08:00

Ben Southee capped off a great debut event on Sunday (Calgary Summer Classic) with a PB 1:52.25 1500m, bettering his Friday time by 2 seconds and coming in under World Cup qualifying time for that distance.

Dayoung Kwon (DK - his coach) emailed me and informed me that Ben had only received his new boots and blades on the Wednesday, two days before the Summer Classic, so with very little setup time, don't be surprised to see Ben adapt very well to the long track and lower his times significantly.

Keeping in touch with the Dutch Aussies, Renske Herder writes a personal blog (in Dutch)and she has posted a video of her training with Aussie Sophie Muir.

We all look forward to seeing more video and photos of all Aussie skaters over the coming months. Bring on the LT season!!!!

Zomerijswedstrijd, Heerenveen NED, 8th August 2009

2009-08-09T23:05:00.005+08:00

Team Goldrush got their LT season kick started on Saturday, with Josh Lose, Daniel Greig, Daniel Yeow and Sophie Muir having a hitout in various distances in Heerenveen at the Zomerijswedstrijd

Josh Lose - 5000m - 6:57.75 - WCQT

Daniel Greig - 500m 38.35

Daniel Yeow - 500m 44.63, 1000m 1:24.58

Sophie Muir - 500m 42.60, 1000m 1:24.05 - WCQT

It must be remembered that it is still very early in the season and all these skaters are world class. All the Aussies are putting in some heavy training workloads and these events are just another part of their training and their advance on Olympic selection for Vancouver.

To have three Australian skaters post World Cup qualifying times this weekend shows how promising the current group of skaters are.

*WCQT - world cup qualifying time

Day 2 - 2009 Summer Classic, Calgary

2009-08-09T10:48:00.004+08:00

Ben Southee has continued his good LT debut form to skate a 1:13.32 1000m and a 37.87s 500m in day 2 of the 2009 Summer Classic. Ben's 1000m time is within the qualifying standard for the upcoming season's world cups. Promising results so far from his first LT competition.

Kiwi Blake Skjellerup also continued some good form with a 38.66s 500m and a 1:52.06 1500m.

Both skaters are presently residing and training in Calgary hoping for Olympic selection for Australia and New Zealand.

Join the Facebook Group - Australian Speed Skating Supporter's Group and get behind all the Aussie skaters this season.

Australia's Season Opener

2009-08-08T23:07:00.007+08:00

Sydney's Ben Southee competed in his first official long track event on Friday competing in the 1500m at the 2009 Summer Classic held in Calgary.

Ben skated a 1:54:39. missing out on a World Cup Qualifying time by under a second. With plenty of time between now and the first World Cup in Berlin on the 7th of November, this result is promising. Ben finished 11th out of 20 skaters.

Keeping up with reporting on our trans-Tasman friends aka ANZAC's, Kiwi Blake Skjellerup competed at the same event in the 500m finishing 28th with a PB time of 38.61. Blake is another short tracker trying out the LT - check out and follow Blake's Twitter.

In an email from Desly Hill a few weeks ago, she informed me that the Heerenveen crew were planning on competing in a meet there this weekend. I will update those results when they come in.

The qualifying time this season's World Cups were publish a few weeks ago with the Aussies needing the below times to qualify to skate.

Men
500m - 37.00
1000m - 1:14.00
1500m - 1:53.50
5000m - 7:00.00
10000m - 14:00.00

Ladies
500m - 40.50
1000m - 1:21.50
1500m - 2:06.00
3000m - 4:30.00
5000m - 7.30.00

At the present time, the following skaters have skated the required qualifying times in the 2008/2009 season: Josh Lose (1500m, 5000m, 10000m) Daniel Greig (500m, 1000m) and Sophie Muir (500m, 1000m).

The only drawback with having a full compliment of skaters leading into the Olympic Year is that Australia can only send one skater per distance to each of the world cups. Hopefully this will drive all skaters to work as hard as possible to secure a spot in each world cup, and qualify as many skaters as possible for the Olympics.

