Introducing Bob Lawton

Bob Lawton is the newly elected independent 4th board member of the AIR. Bob has a long and successful history in sport administration, especially with small sports like ours. Bob has had previous experience with winter sports being the General Manager of the 1992 Australian Winter Olympic Team.


Bob's major appointment has been with Macquarie University Sports Association where he was appointed Executive Officer in 1971, and has since been made an Honorary Life Member in 1991 and awarded a Silver Jubilee Honorary Fellowship in 1992.

We are incredibly fortunate to have someone of Bob's reputation and credentials to help us.

Aussies In Kobe

Jeremy Solo
© 2007 ISU

Lachlan Hay Towing The Pack
© 2007 ISU

World Cup 2 - Sunday Wrap-up

Pretty successful day for the 2 Aussie boys today seeing as they got up early for the Repecharge Heats. This is as close to mano a mano as you can get. They both started the 1000m(2) competition today from the same point - the Repecharge Heats. Here is a list of their progressions:

Jeremy Beck
Repecharge Heat - 1st
Repecharge Quaterfinal - 2nd
Repecharge Semifinal - 1st
Repecharge A-Final - 4th

Lachlan Hay
Repecharge Heat - 2nd
Repecharge Quaterfinal - 1st
Repecharge Semifinal - 1st
Repecharge A-Final - 1st
World Cup Quaterfinal -DQ

Lachie wins this time. The boys faced off in the Repecharge A-Final which marks the first time in probably a decade or more that two Australians line up on the same startline in an ISU event. You see it often with Canadians and Koreans because they consistently qualify through to the finals.

The startlists are drawn according to seeding, with adjustments made if 2 skaters from the same country meet when they can be split. That is what happened in the Repecharge Semi's - Lachie and Jeremy won separate Semifinals. They would have been intentionally split by the ISU seeding system so they could avoid racing against each other. Of course once you are in the final, there is no option but to be on the same startline. Kudos to the boys for that milestone!

Lachie took out the Final while Jeremy finished 4th. After all that he voided the World Cup points with a DQ in the afternoons Quarterfinal! Maybe there is such a thing as too much momentum? Exciting stuff though. Here are the final placings in the 1000m(2):

Final Aussie Placings in the 1000m(2) Competition
- Jeremy: 19th of 42
- Lachie: 17th of 42
Direct swap today!

World Cup 2 - Saturday Wrap-up

In order to join up with team-mate Jeremy Beck in the World Cup Semifinals in today's 1500m this afternoon, Lachlan Hay had to do it through the Repecharge rounds this morning. That means he had to progress through the Repecharge Quarterfinals, Semifinals and finish in the top 2 in the Repecharge A-final. He did everything but, finishing in 3rd in the Repecharge A-Final, thus missing qualifying into the World Cup by 1 place! Below is his progression:

Lachie in the 1500m Repecharge.
- Repecharge Quarterfinal Heat #4 - 2nd of 6... Qualified
- Repecharge Semifinal Heat #2 - 2nd of 6... Qualified
- Repecharge A-Final - 3rd of 6... One place off qualifying!

Lachie took care of some respectable opposition along the way including the likes of Italian former World Record holder Fabio Carta. Rest up for tomorrow morning's 1000m(2) Repecharge mate!

Jeremy was an automatic starter in the World Cup Semifinals this afternoon on the back of his good racing yesterday. He only managed one start today, which seems like an anticlimax, but one must take into consideration that he earned a spot into the world cup because of his high placings yesterday. A top 2 placing would have seen him into the World Cup A-Final, where as a 3rd or 4th finish would have put him into the B-Final. The results of his Semi show a DQ against Jeremy's name. The lap splits don't tell us much but the advancement of the Chinese skater into the A-Final, and the fact that they don't come close to each other in terms of their relative pack positions until the last few laps, suggests Jeremy was at fault in an incident with the Chinese athlete towards the latter part of the race.

The 1500m ended up as a Korean 1st, 2nd, and 3rd, with Ahn again taking the honours.

Final Aussie Placings in the 1500m Competition
- Jeremy: 17th of 40
- Lachie: 19th of 40

The Girls Are Still In China

As it turns out there is a good explanation for the absence of Women on the World Cup start line this weekend. It seems like both of our girls are still in Harbin competing in a local competition. Also, it appears as though there are still some unresolved problems with Tatiana Borodulina's ISU clearance that is necessary if she is to skate in the green and gold.

