CLUB NEWS

SKATERS' NEWS

REGULAR ICE TIMES IN THE 2011-2012 SEASON The Club has four hours of ice time per week at the Mount Joy arena : every Tuesday and Friday evenings 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. The last evening will be Friday March 30, 2012 (on the eve of the Regional and Masters Championships). The younger and novice skaters have the first hour (7-8 pm), while the faster and experienced skaters have the second hour (8-9 pm) each evening. Click to download the season's calendar and the season opening newsletter. CLUB RECEIVES PRIZE MONEY - AGAIN! Intact Insurance, a major sponsor of the national speed skating teams, has awarded the Club $1000 from their Podium Tracker program as a result of a podium finish by one of the national skaters at a recent World Cup event . This news is so recent that the skater and event has yet to be published! This is the second such prize in as many years: see the story below about the first award. The Club is very grateful for the support provided by Intact to Clubs across the country from this program. INTACT DAYS ON SKATES Several members of the Club participated in the Days on Skates events hosted by Intact Insurance and Speed Skating Canada at Toronto's Harbourfront ice rink on Sat/Sun Feb. 11/12 with multiple Olympic medalists Catriona LeMay Doan and Kristina Groves as special guests. Skaters from several Toronto-area clubs demonstrated for the public and assisted newcomers in trying speed skating in brisk outdoor conditions. Catriona LeMay Doan (in red) joins                               Kristina Groves (right) joins (l to r) Jamie Atherton, Heidi Beck, and Tim Beck.        Tim and Heidi Beck, Claire and Justin Liew. Breanna Chapman and Callista Bennett also participated. CIVIC CENTRE RINK OPENING The Club participated in the opening ceremonies of the new outdoor refrigerated skating rink at the Markham Civic Centre on December 10 by giving a demonstration of a relay race. To keep the event manageable and within the time constraint, it was limited to two teams of three skaters each who skated twelve laps with reduced straight-line lengths. They braved the sub-zero temperature and brisk wind and skated well in front of an audience of several hundred spectators. Tim Beck (green 5) exchanges with Claire DesRosiers (green 7) while Connor McPherson (wearing black) prepares to exchange with Jamie Atherton (red 6). A snippet of the relay race is shown in the video of the opening activities, starting at 3:22. Relay skaters with Olympic figure skating medalist Steven Cousins Thanks to Heidi Beck, Tim Beck, Claire DesRosiers, and Jamie Atherton, plus visitors Alexis Halushak and Connor McPherson, for the flawless demonstation, and to Ron Blackwell, Gary Witney, and Ingrid Beck for assistance. OSSA SILVER #5 RACE MEET The Club hosted the 5th. Silver ability race meet santioned by the Ontario Speed Skating Association on Saturday December 3 2011 at the Angus Glen Community Centre in Markham. It was a very successful event thanks to all the hard work by many volunteers and for the generosity of many parents and sponsors. Our 23 skaters did well, winning seven medals and many, many PBs. Congratulations! To see all the results, click here. Photographs taken by Parry Chow are available on-line. Several other photographs are printed in the January 2012 issue of Snap Markham and can also be seen on-line. A photograph of Tim Beck (helmet #666) appears on the front page of the December 9th. issue of the Markham Economist and Sun newspaper. It and other photographs can be seen in a slide show with sound: click on the photograph of the Newmarket Jets skater (Sarah Mulcahy) to start the show. The cradle class skaters were surprised when Santa Claus stepped onto the ice and presented them with gift bags following their races. Click the play button below to watch the report by Rogers TV First Local Sports on the first such race meet the Club hosted in December 2009. IN-CLUB RACES We expect to allocate four of our regular practice evenings to in-club races in which everyone stays for both hours and races 3 or 4 times: see the calendar for the dates as presently scheduled. These races prepare skaters for the formal OSSA-sanctioned Silver series provincial race meets, as well as parents in the roles and tasks of race officials. Three in-club race evenings have taken place so far this season thanks to many parent volunteers. Click on the appropriate link in the following table to obtain the results. October 21 November 22 January 20 Group A Times Group A Times Group A Times Group A Rank Group A Rank Group A Rank Group A Speeds Group A Speeds Group A Speeds Group B Times Group B Times Group B Times Group B Rank Group B Rank Group B Rank Group B Speeds Group B Speeds Group B Speeds Group 1 Times Group 1 Times Group 1 Times   Group 1 Rank Group 1 Rank Group 1 Speeds Group 1 Speeds Group 1 Speeds The ranks are based on the sum of the points earned by the finish order after the last of the rounds of each distance. Click here to see the photographs that Parry Chow took on October 21. TV STORY RogersTV broadcasted a story about our Club during the week of October 3-8 2011. Watch and listen how two families learn to speed skate together. CLUB RECEIVES PRIZE MONEY As a result of Charles Hamelin winning the gold medal in the 1000m event of the short track World Cup race meet in Quebec City in December 2010, Intact Insurance, a sponsor of the national speed skating teams, held a random draw and our club was selected to win a $1000 cash prize from their Podium Tracker program . Dave Lough of Intact presented the Club with a giant cheque in a ceremony on September 16 2011 during a