Check back for updates over the season,
Frank

Small Steps to Success

2009-06-05T16:43:00.004+08:00

The AIR LT squad have now found their first sponsor who will supply the Australian racing suits and track suits for the 2009/2010 World Cup season. Sydney Skate Shop will supply the uniforms for those skaters who qualify for world cups.

Here is the first prototype design (although the sponsor logo will be different and there will be an AUS on the back area).

What the team needs now is a major sponsor(s) to cover the world cup season, so the hunt will continue.

Meanwhile, the skaters are training away as hard as they can, with most of them concentrating soley on the ice for the coming season. Daniel Greig sent me an email, and in his own words, they are training 'until their feet bleed'! Can't ask for more than that.

In other news, current Australian National ST Champion, Ben Southee will be making the transition to LT for the coming season. Ben is a superb athlete and I doubt that he will have any trouble adapting to the larger sheet discipline. It appears Ben will base himself in Calgary to begin with and will see how his season progresses. Good luck Ben. Ben is also the sponsor who will supply the suits for qualifying WC skaters, all the skaters are very appreciative.

The first world cup kicks off in Berlin on the 6th of November, so it would be great to see all 4 skaters qualify for the varying events.

More to follow soon.

Dreams aren't always free!

2009-05-18T12:35:00.005+08:00

Get to know your team - Team Goldrush.

Desly and the team are looking for sponsors to assist with next season's goal of achieving a place at the Olympics for Australia. To do this requires the skaters to compete at two of the World Cups prior to the games and this can't be done without funds. If you can offer financial support/sponsorship or you know of contacts who may be interested, please email me. Otherwise, feel free to show your support with a simple message to them in the comments section.

Daniel Greig Videos - Challengers Cup, Norway Feb 2009

2009-04-30T13:26:00.004+08:00

Here are a couple of videos of Daniel skating in Norway earlier this year.

Ommitted Time - Intact Finale 2009

2009-04-26T07:12:00.007+08:00

In my recent update, I missed a very important fact that Daniel Greig also broke the 500m National record, skating a 36.83sec 500m in the Open event on the 21st of March. This placed him 9th out of a field of 38.

So, over the Intact Finale weekend, 6 National distance records were broken:

Ladies 500m - Sophie Muir - 40.18 - 22nd March
Ladies 1000m - Sophie Muir - 1:19.69 - 21st March

Mens - 500m - Daniel Greig - 36.83 - 21st March
Mens - 1000m - Daniel Greig - 1:11.40 - 21st March
Mens - 5000m - Josh Lose - 6:41.80 - 18th March
Mens - 10000m - Josh Lose - 13:57.98 - 20th March

Although these records are presently unofficial, Desly is completing the required paperwork to have them ratified on the 5th of May at the Australian Ice Racing council meeting.

During the 2008/2009 season, Sophie has lowered the 500m and 1000m ladies distances, Josh has lowered the 3000m, 5000m and 10000m and Daniel has bettered the 500m and 1000m distances.

Great season guys! We are looking forward to more records and some podium finishes next year. Hats off to Desly for coaching, arguably, one of the best LT representative teams of all time.

Intact Finale 2009 - Calgary - Team GoldRush

2009-04-25T10:20:00.009+08:00

Sorry for the delayed update, but here it is!

Team GoldRush's first ice season came to a close at the Intact Finale held at the Calgary Oval from the 18th to 22nd March.

Josh Lose, Sophie Muir, Daniel Greig and Daniel Yeow, along with Kiwi Wayne Begg, competed in a variety of distances over the weekend.

Sohpie Muir - Sophie contested the Ladies Combined Sprint event, skating 2x 500m and 2 x 1000m.

Sophie finshed 8th out of more than 30 skaters, breaking both distance national records in the process.

Josh Lose - Josh competed in the Men's Long Allround, skating 500m, 1500m, 5000m, and 10000m over 3 days.

