Manitoba’s junior speedskating competitors shone once again at the annual Canadian Long Track Championships in Quebec City from January 8–10. All five youth members of the local Eastman Speed Skating Club ranked high enough to qualify and represent Manitoba—and between them, they brought home an impressive number of medals.
Making up the Manitoba quintet is 15-year-old Willa Dowse of Niverville and 14-year-old Mia Tetrault of Ste. Agathe. The final three, hailing from south Winnipeg, are Yule Wang, Everett Saydak, and Justin Cheng.
“Every year, Manitoba does super well,” says club president Cara Dowse. “[This year] we sent five [kids] and they came home with six medals. Quebec has 30 skaters in [this competition] and they win a lot of medals. Quebec is very strong, but we do really well considering our low numbers.”
All five skaters competed at the Neo-Junior championship level against other 14- and 15-year-olds from across Canada.
“At this age, [all the kids] race all the distances,” Dowse says. “So they all do 500, 1000, 1500, and 3000 meter and they all do a mass start, which is a ten-lap race with 20 people on the start line at the same time. The other distances are called Olympic-style, which is all time-based.”
Willa took home a gold medal in the 1500-and silver in the 1000-meter. She managed a number of fourth-place finishes as well.
In the mass start competition, Mia took bronze and then a silver in the 3000-meter.
Yule took the bronze medal in both the 500-meter and the mass start.
Unfortunately, one of the remaining Manitoba competitors came down with the flu while in Quebec and had to miss most of the competitions. Dowse is confident their wins could have been higher had he been able to compete.
Going to the nationals means more than just proving one’s skill in a variety of categories. It also provides an opportunity for young up-and-coming Olympians to hone their skills alongside peers and mentors from other provinces.
“Willa was [paired] with the top male skater from Quebec,” Dowse says. “It’s just so that they can practice some of the events that will come up if they keep skating [into higher levels].”
Speed Skate Canada is the national governing body for speedskating across the country and the organizers of the national competition.
“We’re here to rally, inspire, and lead the charge for our country’s most successful Olympic sport,” the website states.
Next year, as Willa turns 16, she’ll make the jump to the Junior championship category where she’ll compete against 16- to 18-year-olds from across the country.
If she continues in the pursuit, Willa will be eligible to participate in Olympic trials in the coming years.
This past fall, Willa and her mom attended the World Cup in Calgary as spectators, giving Willa the opportunity to get to watch international competitors whom she’s come to recognize and idolize.
Unfortunately for Manitoba speedskating competitors, there will always be travel involved when it comes to competing at a national level.
“There are only three indoor long tracks in the country,” says Dowse. “So [the nationals are] always in Fort St. John, Quebec City, or Calgary.”
The Manitoba club practices on an outdoor rink with a natural ice surface at the Cindy Klassen Recreation Complex in Winnipeg.
“I think that’s why we do so well,” Dowse says, tongue in cheek. “We’re tougher. The Quebec kids are inside skating and we’re skating in -30 with a windchill most of the time. So when we go inside, we kick butt.”
Speedskating has been a recognized sport in Canada for more than 150 years. What’s believed to be the first formal speedskating race in Canada took place in 1854; three British army officers challenged each other to make the fastest time from Montréal to Québec City, using the frozen St. Lawrence River as their track.
In 1887, the Amateur Skating Association of Canada was created.