practice session. This welcome bonanza is being directed to training four new coaches to support the development of our skaters. These photographs, taken by Parry Chow, also appear in the October 2011 issue of SNAP Markham, which is available free at the arena and at many public other public places. Preliminary award ceremonies took place during the Canada East Championships in March 2011 (see story on right). In the photograph, Club president Roger Buxton shares a gold medal with three members of Canada's Vancouver Olympics' gold medal short track relay team: (left) Francois-Louis Tremblay; (centre) Francois Hamelin; and (right) Guillaume Bastille. WINTER DRYLAND The winter dryland program is being evaluated. Skaters will probably conduct exercises at the arena either before or after they skate. If you skate at 7 p.m., dryland will be afterwards at 8 p.m., or if you skate at 8 p.m., dryland will be before ice time at 7 p.m.. Coaches will provide more information. SUMMER DRYLAND Our summer weekly outdoor dryland training has ended. To see what some of our summer dryland training looks like, go to our summer dryland page and look at the videos which Rogers TV broadcasted in recent years. SKATING PROGRAMS The coaches will assign beginning skaters and those with some experience to the 7-8 p.m. hour and the more experienced and skillful ones to the 8-9 p.m. hour. The skating programs are created accordingly. Skating programs will be a blend of Race Ready! created by Dave Morrison, one of Ontario's best coaches, for our faster skaters with new programs incorporating the Long Term Athlete Development principles for all skaters. Competitive skaters are expected to conduct warmups in the arena for half an hour before our ice times, so ensure you arrive in time to take advantage of them. However, one, two, or even three hours on the ice each week are insufficient to optimize the skills, strength, and stamina you need to race well, so take the time to keep fit off the ice. Any way that keeps you fit, strong, and agile is desirable. One excellent way is to participate in our weekly Winter Dryland Training. Or, use our Fit To Skate program indoors, either by yourself or as a group. Coaches can advise you on other clubs in the GTA which allow visitors to train with them. Newmarket, Brampton, Toronto, Clarington, Oshawa, and Clarington are the most commonly-used opportunities. COACHES Ron Blackwell is our Head Coach and organizes the coaching program and coaches' schedule. Ginette Lamoureux is our High Performance racing coach: she was on the Ontario short track team prior to studying engineering at McGill University, and has also been leading our summer and winter dryland training programs. Ron and Ginette are assisted by Jocelyn Bérard, Callista Bennett, Heidi Beck, and Jason Cochrane. Former Canadian Olympic skater Valerie Ing will assist on some Friday sessions this season too. SKINSUITS Any skater who would like a Markham skinsuit should take their measurements according to the diagram and contact the Club. The more who order at one time, the lower the price. CLUB'S ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING The Club held its Annual General Meeting on Wednesday May 25 2011 TV STORY On Friday January 22 2010, Rogers TV recorded material during our Club's sessions for a segment for the York Region Living channel of Rogers TV. It was broadcast on Cable 10 & 63 during the week of February 14 2010. Click on the 'Play' button below to watch it. FUTURE FACILITY? The Town of Markham is working on plans for the Markham International Sports Training Academy (MISTA). This is an outgrowth of the former proposal for the Canadian Sport Institute Ontario (CSIO). It will be a major multi-sport complex providing top-quality facilities and services fostering a 'culture of excellence' to enable athletes to reach international performance level as well as serving the needs of the community: a 'playground-to-podium' concept. Its proximtiy to several million people in the Toronto area makes it very attractive as a source of athletes, spectators, and sponsors, and the variety of public transit services and roads makes it conveniently accessible. MISTA will contain facilities for ice, water, and court sports, and ancilliary facilities and services for high performance athletes. We are interested in the ice component, consisting of Olympic-sized ice pads as well as the several thousand seats for spectators as a major competition venue. We expect to persuade OSSA to locate and its offices and the provincial short track team here to provide an environment which will encourage young adults to continue high performance speed skating during and after their high school years. It will be located at Highway 407 and Kennedy Road, adjacent to the YMCA and GO train station. It will also be very close to the York Region District School Board's Bill Crothers Secondary School on Main Street Unionville, south of Hiway 7, which opened in September 2008. The school "links excellence in education and athletics with a commitment to healthy, active living." Some Club members attend this school. Funding is expected to use the public-private partnership model. Previously, the Town of Markham Council voted unaminously in June 2007 to endorse the earlier CSIO plan and authorized nearly $70 million towards the cost of its construction: that commitment still applies to MISTA. Issues still remain due to the separate commitment to build a swimming pool for the 2015 Pan American Games. The MISTA facility will clearly provide a wonderful opportunity for our Club to grow and get better and become the club in Ontario! Let's start the work towards that goal now!

