{"id":18644,"date":"2019-11-19T11:02:17","date_gmt":"2019-11-19T09:02:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.victronenergy.com\/blog\/?p=18644"},"modified":"2019-11-19T11:02:17","modified_gmt":"2019-11-19T09:02:17","slug":"speed-skating-first-report","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.victronenergy.com\/blog\/2019\/11\/19\/speed-skating-first-report\/","title":{"rendered":"Speed Skating – first report"},"content":{"rendered":"

The 2019 winter Speed Skating season is already well underway with a new world record and a fiercely-contested season in prospect.<\/p>\n

Although they would be too modest to admit it – The Dutch are the dominant force in the sport, taking twenty or more medals in each of the last two Winter Olympic Games. How do they do it?<\/p>\n

One of the most prominent and successful clubs in the Netherlands is Gewest Frysl\u00e2n<\/a> – who have trained 5 of the 12 Junior skaters to go forward into this season’s international events. Gewest Frysl\u00e2n have a reputation for picking the top talent – for speed and individual potential – and then training them to the highest level. Among the reasons for their success, they believe, is that they insist on training athletes across all disciplines of the sport – allowing skaters to learn from each other.<\/p>\n

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Gewest Frysl\u00e2n. 2019 Athletes.<\/p><\/div>\n

What are the disciplines?<\/h4>\n

We thought we’d take a moment to explain a little about Speed Skating. Although hugely popular in Northern latitudes – and particularly the Netherlands – speed skating is little understood elsewhere. What is all the excitement about? What are the challenges? Who are the names to watch?<\/p>\n

Powering along the ice at speeds of over 50 kmh; the Olympic sport of Speed Skating witnesses 2, 4, 8 – \u00a0sometimes 25 skaters – racing on an oval ice rink over distances between 500m and 10,000m (40,000m in marathon events).\u00a0Perhaps the most exciting moments of each race are the corners! Racers – travelling fast – are often very tightly-bunched as they loop into a sharp corner seeking to take the lead by unexpected lane-changes.<\/p>\n

Individual- and Team-events.<\/h4>\n

Individual events will have strict rules regarding competitor-interference – but these are more relaxed in the ‘Mass Start’ events …where there may be twenty or twenty-five starters, with the result that in the heat of the moment accidents and incidents are more likely to occur. Team Pursuit races may be strategic – pacers dominating the early stages with sprinters held in reserve for a final burst and an early-burst team member permitted to drop out – or they may adopt the well known ‘relay’ format.<\/p>\n

A lot of these formats are recent developments, and have made the Sport much more interesting.<\/p>\n

Victron Energy are proud to once again be sponsoring Gewest Frysl\u00e2n – the sixth year we have done so. We like their continual striving for excellence. The four disciplines taught at Gewest Frysl\u00e2n are:<\/p>\n