Josh finished a strong 11th place overall. His 10000m time was 10th fastest and he went under 14mins for the first time, setting a new Australian record of 13:57.98, the first time an Australian has broken the 14min barrier.

Josh set another national record in the 5000m and narrowly missed the 1500m record by under half a second, so a fantastic season finale for him!

SPRINT EVENTS

The sprinters had a little more exposure to racing over the weekend with Sprint and Open Events in the 500m and 1000m

Results

500m Sprint - 21st March 2009

Wayne Begg - 47th of 118, 37.62 = New NZ record
Daniel Yeow - 96th of 118, 43.32 = New personal record
Daniel Greig - fall, 1:24.72

1000m Sprint - 21st March 2009

Daniel Greig - 26th of 110, 1:11.40 = New Australian record
Wayne Begg - 36th of 110, 1:12.74 = New NZ record
Daniel Yeow - 86th of 110, 1:24.30 = New personal record

1000m Open - 22nd March 2009

Daniel Greig - 15th of 32, 1:13.44
Daniel Yeow - 24th of 32, 1:22.50 = New personal record

500m Sprint - 22nd March 2009

Daniel Greig - 35th of 105, 37.15
Wayne Begg - 39th of 105, 37.26 = New NZ record
Daniel Yeow - 82nd of 105, 41.63 = New personal record

1000m Sprint - 22nd March 2009

Wayne Begg - 53rd of 93, 1:15.42
Daniel Yeow - 72nd of 93, 1:23.32 = New personal record
Daniel Greig - DNS

SPRINT ALLROUND RESULT
Wayne Begg - 35th of 85 classified skaters, Samalog = 148.96 points
Daniel Yeow - 66th of 85 classified skaters, Samalog = 168.76 points
Daniel Greig - unclassified result

So overall, these results are fantastic for our skaters in their first season out on the ice.

The inline season is about to kick in and hopefully all the skaters will come back into the Olympic season with massive drive to not only make the Australian Winter Olympic Team, but to stand on the podium - the stuff dreams are made of.

Congratulations to all the skaters on a strong season.

Email Unavailable

2009-03-14T14:54:00.003+09:00

Firstly, thankyou to everyone for all the positive emails in relation to the Australian Speed Skating blog. Please note, if I fail to respond to any emails over the next week, it is because my computer has crashed again and needs to be repaired under warranty (which is never a rush job!).

Because of this, I need to rely on the use of my webmail on a friend's computer, which is slow and tedious, so apologies in advance.

I know Desly and the gang are really pleased with their results this season and I am certainly getting a kick out of seeing the results of some quality long trackers on the ice for Australia again - and in their first season on ice! Look out 2009/2010.

I believe Team Goldrush have one final event coming up next weekend, so I will hopefully be back online to update those results.

Regards
Frank

Challenger Cup #3 Photos from DESG Photo

2009-03-13T15:10:00.023+09:00

I have posted some photos of Sophie, Josh, Daniel and Wayne from Challengers Cup #3 held in Erfurt last weekend. More photos can be found and purchased at the DESG Photo webpage.

Dobbin in Vancouver for World Single Distance Championships

2009-03-13T14:58:00.005+09:00

Shane Dobbin(NZ) arrived in Vancouver earlier this week and he updated his blog. He updated his blog again yesterday, giving a run down of his time in Vancouver so far.

Shane will compete in the 10000m on Saturday at the LT World Single Distance Championships. I will post his result up after the event, but otherwise yo can check the page link below over the weekend.

Good luck Shane!

Quick link to the ISU results page.

Challengers Cup #3 - Erfurt 7th and 8th March 2009

2009-03-09T07:43:00.006+09:00

Team Goldrush had a busy weekend with four skaters competing in the Challengers Cup #3 in Erfurt, Germany.

Daniel Greig, Josh Lose and Sophie Muir, along with Kiwi Wayne Begg competed in various distances with good results.

Josh finished 8th in the 1500M in a personal best time of 1:54.37, improving his previous best by a second. He then finished 9th in the 5000m with another PB time of 6:54.72. This was more than a 3 second improvement on his last 5000m time.