2011-2012 RACING SEASON Two of our skaters wasted no time in bringing home the medals from the first meet of the 2011-2012 racing season held in London on October 16-17. Skaters have participated in every western and central region race meet so far this season, with eight skaters now in the Ontario Cup series. Here are the 22 medals for the season:   GOLD: Tim Beck at Silver #2 Noah Chow at Silver #4 and Silver #7 Kyle Simpson at Silver #4 Jamie Atherton at Silver #5 Malcolm Rose-Harriot at Silver #5 Rasa Rahnema at Silver #5 Eugene Wong at Silver #7.   SILVER: Claire Liew at Western Regional Silver #2 Nima Rahnema at Silver #4 Rasa Rahnema at Silver #4 Bennett Lai at Silver #4 Tim Beck at Silver #5 Callista Bennett at Silver #5 Graeme Mitchell at Silver #7 Tim Beck at Silver #9.   BRONZE: Dawson Roberts at Silver #5 Trevor Morton at Silver #5 Breanna Chapman at Silver #7 Russell Chan at Silver #7 Malcolm Rose-Harriot at Silver #9 Mark Simao at Silver #9 Daniel Asadi at Silver #9. These skaters made their debut in sub clubs for 500m: sub 55s : Nima Rahnema: Breanna Chapman sub 60s : Vincent Ho.; Rasa Rahnema Well done! Click to see the photographs of Ontario Cup #2 and Silver #5 (taken by Parry Chow) (choose from 'Sets and Collections'). NATIONAL ATTENTION Claire Liew was busy during the summer training not only for speed skating but also for runs to raise funds for breast cancer research. Intrigued to see that Catriona LeMay Doan was doing the same thing, Claire decided to contact her, and in no time she became quite a media celebrity. To see how, play this video. Much to her delight, she was able to meet in person not only Catriona but also 4-time Olympic medalist Kristina Groves a few months later at the Intact Days on Skates event (see left column). NATIONAL TEAM Jordan Belchos won a position on the national long track team for the World Cup races in the fall of 2011 by finishing first easily in the 10,000 metre distance, second by a fraction of a second in the 5,000m race, and fourth in the 1,500m distance in the qualifying races in Calgary. As a result, he skated for Canada in Russia, Kazahkstan, and the Netherlands. He became a double Canadian champion by winning gold medals in both the 5,000m and 10,000m distances at the 2012 Canadian Single Distance Championships on the first weekend in January to further cement his dominance of the long distances. He will therefore continue to race for Canada in the World Cup events in the rest of this season. He reached this height by winning a place in 2006 in the pre-2010 Olympics Own The Podium program and moved to Calgary to train in long track speed skating at the Olympic Oval. He qualified for the national long track Development Team in 2009 and raced on the Canadian team at the World Cup event in Moscow for the past two seasons. He has since risen to the top of long distance skaters: at the Canada Cup #1 meet in December 2010, he was 2nd. in the 5000m and 1st. in the 10000m, repeated that placement at the 2011 Canadian Single Distance Championships, and won in both distances at Canada Cup #4 in March 2011. He received a new Markham Spirit Award medal from Mayor Frank Scarpitti and the Markham Sport Council (in absentio) during an Athlete Recognition Ceremony at the end of November 2009. TRYING FOR THE OLYMPICS IN 2014 Alex Ianculescu also moved to Calgary to train in long track speed skating on the Olympic Oval. In the 2009-2010 season, she was selected to be a forerunner at the Vancouver Olympics in February 2010 (see the photograph on our home page). In that role, she skated for TV and commentary timing purposes just prior to the races, and was a track steward during the actual races. What experience! In the 2010-2011 season, she won all the races in the Ontario team trials for the Canada Winter Games, and competed for Ontario in those games in Halifax in February 2011 (photo on right). She then raced in the Canadian Junior Championships and won a place on the Canadian Junior team, and raced at the World Junior Championships in Finland. She also won a silver medal at the North American Championships and raced in the World Junior Cup in The Netherlands. She finished the season with 4 PBs in five races at Canada Cup #4. 