I am back in Lake Placid after my trip to Milwaukee, and catching up on skating, homework, and blogging!
I wasn't quite sure what to expect when I arrived at the Pettit Center last Thursday at around 10 pm. Most of my readers know me as "the figure skater", the one who is at nearly every competition and is most comfortable and familiar with figure skating Jr and Senior Grand Prix events. I have been to several of these events, and compared this one to a combination of Sectionals (where skaters from each section have a chance to qualify for National competition) and the National Championships in figure skating. You see, in figure skating the selection process for world teams is much different. Monitoring sessions usually start in summer, when US Figure Skating officials observe skaters both in practice and competition to determine who should be sent to Grand Prix events, the equivalent of the World Cup series in speed skating. The qualifications are based on who has placed well at Nationals the previous year, as well as high placements at key summer competition. Then they get a few chances to "show their stuff" internationally and hope to compete up to potential at Nationals, which determines who goes to Olympics or Worlds. Speed skating has a bit of a different rhythm; at this competition, skaters who placed well went off to the World Cup events, which would eventually lead to the Olympic Qualifiers in Calgary and Salt Lake City this December. If they do not place in the top 24 in one of the World Cups, they are off; if not, they continue throughout the series. This year, eventually everything culminates in the Olympic Games in February.
Luckily I made it for the last 1000 meter pairings of the evening; among them was fellow Lake Placid Speed Skating Club team mate Trevor Marsicano, who skated with tremendous fight and determination. He came in 7th in that first race, and continued to improve.
Friday was a day off in which both skaters and spectators had a day of rest before the next two days of racing.
Saturday events were the mens and ladies 1500 M. Sunday was probably the most tiring day for the athletes, with the 1000 and 5000 M for the ladies, and 1000 M and 10,000 M for the men.
I was getting tired just watching them skate!
There were lots of other differences to observe, and I learned a lot about the structure of speed skating meets as compared to figure skating competitions.
First, the arena was different. The Pettit center has been described by some as a "warehouse", but to me it felt smaller, friendly, and more comfortable than some of the arenas used in figure skating; they are huge!! For example, the XL center, (formerly known as the Hartford Civic Center) in downtown Hartford, Connecticut, has the capacity to seat approximately 16,000 spectators, while even the 1980 rink has the capacity to host 8,000 fans. Pretty gigantic compared to a few bleachers! This works in the advantage of the spectators, as they are much closer to the action then if they were sitting up in the "nosebleed" section of a rink!
Second, the scheduling is way different than figure skating. In a figure skating Grand Prix event, there are no breaks in between, and no days off; the competition goes straight through with no stops! Luckily there are four disciplines in figure skating (mens singles, ladies singles, ice dance, and pairs) so the skaters do get a bit of a break as their events are not on consecutive days.
Of course, there is the factor of the skating itself. I remember when I first started speed skating I had difficulty understanding the idea of highly efficient and compact movement; figure skating is all about stretch, extension, line......and speed skating is all about power, speed, and flow. There are a little bit of each element in the sports; figure skaters need to be fast and powerful as well as elegant; speed skaters do exhibit some beautiful flow and technique while racing.
In preparation, a speed skating meet can resemble a figure skating competition- they warm up (usually on a bike), do some plyometric exercises, stretch, and prepare to focus on the task at hand. Then the skates are on, there is a short warm up, and it is time to go! The differences? No makeup, pretty costumes, jumping, or spinning of course! :)
All in all, my experience was fantastic; there were some truly thrilling moments. Of course, I was cheering for Lake Placid Speed Skating Club member and Lake Placid Oval alumni Trevor Marsicano.....but I was truly astounded by some other performances. I had heard of Shani Davis' mastery in all disciplines and his incredible speed and strength in every event....but nothing compares to seeing it live! Watching Shani's 10,000 meter skate was amazing, as he kept speeding up towards the end. While other skater's times would increase and they would get slower, Shani got FASTER. It was amazing! Yes, it was as thrilling as when Brian Boitano won the Olympics in '88!
In the end, skating is skating, technique is technique, strength is strength. When watching skating in general, there are always going to be differences, but a person cannot deny that in all instances skating of any discipline can be beautiful.....even without rhinestones :)
LP SKATER
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