Sophie and Daniel both competed in the sprint events.

Daniel skated two personal best 500m, managing to break the 38 sec barrier to skate a 37.58 on the Saturday and back it up with a new PB of 37.22 on Sunday. Daniel finished 11th and 5th respectively.
Daniel's first 1000m race saw him skate a new PB of 1:15.71 but Sunday saw him disqualified in the second 1000m.

Sophie skated the 4 sprints events, skating a 1:22.74 first 1000m, placing her 6th.
Sunday saw her skate a new PB 1000m of 1:21.61, which was also a new national record, placing her 4th. Sophie's second 500m saw her place just outside a podium finish with a 40.86.

Wayne Begg (NZ) skated in Saturday's sprint events skating a 38.34s 500m and 1:15.69 1000m to finish 14th and 8th respectively. these times were only marginally outside Wayne's PB times.

Team Goldrush looks well placed for a strong 2009/2010 season after some very promising first seasons from Australia's newest long trackers with several national records broken during this season. Desley is clearly doing something very right with these skaters and the Australian skating community is excited about next season.

Another Team Goldrush member, Elma De Vries (NED) cometed in the World Cup Final held in Salt Lake over the weekend, finishing 12th in the 3000m and 8th in the 1500m, skating personal best times in both events.

Shane Dobbin (NZ) has the 10000m event at the World Single Distance Championships coming up this weekend in Vancouver and he posted a Mid Week Update on his blog.

Junior World Cup Final - Update

2009-03-02T06:15:00.004+09:00

Daniel Greig completed his JWCF competition on Sunday with his second 500m, skating a time of 38.07, improving his personal best by .10 of second. Daniel finished 14th.

Junior World Cup Final - Groningen (NED)

2009-03-01T07:41:00.012+09:00

Daniel Greig competed in the sprint events at the Junior World Cup final at Groningen this weekend.

Daniel skated a personal record of 38.17 in the 500m, finishing 14th, and a 1:17.37 to finish 15th in the 1000m. Full results from the JWCF.

DESG Photo has photos available for purchase from the JWCF, including a few of Daniel.

2009 World Single Distance Championships

2009-02-28T07:54:00.005+09:00

Shane Dobbin (NZ) this week received an offer for entry into the 10000m event at the upcoming World Single Distance Championships to be held in Vancouver from the 12th to 15th of March.

Shane has accepted the offer and we wish him all the best, and although he is recovering from a dislocated shoulder, it is hoped that he can achieve a podium finish.

Read Shane's Blog

Link to the event site - 2009 World Single Distance Championships

2009 Junior World LT Championships

2009-02-25T06:38:00.004+09:00

The past weekend saw the first Australian compete at a World Junior Championships since Danny Kah at Roros, Norway in 1985.

Daniel Grieg, represented Australia in the sprint events, finishing 45th in the two 500m events and 26th in the 1000m event. The championships were held in Zakopane, Poland in temperatures as low as -10 degrees C.

Daniel is an Inline 200m Sprint Junior World Champion and certainly has the background to move forward from these championships and become a true contender for Olympic selection next February.

These results are positive for Daniel's first season transitioning from inlines to ice, and the author for one, is excited about the prospect of seeing several Australian skaters making Olympic selection.

DJ Nation (NZ) competed at the same championships with some positive results in the allaround competition, finishing 20th overall in the Samalog after a strong 5000m performance.

Daniel's next competition will be the Junior World Cup final in Groningen, Netherlands this weekend and we wish him all the best for this event.

World Single Distance Championship Qualification

2009-02-18T20:49:00.003+09:00

The current qualification list for the World Single Distance Championships have Shane Dobbin from NZ as the 6th reserve in the 10000m event.

Depending on the program of the other qualified skaters, it is highly likely that Shane will get a berth in the event.

The list will be updated after the World Cup final on the 7th of March. The 10000m event will not be contested at the final, so the time ranking should not change.