Staying back in Harbin to compete would make sense for Tatiana if she is still not cleared to skate for us in ISU events. Perhaps Alix Myra-Anderson is after a specific type of racing experience. It is widely known that the local racing events in China are intensively rough. Also, there would be a higher concentration of athletes closer to Alix in terms of experience and speed. A number of seasons ago my younger brother (Mark McNee) competed in a National Chinese Event. According to his reports, the racing over there was much rougher.

Hopefully when its all over we can get out hands on a protocol? We would love to see how our girls have fared!

World Cup 2 - Qualification Day Wrap-up

Qualifying for tomorrow and Sunday's World Cup has finished with encouraging results. The Aussies have come through the day relatively unscathed, remembering that last week a couple of disqualifications meant that Lachie and Alix had a turn at cutting the oranges. No DQs today though which guarantees at least a second crack at it.

Lachie finished 6th in Heat #1 of the 1500m behind Olympic Long Track Gold Medallist Shani Davis. That means he has to get up tomorrow for the Recharge to ensure he gets through to the World Cup. He takes the ice in Repecharge Quaterfinal #4 some time after 8.40am Kobe time. By the looks of things they will be allowing for 3 qualifiers out of each Repecharge Heat to proceed to the Repecharge Semifinals. Waiting for him in the afternoon will be Jeremy Beck who finished 2nd in Heat #5 securing him a place in the afternoons proceedings thus avoiding the morning's racing.

The 1000m(2) told a slightly different story. Because the 500m and 1000m usually consist of 4 or 5 starters, whereas the 1500m can allow up to 8 on the line, there is an additional Preliminary Round before the heats which are also run as a part of the Qualifying Day. Jeremy again finished 2nd in his first heat (Preliminary Heat #6), this time behind American young-gun Jordan Malone who is a recent convert from the world of inline. The time was slow but this usually means a hotly contested sprint finish after a bit of "cat and mouse" at the start. This put him into 1000m(2) Heat #7 in which he placed 4th behind current World Champion Ahn of Korea, Italian Champion Nicola Rodigari, and a Brit. No DQ means he gets up early on Sunday morning to take the ice in Heat #3 of the Repechage Heats, scheduled for 9.25am Kobe time.

The story is much the same for Lachie.. Also entered in 1000m(2), he finished 2nd in Preliminary Heat #9 putting him into the Heats where he placed 4th in Race #5. Looking at the splits though it seems he was on the pace until lap 4 where he must have had a significant slip, eventually finishing 9 seconds behind - "That's Short Track". Jeremy and Lachie can share an alarm on Sunday morning as Lachie is in Repecharge Heat #6, 3 races after Jeremy.

The absence of DQ's gives both of our lads a second crack at both distances (Jeremy not needing it in the 1500m tomorrow of course). The fact that they are competing in the same event makes it easy for us at home following their progress too.

Still no word on the absence of Women entries though. Good luck in the morning Lachie - we'll be following ya all the way!

Niz to Coach in Briz!

If the whisperings are correct it looks like a familiar face to Australian Short Track is back. Richard Nizielski who was spotted taking in the Australian Championships at Boondall last month, is rumoured to be the Head Coach at the 'Project 10' Women's Training Camp at Acacia Ridge in December.

Richard is a World Champion (1991), Olympic Bronze Medallist (1994) and thespian. Richard also held the Australian 500m Record between 1993 and 2006! That is a long time for a record to stand, and is testament to the level of Richard's performances for Australia in the '90's. I tried for many a season to get my hands on it, but it took Alex Merriman in his break-out season last year to knock it off.

This is a great initiative. Recruitment of local coaches with a vested interest in Australian short track in addition to the depth of international expertise that is already in place will surely add to the stability of our sport.

Let's hope the rumour is true.

... And Then There Were Two!

The startlists for tomorrows Qualifying Day are out. Amazingly, it is confirmation that there are no Women on the startline for Australia for any distance. There has been no news trickle back from Japan as to why this is but I hope everything is OK. I know we were all excited to see our rookie Alix Myra-Anderson on the ice again, as well as the much anticipated 1st race for Tatiana Borodulina in Aussie colours.

Also missing, but more expectedly so is Alex Merriman. This draws our attention to Lachlan Hay and Jeremy Beck who are entered in the long ones again. This weekend sees the 1000m being raced twice (see this post for an explanation of the format). Saturday's World Cup consists of the 1500m and the 1000m(1). Sunday is the 500m and the 1000m(2). Our boys are in the long ones so they are entered in the 1500m and 1000m(2) competitions. Below are their first races:

Lachlan Hay
1500m Heats - Heat 1 (Start Time: 10.05 am approx.)
1000m(2) Preliminaries- Heat 9 (Start Time: after 3.38pm)

Jeremy Beck
1500m Heats - Heat 5 (Start Time: after 10.05am)
1000m(2) Preliminaries - Heat 6 (Start Time: after 3.38pm)

Good luck to Lachie and Jeremy. Lets hope they can carry their good form from last week!

