1. Board Members Required
Volunteers are being sought to help create an Alberta Coaches Board. Experts and advisors from many areas are required to build a Board with diverse experiences and skills to connect successfully with the wide spectrum of coaches in our province.
If you are interested, and have coaching and communication skills that could help create a strong network and fraternity of coaches, please contact Leslie Sproule, Board of Director Member at Large for Coaches of Canada, at sproule@telusplanet.net by March 2nd, 2009.
She is looking for volunteers with experience from organizations such as the following:
• Club, community, development level coach expertise
• High Performance coach expertise
• University and/or College coach expertise
• Provincial and /or Canada Games Coach expertise
• Learning facilitator/CS4L/LTAD/coach educator experience
• Technology/web site/e-learning expertise
• Athletes with a Disability, minority group coaching expertise, women in coaching
• Provincial Association experience
• Coaching and Sport Science expertise
• Canadian Olympic Coach, Coaches of Canada, Sport Canada experience
• NCI
Your involvement and shared expertise will set the stage for a shared network for Alberta coaches!
2. Calgary Sport Council Workshops
Join the Calgary Sport Council for their next Super Saturday on February 28th at the Talisman Centre for Sport and Wellness;
• Nutritional Needs for the Female Athlete 9:00 a.m. - 10:30 a.m.
• Education and Sport 11:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.
• Physical Preparation of Athletes 1:00 p.m. - 2:30 p.m.
For only $25 you can choose to attend one, two or all three seminars. For more information check out; http://www.calgarysportcouncil.ca/
3. The Buzz
Speed Skating Canada's Club and Membership Development Committee (CMDC) is excited to be launching “The Buzz” in February 2009 on the Speed Skating Canada website. The Buzz is being created to provide monthly “tips” on various activities or interests. One month you might find a recipe for a great granola, the next month tips on fundraising, the next month new games. Be sure to look for the Flashing Buzz on the Speed Skating Canada website, http://www.speedskating.ca/buzz.cfm
4. How Did Canada Do?
China – Philippe Riopel (Lachenaie, QC), Canada’s top speed skating contender in the 500m at the 24th Universiade in China, raced against a dominant field of Asia’s World Cup athletes to finish tenth overall on the first day of competition.
“Given that we've only been here for four days, I'm really pleased with how it went," said Riopel, 20, who is a CEGEP student studying social science. He finished two 500m races in a combined time of 72.58 seconds. "I was getting a little tired towards the end of the second 500, so to hang on for tenth was good. I think we can be better through the week, but to start with a 10 was good.”
The winner of the event was Korean Olympic bronze medalist Kang Seok Lee with a combined time of 69.82 seconds. China’s Fengtong Yu, who won a gold medal in the 500m at a World Cup event two weeks ago, and Korean Tae Bum Mo finished second and third with combined times of 69.87 and 70.53 seconds.
"I'm very happy for Philippe's result," said Head Coach Gregor Jelonek. "When you look at the strength of the field, particularly the Chinese and Korean skaters that are here, I don't think we could have expected much more from him. He's not a specialist at that distance and I thought he put together two very good races."
Riopel’s international experience includes competing in World Cup competitions in Jan., Nov. and Dec. 2008. His best result was 15th in the 1000m in Changchun, China. Mykola Makowsky (Regina, SK), who is on Canada’s National Development Team, finished 18th overall with a combined time of 74.46 seconds, Vincent Blouin (Quebec, QC) finished 25th overall with a combined time of 76.67 seconds, while Keith Sulzer (Calgary, AB) posted a two-race time of 77.79 seconds to finish in 27th place.
In women’s competition, Pan-Pacific athletes were again dominant. Korea's Sang Hwa Lee posted the fastest time in both races, winning gold with a combined time of 76.36 seconds. In addition to her win, she lowered the previous Universiade record of 77.06 seconds she set two years ago. Chinese athletes posted the next three fastest times, with Jing Yu winning silver in a time of 76.89 seconds, and Shuang Zhang winning bronze in 77.30 seconds. Canada’s best results came from Anastasia Bucsis (Calgary, AB) with an 18th overall finish. Her combined time was 81.98 seconds.
"It was my first international race, so I'm very happy with my finish," said Bucsis, 19, a University of Calgary student. "When you look at the field and see just who you're up against, it can be a little overwhelming. The Koreans and the Chinese sent a number of their World Cup athletes - the field is just so fast, and it was a great thing to be a part of."
Justine L’Heureux (Quebec, QC), also on Canada’s National Development Team, was close behind Bucsis placing 20th overall with a combined time of 82.93 seconds. Shannon Sibold (Calgary, AB), finished 24th overall with a combined time of 87.49 seconds. Kirsti Lay (Medicine Hat, AB) has been nursing a sore shoulder since arriving in Harbin, and had to withdraw from the field.
Tomorrow the men will race in the 5000m while the women will compete in the 1500m event.
This is the first time Canada has sent a long track speed skating team to compete in the two-week Winter Universiade Games, which includes 12 sports and over 4,000 people, including athletes, coaches, judges and referees, from 45 countries and regions. All athletes are post-secondary students.
Results are updated on the Universiade web site at http://en.harbin2009.org/
China – Canadian Short Track speed skaters stepped on the Harbin ice, today, for the second day of competition of the 24th Winter Universiade. Tyler Derraugh (Winnipeg, MB) and Guillaume Bastille (Rivière-du-Loup, QC) posted the two best results of the day with 6th and 7th place respectively in the 1500m.