World Cup Debut - Heerenveen

2009-02-18T18:34:00.004+09:00

The past weekend saw the final World Cup of the season skated in Heerenveen, the Netherlands.

This event marked the debut of Joshua Lose and Shane Dobbin (NZ) onto the World Cup scene.
Josh skated a 14:15.29 in the 10000m to better Danny Kah's national record by 2 secs and finish 22nd in Division B. I am sure that Josh will take this under the 14min barrier soon. Josh also skated a PB in the 1500m of 1:55.35.

Shane Dobbin skated 13:39 to finish 7th in B division 10000m but his time within both divisions saw him with the 15th fastest time overall, placing him (time wise) just ahead of Trevor Marsicano of the US and Roger Schneider of Switzerland. Hopefully these times will qualify both skaters for the World Single Distance Championships to be held in Vancouver. But more importantly, it has been a strong finish to a pre-Olympic season, and I am sure everyone is excited about the prospect of seeing Aussies and Kiwis on the LT ice for Vancouver 2010.

Team Goldrush

Team Goldrush member, Elma De Vries (NED) finished 1st in the Division B 5000m in a time of 7:02.48, a personal best. This time was more than 12secs ahead of her nearest rival, and would have seen her with a bronze medal in A Division.

Photo by DESGphoto

Mega Update

2009-02-17T01:43:00.007+09:00

There has been a lot of activity with Australian speed skaters over the last few weeks.

On the 31st Jan to 1st Feb, Sophie Muir secured herself a podium finish in the Challenger's Cup in Hamar, Norway, in the 500m and 1000m, breaking two national records in the process.

Coach Desley and Sophie

Sophie on the Podium

Other Australian skaters competed at this event with Joshua Lose securing a World Cup berth with his 5000m time of 6:57.74, which was a personal best for that distance.

Daniel Grieg (photo) competed in the 500m, 1000m events, also securing personal bests over these distances. Daniel is well on his way to securing a World Cup qualifying time in the 500m after skating 38.39secs.

On the 1st of Feb, Daniel Yeow competed in the Klasse 4/5 competition in Enschede, Netherlands. Daniel skated personal bests in both the 500m and 1000m events, finishing 8th of 21 in the 500m, and 2nd of 13 in the 1000m.

Brooke Lochland competed in her first LT event, skating in the Klasse 4/5 on the 1st of Feb. Brooke only skated the 500m, finishing 9th of 29 in a time of 46.67secs.

Daniel Yeow skated in this event as well, skating the 500m and 1000m distances, also lowering his PB for both distances, skating 44.01 in the 500m, and 1:28.01 in the 1000m.

MASTERS

Frank Anderson travelled to Berlin for the 13th International Masters Cup on the 7th & 8th of Feb. Frank had been on clap skates for two days before this event, but managed to secure PB's in all 4 distances, taking 39sec off his 3000m, 24sec off his 1500m, and just under a second off his 500m.

Frank then travelled to Inzell for the 1st Masters International Sprint Games the following weekend, finishing 3rd overall for the over 35's - securing PB's in the 500m and 1000m.

Frank is on his way back to Australia later this week but he hopes to return next year for some more Masters events.

More Team Goldrush

2009-01-26T21:40:00.001+09:00

Hi All,
Just our latest progress report. Tonight's racing was in Tialf (Heerenveen), and this week everyone had a little rest so the legs were fresh. The results were great!

Sophie Muir lowered her PB in both the 500m and 1000m and made two world cup qualifying times 40.84 (old 42.23) and a 1.22.21 (old 1.24.01)
Daniel Grieg lowered both his 500 and 1000 also with 38.72 (old was 39.6) and 1.17.08 (old 1.19).
Josh Lose is saving his good 5k legs for next week but he had a go at the 500 and 1500 and also posted 2 x pb with 39.95 (he was Dqed on the crossover) and a 1.56.96

Even though we were too late to start Josh in the 5k Efurt and Sophie’s last world cup chance was also there we are very excited to know that they are coming closer, as the goal for times like these was end March! Josh will aim to do the qualifying 5k in Norway that may allow him to get entry to Heerenveen 10k for world cup in Feb...fingers crossed.