2011-2012 marks her first season in the senior category, and she finished in the middle of the pack in the 500m and 1,000m distances at the recent 2012 Canadian Single Distance Championships, setting a PB in the 500m in the process. See her express her Olympic goal during the Rogers TV clip in the Publicity paragraph on our summer dryland page. For a lot more about her, visit her website . She offers some really important advice in her blog on Wednesday May 25 2011: "Did a long warm up which is essential to the things we do because we work so many muscles and if they are not warmed up they can be injured. Most common speed skater injury is a groin pull. Those happen on ice most of the time but can easily happen if you don’t stretch properly. Last year I would always show up to practice on time and wish I had a longer time to stretch and not rush through things. I’d run, do my stretching, do a few sets of imitations, stretch again and then hit the ice. So towards the end of the year I started showing up early and making time for all that, and I did see a difference in my skating." SKATERS ON TEAM ONTARIO AT 2011 NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS Benjamin Ahn (left) and Cameron Mitchell (right) competed for Team Ontario at Speed Skating Canada's Canada East Age Class Short Track Championships which were held in Toronto on March 26 & 27, 2011. Ben was in the Boys 13 division and Cameron was in the Boys 14 division. They earned their positions on the team from their results in the Ontario Cup race series during the winter season and from the Ontario Championships on March 5-6. It was Cameron's third time at an annual national competition, but it was Ben's first, and at the end of his first season of racing no less! Prior to the competition, RogersTV compiled a story about Cameron and Ben, and broadcasted it during the weekend of the competition in their 'York Region This Week' show. Click on the play button above to watch it. This was the first national meet under the new age classes and race formats introduced by SSC to conform with their implementation of the Long Term Athlete Development plan, and the skaters (and officials) adapted remarkably well and quickly given their very limited experience with the new format. Cameron Mitchell had the honour of being the flag bearer for Ontario and took the oath for all the athletes at the opening ceremonies. He was also prominently featured in the photograph accompanying an article about the Championships published on page S7 of the sports section of the Toronto Star on Sunday March 27. He had a moment of gold too - with Guillaume Bastille and his Olympic gold medal earned in the short track relay in Vancouver last year. Skaters from Quebec were numerous and very strong, as expected, but skaters from Ontario and the other provinces gave them determined competition - and everyone was fast!   Cameron Mitchell leads three Quebecois.                 Ben Ahn leads Ontario and New Brunswick. Overall, Cameron finished fifth (and the top Ontarian) and Ben twelfth in their age classes. You can watch videos of many of the races on-line. Do it: it's instructive! CAMERAS, MIRRORS, ACTION! Andrew Godbout, who was formerly our Club's Head Coach, appeared in an article about Olympic technology in the December 20 2009 issue of Macleans magazine. He also won a Own The Podium position and moved to Calgary at the same time as Jordan Belchos, to also train in long track speed skating at the Olympic Oval in Calgary. He too was on Canadian World Cup teams last season. Photo by Macleans The photograph show him wearing in-line skates while training on a giant treadmill surrounded by mirrors and TV cameras which allows him, and his coaches, to carefully watch his movements at speeds up to 60 km/hr to permit refinements in technique. Andrew (below left) was also interviewed by CBC radio's Metro Morning program's host Andy Barrie (below right) on November 25 2009 about his journey from a recreational skater in Markham to vying for the Olympic team. Click the Play button below (centre) to hear their conversation (6½ minutes). HOW FAST DID THEY GO? A police speed gun was used to measure some skaters' speeds during a practice in January 2010. Here's how they fared, subject to tolerances. Cameron Mitchell 33 km/hr Jonathan Nishio 33 Heidi Beck 30 Kyle Graham 30 Zubin Sethna 30 Peal Ge 29 Vincent Ho 28 Nima Rahnema 28 Claire DesRosiers 28 Scott Taylor 28 Breanna Chapman 26 Rasa Rahnema 26 Not surprisingly, these values pretty well reflect race results. KYLE GRAHAM IN TV NEWS Kyle Graham was featured in a news story on GlobalTV on February 20 2009. He joined the Club in the Learn To Speed Skate program in November 2008 and has made rapid progress, winning his division in his first competition in January 2009. This feat caught the attention of the GlobalTV sports desk, so they chose to do a story on him. Click twice on the 'play' arrow below to watch it.