Jeremy Looking Determined in Harbin

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© 2007 ISU

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World Cup 2 - Kobe JPN

The Qualifying rounds for the second World Cup start tomorrow morning. As of yet the start times and program are not listed on the Samsung Website but it does seem that entries have been lodged. The Kobe Organising Committee have their own website which lists the entries for the competition but not their distances they have been entered in.

Interestingly (and if this list is reliable), there seem to be NO entries for Australia in the Womens. Also, Alex Merriman's name has popped up alongside Jeremy Beck and Lachlan Hay for our Men's team!

The racing draw is scheduled for 7pm Tonight Kobe time so we will know who is racing whom (that's for you Mum) after this.

Looks like the 1000m is being raced twice this time. The sprinters have to wait until next trip for their double 500m. Probably the most anxious sprinter to get the 500m double is Canada's Francois-Louis Tremblay who is notorious for concentrating on the short stuff.

1st race tomorrow is scheduled for 9.30am Kobe time. If it is indeed the case that we have no women entered (!) we will have to wait until the Men's 1500m heats for the 1st Australian starter.

Explanation of the World Cup Format

It seems some of us are confused about the way the racing works at the World Cups. This season is the second season of the new format.

OLD FORMAT
Previously, there were 6 World Cup events per year, with competitions occurring in pairs on the same continent. For example, often the first two Competitions of the season were in Asia on consecutive weekends in October, the second two (3 & 4) on consecutive weekends in November/December in North America, then the last two (5 & 6) on consecutive weekends in February in Europe.

Each ISU World Cup was run as a completely "enclosed" event with the same format as the ISU World Championships. That is, the 1500m was run first, followed by the 500m which was seeded according to the results of the 1500m, then the 1000m seeded according to the 1500m and 500m results, then a 3000m Superfinal for the top 8 point scorers. The athlete with the most number of points after the total even was the Winner for that particular competition. At the beginning of the competition, 3 individual athletes were entered in the first round of the 1500m. These were the athletes that competed in all the distances of that particular World Cup. A new entry was allowed into the competition only at the expense of one of the initial entrants, and the new entry had to start from scratch - not taking the points of the skater they replaced. The incentive was on keeping the same 3 throughout the competition. At the end of the season, the athlete with the greatest points total was declared the World Cup Champion. While there were accolades for individual distances, the emphasis was on the aggregate points, as is still the case with the ISU World Championships.

OLD SCHEDULE
Like they are now, the World Cup events were held over three consecutive days. One of the main differences though is that the OLD format ran with the 1500m up first on the Friday, the 500m on Saturday, and the 1000m and 3000m Superfinal on Sunday. The champion was announced at a function after the event. This format is similar to the old Australian Championships format (this year was the first 'all finals' format run in Australia).

NEW FORMAT
The Winter Olympic format - medals for individual distances - has helped shift the focus I think towards specialisation. The NEW World Cup format has absolutely no award for aggregate points - there is no OVERALL CHAMPION. The distances: 500m; 1000m; and 1500m, are run completely enclosed as their own event. A completely new set of competitors can be entered in each distance provided they are chosen from a list of 6 names that have been entered per country.

Hypothetically, if a particular country entered skaters: 'A', 'B', 'C', 'D', 'E', and 'F', according to the new format, any combination of these skaters can be entered into any individual distance (maximum of 3 per distance):
E.g.
-500m: A/B/C
-1000m: C/D/E
-1500m: D/E/F
In this example, there is no cross-over between the entrants in the 500m and the 1500m. This is now allowable. the 1000m has one entrant from the 500m and two from the 1500m. So in this example, A and B are probably specialist sprinters, F is a specialist 1500m athlete, whereas C, D, and E are allrounders. This is just an example, any combination of the 6 can be entered. Like the Olympics, the winner is first across the line for each distance, so there is a 500m champion, 1000m champion, and a 1500m champion (there is a twist to this though which I explain below).