So it was a great night and we hope we can beat all of these times in the Viking Ship at the Challengers Cup in Norway next weekend.

Cheers
Desly

Team Goldrush Update

2009-01-19T20:15:00.003+09:00

Hi Everyone,
This week we trained very hard to prepare for the up coming month but we raced in a local KNSB race in Enschede on our home track. I was not expecting a lot as the whole team is tired but this is what we had from 3 of them:

Sophie Muir proceeded to come very very close to the world cup qualifying times lowering her 500m from 42.38 to 42.23 she also opened faster than ever before with a 11.48 for the first 100m. Her second race was the 1000m where she improved her PB by a whole second from 1.25.01 to 1.24.01 so that was great news.

Josh Lose just worked on his sprint this week hoping to improve his opening in the current weeks for his 5k so her raced the 500m and 1500. Gaining a 40.41 and 1.58.94 so not bad for an endurance guy.

After skating for only 7 weeks and now this week with his new boots on - Daniel Grieg proceeded to cut time of his pb with lowering his 41.0 to a 39.61 with an opening of 10.52. His opening is very promising considering that the ex junior world champ Sjoerd de vries was racing (he is senior now) and his opening was 10.33. Daniel also chose to try out the 1500m in an effort to go under the junior world qualifying time which he did with a 2.01.90 so now Dan has gone under the qualifying times for the 500,1000 and 1500m for junior worlds.

In the next 2 weeks there is a challengers cup in Norway that we hope to attend with Dan and Sophie and then we are still waiting to see if its possible to get Josh to the world cup in Efurt.
On the 25th we go to Tialf-Herenveen to see if we can lower the times again after a rest we will let you know how they go.

Cheers
Desly

Results from Enschede for the 17th of January (Mens results - Ladies results)

P.S. Richard Goerlitz skated in Davos over the past weekend and skated a personal season best 1:59.08, 1500m on the natural ice. This was a huge time drop from his 2:15 the weekend before. Unfortunately he was disqualified in the 5000m and 1000m.

Frank

Some Early Video

2009-01-17T14:25:00.003+09:00

Here is an early video compilation of the group training in Enschede. The ice shots are good to see with the early attempts at the starts. I have a great starts coach in mind! It will be nice to see the journey over the next 12 months.

Enjoy

Results

2009-01-16T09:15:00.005+09:00

Richard Goerlitz was the only Australian to compete this past weekend, competing in the Schaatscircuit event at Heerenveen in the Netherlands.

Richard skated a 40.09s 500m which placed him 5th in the field of 32 skaters. His 1500m time of 2:15.52 was well off his personal best time for this distance, placing him midway in the field.

Full results can be seen here - Schaatscircuit

Richard has had a couple of years break after narrowly missing selection for the 2006 Winter Olympics, so hopefully he will start to bring his times right down again with a strong end to the season.

I will attempt to find out the upcoming competitions for Australian skaters for the rest of the season.

A Little Bit Of History

2009-01-12T09:02:00.003+09:00

This is an excerpt from a piece that David Morgan wrote some time ago about the history of speed skating in Australia. David himself has been involved in the sport in Australia since 1947.

