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Gaudet leaving crash behind for Calgary event |
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Written by TED CLARKE, Citizen staff
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Thursday, 09 October 2008 |
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NORTHERN SPORT CENTRECALGARY
Such are the hazards of being a short track speed skater.
Gaudet was shaken up but there appeared to be no permanent damage after she lost an edge in one of her final practices leading up to this weekend’s Octoberfest short track meet in Calgary.
“I fell like that once during the summer, but that was it,” said Gaudet.
Good thing, considering how many skaters break bones that way.
Gaudet, 16, is entered in the meet along with her 16-year-old Prince George Blizzard Speed Skating clubmates, Sarah Pousette and Tim Hempsall, as well as Fort St. James Falcons club skaters Jamie MacDonald and Thomas Gordon.
Gaudet plans to stay on her feet this weekend at the Olympic Oval event, a series of 500-metre and 1,000m races.
“I’m just excited we’re back racing again,” said Gaudet. “I just want to get good times and start the season off with a good start, minus the spills. I feel stronger and more prepared. This (provincial team program) has helped us a lot.”
The Calgary races will determine the seeding positions for national trials, which in turn will determine the top-32 skaters for the Canadian junior (19-and-under) championships Dec. 20-21 in Chicoutimi. Some national development team skaters like former Blizzard skater Cory Rasmussen will likely take part.
“It’s a high-level meet, the ice is fast and there’s good competition where our kids will be exposed to a high-performance training atmosphere,” said Northern regional training centre coach Keith Gordon. “This is an open-class competition and they each want to get a high ranking. I don’t care if they get 30th as long as they get fast times.”
As provincial-level athletes, Gaudet, Hempsall, Pousette, MacDonald, Thomas Gordon and long track specialist Phillip Shrimpton are the prime beneficiaries of the regional training centre for speed skating, set up at the start of last season. Blizzard club coach Carol Dennison is working together with Gordon, following a program overseen by provincial coach Jacques Thibault.
Having the training centre based at the Northern Sport Centre, where athletes connect with PacificSport’s high-performance sport conditioning program, gives the speed skaters access to nutritionists, strength and conditioning coaches, and sports psychologists. Until last season, that kind of one-stop shopping service did not exist in the city for national-level athletes.
Hempsall, the B.C. Winter Games champion, had a breakout season last year as a first-year junior and he’s looking forward to getting the new season underway in Calgary.
“It’s the first meet of the season and it’s usually great for getting fast times because of the excellent ice in Calgary,” said Hempsall. “There’s going to be lots of competition, people from all over the world are coming, so it should be great. My goal is just (personal bests) because it’s hard to compare yourself to guys who are 20, who have been skating all their lives. You just stay behind them and use them to get better times.”
Hempsall finished eighth overall at the age group nationals in short track and was second in the Canadian long track finals. He’s already skating 500 metres in 44.31 seconds, three seconds quicker than last year. He’s clocked 1:30.98 in the 1,000.
“Last season was easily my best season yet and I’ve just continued doing stuff I did last season, he said. “Just doing fliers at the camp we had here a couple weeks ago on not great ice, I did a 9.2-second lap. That’s a lap I’d be really happy with in Calgary.”
Pousette is back for a full season of competitions after taking last year off to focus more on school. Although she’s done well in the past in long track events, she’ll stick to the arenas this season.
“I’m pretty much staying with short track because, to do long track you need to be bigger and have long legs so you can push that much further,” said Pousette. “In short track you can be little and be sneaky “
Pousette plans to make use of her endurance in longer races, a trait she developed training for long track on outdoor ovals.
“Being able to keep your lap times up in 1,000 and 1,500 races is huge,” she said. “Lots of people can sprint for two laps, but it’s being able to take it out with six laps to go, rather than four, that makes the difference.
“The program we have now is so much more than the people in Calgary (national team members) had when they were our age. So I think all of us in our group have the potential to do really well. There’s nothing holding us back. It’s as good as Calgary.”
--- Shrimpton is entered in the Olympic Oval Invitational long track meet, Oct. 31-Nov. 2.
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Last Updated ( Thursday, 09 October 2008 )
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