Both athletes made the final of the event, but had a hard time breaking through some well-executed but somewhat dodgy Korean race tactics and were kept in the back for 6th and 7th place overall.
“There was definitely an element of team racing our guys had to fight through, but it’s not like we don’t see that all the time,” said Canadian head coach Stephen Gough. “To be honest, I thought the guys did really well to put themselves in the positions they were in. With four laps to go, they were second and fourth. If we’d drawn a bit of break down the stretch, we might have been able to sneak in for a medal.”
Korean skaters swept the podium with Lee Seung Hoon taking gold in a time of 2:18.016, narrowly edging out countrymen Kim Seoung Il and Yun Tae Sik. Derraugh complete the race in 2:20.667 and Bastille in 2:22.360.
“I was especially happy for Tyler,” continued Gough. “It’s his first really big international event and he skated a really good semifinal. Bastille’s effort was hampered by a minor equipment problem, having clashed with other competitors early in the race. Given those set of circumstances, I’m pretty pleased with the way things turned out.”
Canadian skater Liam McFarlane (Medicine Hat, AB) advanced to the semifinal by virtue of a second place finish in the 8th and final preliminary heat, but was unable to advance to the final. Richard Shoebridge (Cambridge, ON) failed to advance to the semifinal after a 4th place finish in his preliminary heat. McFarlane concludes the distance in 13th position and Shoebridge in 27th.
On the women side, China dominated the podium in the 1500m and no Canadian made it to the final. Zhou Yang took the gold medal, ahead of fellow Chinese skaters Liu Qiuhong and Sun Linlin.
Marie-Andrée Mendes-Campeau (Montreal, QC), Annik Plamondon (Longueuil, QC) and Nita Avrith (Montreal, QC) all qualified from their preliminary heats, but none were able to advance to the final and they finished in 11th, 12th and 13th place respectively.
“For our girls, it was about what I expected,” said Gough. “There were four Chinese and four Korean skaters in the semifinals, and I thought the girls handled themselves well. Marie-Andrée had a great tactical race in her semifinal. She recognized the team tactics the Chinese were trying to implement in the race as the one skater got out front and tried to slow up the pack. The hole opened for her teammate, but Marie-Andrée jumped in and blocked her out. I thought she got bumped late in the race, and the official took a look at the video, but he didn’t make any disqualifications.”
Gabrielle Waddell (Red Deer, AB) posted a 4th place finish in her preliminary heat, which wasn’t enough to move to the semifinal rounds, for 19th position overall.
Canadian athletes will skate in the 500m tomorrow, and the women will also skate the qualifying round of the relay race. Team Canada website: www.cisport.ca/harbin
Netherlands – This season’s Canadian ‘speed queens’ Christine Nesbitt (London, ON) and Kristina Groves (Ottawa, ON) shared the podium today to collect a silver and bronze medal for their 1500m performances at World Cup #8 in the Netherlands.
“I was pretty nervous before my race, but when the gun went off I opened really fast, one of my fastest openers in the 1500m, and I had a great first lap,” said Nesbitt, who finished second in 1:57.58. Germany’s Anni Friesinger was first in 1:57.48.
“I have been on the road for four weeks now and have been struggling a bit with my technique,” described Nesbitt about her nerves. The 2006 Olympic silver medalist missed the podium at World Cup #7 in Germany. She bounced back at the World Allround Championships a week later, collecting first place in the 500m and second in the 1500m.
This is the sixth time this season Nesbitt and Groves have been on the podium together, at either a World Cup or the World Allround Championships.
“It is a neat thing for us and shows how strong we are as a team. The depth on our team has just gotten better and better in the last few years. It is a pretty great team to be on,” said Groves, who shared the 2006 Olympic podium with fellow Canadian Cindy Klassen to collect her silver medal.
“I have to say it wasn’t my best skating. I wasn’t quite as focused as I could’ve been,” said Groves about her race today, which she finished in 1:58.40. “For me, I was pretty surprised with my end result just because I didn’t think I skated my best. I was happy to be on the podium.”
Also in the race for Canada was Brittany Schussler (Winnipeg, MB), who has previous experience sharing the podium as well. At the Berlin World Cup in November, Groves, Schussler and Shannon Rempel (Winnipeg, MB) finished first, second and third in the 1500m to sweep the podium for Canada.
Schussler finished seventh today in 1:59.87 and Nicole Garrido (Edmonton, AB) competed in the 1500m B races and finished third. The men raced in the 10,000m with the top long distance skater in the world, Sven Kramer, of the Netherlands, winning gold in 13:03.51. Silver and bronze went to Havard Bokko, of Norway, and Bob de Jong, of the Netherlands. Canada’s only competitor in the A division was Lucas Makowsky (Regina, SK), who came seventh in 13:32.09. In the 10,000m B races Canada had four athletes racing including Jay Morrison (Fort St. John, BC) with the best results; ninth place in 13:45.26. Jordan Belchos (Markham, ON), Mathieu Giroux (Montreal, QC) and Steven Elm (Red Deer, AB) finished in 12th, 13th and 17th.
Canada’s senior long track speed skaters can now return home for a few weeks before the last stop on the World Cup circuit; the World Cup Final in Salt Lake City, Utah, March 6-8. Complete race results are available on the ISU web site (http://www.isu.org/).