Our First Winter Olympian
Our first Winter Olympian was a Speed Skater, Kenneth George Kennedy, from Sydney.
Kennedy represented our country at the 1936 Winter Olympics held at Garmisch-Partenkirchen in Germany. He had, like most of the serious skating fraternity of the time in this country, a good base of training in all of the skating disciplines, Figure, Speed and Ice Hockey.
He travelled to England in 1935, and competed in the British Indoor Speed Skating Championships, winning the quarter and half mile titles, establishing new record times while doing so.
This opened the opportunity for him to be nominated for the Olympic Winter Games, which was indeed a serious challenge.
In those far off days, the only internationally recognised Speed Skating was under the control of the International Skating Union, and their rules were based around competitions known today as "Long Track". This used a skating track that was 400 metres around one lap. (About the size of an athletics track on a field like the Olympic Stadium at Homebush.) In actual dimensions, a Long
Track rink requires at least three times the area of one Short Track rink.
Also, all the Olympic Skating sports were contested on outdoor naturally frozen ice. Air temperatures are much lower than inside an artificial rink. Long Track is based around the concept of competition against the clock, rather than racing skater to skater. As you could imagine, the techniques for this type speed skating were very different from the ones that Kennedy, and his contemporaries in Australia and the UK, had been used to. In Indoor, or Short Track, because first skater across the finish line is the winner, the winner only has to go as fast as necessary to defeat the other competitors in the race. In the Long Track sport, you are timed, so if you aren't the last skater to be timed, you have no idea of what time you have to skate to win the event.
This, coupled with the vastly bigger surface on which the skaters skate, means that entirely different techniques need to be used to win an event.
Kennedy was on his own at these Olympics. This is always a difficult situation for an athlete, never mind that the conditions at these Olympics were totally different from any that he had previously experienced. He had no easy task to perform as well as he did. There were 52 competitors at the 1936 Games, and Kennedy’s results were 29th in the 500 metres, 33rd in the 1500 metres and 33rd in the 5000 metres. He did not skate in the 10,000 metres.

Subsequent Olympic developments
World War II intervened in any further development by our speed skaters, but by 1949 we had several men and a couple of ladies who were adventurous enough to venture to Europe, specifically to Norway, to test their ability on the Long Track circuits.
Many events were held in the months from late November to late February in such countries as Norway, Sweden and the Netherlands. The results that they achieved were used to nominate the best for inclusion in Winter Olympic teams from 1952 onwards, or to qualify them for inclusion to skate for Australia at the World Championships.
The most successful of this group was a Melbourne skater called Colin Hickey who represented us at the Olympics three times, 1952, 1956 and 1960.
Hickey’s time of 41.9 seconds for the 500 metres in 1960 was good enough to place him 7th in the Games. That was our best performance at Winter Olympics until 1976, when another Melbourne skater, Colin Coates, skated into 6th place in the 10,000 metres at the Innsbruck Games.
Coates incidentally, holds the record for the greatest number of Olympic Winter Games competed at by anyone – he represented us six times from 1968 to 1988.

Australian Speedskaters Overseas

2009-01-09T07:34:00.000+09:00

Some of you may be aware of my other site catering for master short trackers, but as a devout fan of anything Australian, I thought it was time to devote some space to the Australian long trackers overseas.

Presently, there are five Australian inliners living in Enschede in the Netherlands attempting to make the transition from champion inliners to champion long trackers under the tutelage of Desley Hill, a former World Champion inliner herself. You can head to Desley's TeamDes (Team Gold Rush) for more profile info on the skaters.

Sohpie Muir and Joshua Lose have both broken Australian LT records (unofficially), Josh in the 3000m and Sophie in the 500m and 1000m. The next step for these skaters will be to qualify for some world cups.

Desley tells me that Josh is attempting to qualify for Erfurt, with Sophie and Josh hoping to qualify for Heerenveen. Hopefully we can get to know these skaters a little better with updates from them and Desley.

Richard Goerlitz has made the journey back into claps after a couple of years rest, skating in a Masters Cup event in Davos over last weekend, and I believe he is again skating in a Masters event in Davos this weekend (10th and 11th).

I will be heading to Germany on the 1st of February to compete in an event in Berlin then the Masters sprint cup in Inzell where I will get to compete against the very talented Andrew Love of ZATAOSS.

I will slowly add to the site as I want to capture some of the history of Australian long trackers. If you have any information, photos or videos you would like posted up, don't hesitate to email me. I will have an email address in the sidebar soon,or head to WMST and email me from there,

regards
Frank