Bright future for new generation of Manitoba speedskaters

OAK BLUFF — A bitter chill at the Rink Training Centre arena drifts through the air on Saturday morning as fans from the bleachers hum with anticipation for their athletes.

Four skaters crouch low at the start line with their 17-inch blades digging into the ice as the beats of Calvin Harris’ Feel So Close pulses through the speakers.

It’s the start of the Prairie Challenge, a short-track Speed Skating Manitoba competition held in Oak Bluff.

The event is one of many meets the SSM organization holds annually to introduce youth to the sport, showcasing the skill and development of athletes ranging between five age categories: junior (16-18 years old), neo-junior (14-15), youth (11-13), learn to train or L2T (9-10), and fundamentals (5-8).

Introduced to Manitoba around 1930, speed skating has become one of the most illustrious sports in the province. Athletes such as Cindy Klassen, Clara Hughes, Tyson Langelaar, and Alexa Scott have all become role models to the younger generations of speed skaters looking to represent their country and province.

Among the athletes competing in the Prairie Challenge is junior skater Kai Peacock, who is looking to do just that. The Winnipegger lined up for the first race of the day, skating 500 metres around a 111-metre oval track in a counterclockwise direction.

Right off the pop of the starting gun, Peacock jumped ahead of the rest of the pack and won his first heat of the day comfortably. After punching his ticket into the finals of the junior category, Peacock placed first and earned himself a gold medal.

Peacock’s fastest time during the competition was 46.6 seconds. He said the road to reaching that impressive time hasn’t been as easy as some people may think.

“I’ve only been this fast for about a year,” said Peacock. “Before that I was very slow.”

Peacock said he speed skated for the first time when he was nine-years-old. He got into the sport because he wanted to be faster than his other friends who played hockey.

“I remember I just wanted to be faster than my friends, so I asked my mom ‘Hey, can I try speed skating.’ She asked if I wanted to try power skating instead but that didn’t have the word speed in it,” he said.

Peacock went to an open skating session at the Winnipeg Speed Skating Club, which at the time was known as the River Heights Speed Skating Club. Since then, he hasn’t looked back.

At 12-years-old, Peacock made the provincial development team and continued training until recently landing a spot on Manitoba’s official roster.

Despite it taking longer than he would have liked to achieve that goal, Peacock never got discouraged because of his love for the sport.

“It’s the adrenalin you get from having 17-inch knives on your feet and going really fast in circles with multiple people around you,” he said. “It’s just an incredible feeling — it’s the same reason why people love F1 so much.”

Within the last year, In the 500-metre race, Peacock has improved his personal best time from 47.9 seconds to 45.9, making up a considerable two seconds.

He said his hopes in speed skating moving forward is to be accepted to the University of Calgary, where they have a prominent speed skating program, as well as the Olympic Oval to train for long-track competition — Peacock competes in both long-track and short-track.

Peacock’s goal with the program in Calgary would be to develop his skills further and eventually reach the next Canada Games.

“That would be really cool,” Peacock said. “It would take a lot to get there, but it would mean a lot to me.”

Another rising star in the province is 13-year-old Mia Tetrault, who’s also looking to represent Canada on the big stage.

“My goal since I was eight-years-old has always been to make the Olympics,” Tetrault said. “That would be a dream come true for me.”

Tetrault began skating when she was eight-years-old. She started by playing Timbits hockey but eventually found her passion for speed skating through an open house meant to introduce the sport to youth like her.

“I loved it right away,” she said. “I’m very competitive and have always enjoyed racing and endurance-based sports, so it just felt right.”

Tetrault began training with her local Eastman Speed Skating Club in Steinbach twice a week before being invited to Manitoba’s development team at nine-years-old. She got the call up to the official provincial squad when she was 12-years-old.

“When I was younger, I had my mind set on making the provincial team because I knew that’s where I needed to be if I wanted to move along in the sport,” said Tetrault. “It felt very rewarding when I got there.”

Tetrault took home gold in the women’s neo-junior category.

Presenting the medals to the athletes was Greg Bieber, the current interim president of SSM. He said these competitions are days the athletes will never forget.

“It’s all about the kids,” Bieber said. “This is their Canadian Winter Games and Olympics — it’s their moment.”

Bieber, who’s been on the SSM board since 2012, said his goal is to bring more people into the sport of speed skating. Hosting events such as the Prairie Challenge is a step in the right direction, but he believes there is more that can be done.

“I would like to increase the numbers,” he said. “We only have seven clubs in the province, so I would like to grow the sport significantly at the grassroots level.”

He said a significant factor that it’s not more popular in Manitoba, such as a sport like hockey, is because of community infrastructure. Winnipeg only has one long-track oval at the Cindy Klassen Recreation Complex on Sargent Avenue, and there are no short-track ovals in the city.

“Someday down the road we need our own short-track facility because we’re competing with the usage of venues,” said Bieber. “If we have our own, that wouldn’t be an issue.”

Because there are no short-track ovals in the city, speed skaters need to use hockey arenas to play their sport. He said the amount of hockey played in the city makes it difficult to lock down ice time.

As for athletes such as Peacock and Tetrault, they are focused on continuing to grow their game, so they have the opportunity to represent Canada.

The next short-track speedskating event is the Eastman Cup, which will be held Mar. 16 from at the CRRC Arena in Niverville.