The rink is dazzling, the ice is fast, the timing system works well, the dressing rooms are huge, and Prince George people know how to put on a high-level short track speed skating meet.
That about sums Dawn Currie's impressions of her weekend at Kin 1 to watch the Canadian age class short track speed skating championships speed skating. Currie is Speed Skating Canada's sport development director and will be the national sport organization representative for speed skating at the 2015 Canada Winter Games and she said the city has a perfect venue for the Games short track events.
"When you walk in it's very bright, very open and very welcoming and I love it, this whole venue is very well set up for our sport," said Currie.
"The neat thing is you're going to see athletes here that will be in the next two Olympics after that and you will be left with the legacy of this rebuilt Kin 1 arena. You'll have a timing system here, which is an expensive piece of equipment {which will be shared with the Prince George Track and Field Club], but because you're hosting the Games you were able to get it here. The [host Prince George Blizzard Speed Skating Club] could never do that on their own."
Currie predicts the Canada Games legacy will not only be the facilities but how those facilities will be used to attract other speed skating events like the world junior championships. She's also convinced improvements to Kin 1 will spur growth and development of the local clubs.
Currie was impressed with the location of the outdoor oval in close proximity behind the Kin Centre complex. The Canada Games short track and long track events will be scheduled at offsetting times to allow skaters from both disciplines to support each other during their races.
The Blizzard club is one of oldest speed skating clubs in the province, starting in 1977, and Currie said it makes a huge difference to have knowledgeable volunteers who have already been exposed to working at high-level competitions like the 2010 Olympics.
"You have a great amount of committed volunteers here who are not only committed to the Games but to the club, there are a lot of officials in Prince George and in the area that we'll be able to use at the Games," said Currie.
"There are only so many clubs in Canada that can host national events, so to get that experience they have to go to Calgary, Richmond of Quebec, and there's a cost to that. One of the legacies will be the development of officials."
Currie will also oversee the Exhibition Park outdoor oval when it hosts its Canada Games test event next January. While there are concerns weather conditions will not be conducive to making outdoor ice, she said it's unrealistic to expect a Canada Games host city to build an artificially-refrigerated oval, which would cost more that $1 million. If by next February Prince George is unable to offer safe outdoor ice, she said the long track speed skating events would be moved to the indoor oval in Fort St. John.
Meet organizer Ariadne Hiller praised the involvement of city staff in working with the Blizzard club to create the best possible ice conditions for the age class meet. Quebec team coach Erika Huszar, who competed in short track for Hungary at the 2010 Olympics, said the Kin 1 ice was fast, almost on par with that of Calgary, the gold standard of short track facilities.
"The ice is fast and and some skaters did their best times here in the 500," said Huszar. "Sometimes when they try to push the limits they fall, but nobody has been injured and that is a really good thing. The rink is really nice and I think it's a good facility."
One change Huszar would like to see implemented for Canada Games is to move the coaches box to the opposite side of the grandstand to better enable skaters to hear the instructions of their coaches over the noise of the crowd.
