Skaters brave the cold

The conditions weren’t actually as bad as they could have been since there wasn’t much wind – the biggest enemy of speed skaters who race outdoors. “When they come around the corner, it’s like hitting a wall – the arms and legs just stop moving,” says Concordes coach Dave Morrison, whose skaters only have a few months a year when they’re not exclusively on the short track at the Bob MacQuarrie arena. “You’re really affected much more by the environment and the quality of the ice.”

The Concordes encourage their skaters to do both disciplines since short track helps them with their corners and long track improves their straight-aways – and the public ice at Brewer Park is available any time they want to go, not just when they have a rink booked. “For short track, you’re looking at kids with good tactical sense because it’s about place and not necessarily about time; long track is much more about pacing – it is a time trial,” Morrison adds, noting age 17 is when youngsters might want to select which one is better for them. “Sometimes you can see and gently push them, but until they see that themselves, they don’t make the commitment to one or the other.”

One skater who is presently debating between the two is 14-year-old Vincent De Haitre since he’s found success in both disciplines. De Haitre finished second overall at the 2009 North American Short Track Championships in the junior category, and will be attending the Canadian trials for the long track junior worlds team.

De Haitre leans towards long track as his preference, but he isn’t too crazy about racing outdoors in the cold, and Brewer Park’s slanted wooden boards on the outside of the track aren’t quite as comforting as the big crash pads in the rinks if a skater falls. “I remember seeing a guy slide over the boards and into the snowbank, so that was pretty funny,” says De Haitre, noting it’s important not to worry about a potential crash. “You really don’t want to think about falling because of Murphy’s Law.”

De Haitre tries not to focus on the cold too much, but can be hard to avoid – especially when he was in Winnipeg and it was -40 C. “We couldn’t stay outside too long,” De Haitre laughs, noting it’s tough to balance between leaving the dressing shack as late as possible to maintain body heat and getting out onto the ice to warm up the muscles and get a feel for the conditions. “We want to wear some extra clothing, but we can’t because it would slow us down. But it’s always in the back on our mind: ‘Man, I wish I had my snowpants on!’”

Sault Ste. Marie, Ont. is one place the cold will almost certainly come into play, and that’s where this year’s provincial long track championships are being held Jan. 30-Feb. 1. The competition at Brewer Park served as an opportunity for skaters to post qualifying standard times for that event.

Morrison notes that there are several Concordes skaters who have already attained the necessary times, and several more on the cusp of making it. That group includes his daughters, Samantha and Hannah Morrison, Philippe Breton, Philippe Bergeron, Emily Rendell-Watson, Gabrielle St. Germain, and De Haitre.