Close to 100 skaters between the ages of six and 60 from clubs across Alberta, B.C. and Saskatchewan will hit the ice this weekend for the Bridge Bolt Short Track Meet. This year, the Lethbridge Speed Skating Association has 20 skaters registered in the local club, which has been around the area for 51 years.
Assistant Meet Coordinator Jenna Lowe says racers are put into different groups based on age and within those age categories participants are subdivided into different races according to ability and speeds.
“They do an initial race for several distances depending on their age range. Distances as short as one lap of the short track, which is 400 metres up to 1,500 metres. There’s also relays at the end in their different age categories,” notes Lowe.
Throughout the year, Lowe adds, the club has skaters that train anywhere between one to three times a week. “We have training that happens at one of the rinks in Lethbridge. Skaters who want to do long track training, our coaches teach them long track technique, but they can also travel to Calgary to the Olympic Oval and race on a long track format.”
According to Lowe, the club’s skaters can opt in or out of various competitions across the province. “They go to different meets and compete in short track and long track formats.”
“We have a good success record. We currently have a lot of new registrants in our club, which is awesome. The past couple of years we’ve had like five different skaters that have kind of graduated and are training at the Olympic Oval in the elite athlete program they have. Though some of them have not even graduated from high school, they’ve moved to Calgary to train, as part of that program. Our club has a pretty impressive success rate,” says Lowe.
The meet runs Saturday and Sunday at the Cavendish Farms Centre starting at 8 a.m.