NEW SCHEDULE
'Qualifying' is a new addition to the World Cups. The Friday in the new format (previously used for the 1500m section of the competition) is now a 'Qualification Day'. The initial Preliminaries and Heats are run for EACH distance on the Friday. This is not regarded as the 'World Cup' - just qualifying. The top finishers from the Heats (usually 1st, 2nd, and sometimes fastest 3rd's) are automatically eligible to compete in Saturday afternoon and Sunday afternoon's World Cup Competition. The lower placing individuals get a second go at qualifying by entering Saturday and Sunday mornings 'Repecharge Rounds'. This is like a mini-competition held before the afternoon's World Cups. It consists of Repecharge Heats through to a Repegharge Final. The top 2 or 3 placings from the Repecharge Final for each distance earn a spot in the Quaterfinal (or Semifinal for the 1500m) for the World Cup that afternoon.

HERE IS THE TWIST
There are 6 World Cup Competitions a season, but each individual distance is raced 8 times! This is achieved by racing a particular distance twice in one weekend. Last weekend in Harbin, the 1500m was raced twice. Next week it may be the 500m or 1000m. Because of this, last weekend the Friday qualification competition consisted of a 1500m(1), a 500m, a 1000m and a 1500m(2). Lachie and Alix were entered in both 1500m competitions, so they could not be entered in the 500m or 1000m. Jeremy was entered in the 1000m and the 1500m(2). this was possible because on Saturday, the 1500m(1) and 1000m World Cup finals were run, and on Sunday the 500m and 1500m(2) finals were run.

SUMMARY OF NEW FORMAT
Friday: Qualification Day - 4 separate evens from 500m, 1000m and 1500m, with one distance raced twice.
Saturday Morning: Repecharge Rounds for second chance qualifications in 2 of the 4 distances.
Saturday Evening: World Cup Finals for 2 of the 4 distances.
Sunday Morning: Repecharge Rounds for second chance qualifications in remaining 2 distances.
Sunday Evening: World Cup Finals for remining 2 distances.

If you have any questions etc email me or comment on this post below.

Video of the Aussies in Harbin

I managed to find some video footage of some of the World Cup 1 races.

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Ailx Myra-Anderson's 1500m Australian Record: 2:23.784

As you can see, the pace is hot from the the start Alix takes the lead early before she is overtaken by the pack. She manages to stay on the pace for most of the way until the final stages where the group splits into 2 or 3 smaller groups.

Alix Myra-Anderson Smashes Aussie Record!!

It seems that Alix's fast finish in the 1500m(2) Semi-Final on Sunday is an Australian Overseas record. Remembering from a previous post that Alix fininshed 6th in a 7-person Semi-Final in a race that was on from the early stages. For the splits of the race click HERE.

Alix SMASHED the previous record held by Emily Rosemond (2:31.511 The Hague - NED, 20/11/2005) by clocking a slick 2:23.784 which is almost 8 seconds faster! Emily can still lay claim to the Australian At Home Record which is 2:25.659 which she did at Erina last year. For a full list of the Australian Home and Overseas Records click HERE.

Congratulations Alix, we can't wait to see if you can keep it from Tatiana's hands in the coming World Cups. The are some fast ice competitions coming up in the New Year.

World Cup 1 - Day 3 Wrap Up

It's all over! The first World Cup of season 2007-2008 has wrapped up. We now have some overall world rankings for skaters and countries. I will dedicate a separate post for these.

Alix was first up today just before Jeremy, with Lachlan on sharpenning and drinks duty, and our new Aussie Tatiana mysteriously missing from the startlines this weekend. If she is sick or injured we hope she gets well asap because we are all excited to see her in green and gold.

Alix lined up in Heat 1 of the 3 Semifinals this afternoon, one step away from the Finals. It was a fast race and Alix managed to finish in 6th place right on the pace in a definite PB time of 2min 23sec. With the top 2 in each Semi going into the A-Final, and 3rd and 4th into the B-Final, that was Alix's only start for the day. Incidentally I was wrong in a previous post by saying that avoiding disqualification was enough to get through to the Finals.

Jeremy was next up in the 3rd Heat of the Men's Semi's. He managed a 5th place in an 8-man race in a time of 2min 17sec, which was one place shy of getting a spot in the B-Final. That was it for Jeremy as well.

With no relays in the Men's or Women's divisions the Aussies got to watch the 5 team Men's Relay Final which was won by the Koreans. For those who haven't seen a 5 team race, thats 20 skaters on the ice at once!!

I will give a full summary of the Aussies run in this World Cup in the next post.

World Cup 1 - Day 3

Alix Myra-Anderson and Jeremy Beck line up this afternoon in the 1500m(2) Semi-Finals. The Women are first at 2.34pm Harbin time (4.34pm Australian Eastern). Because both Aussies qualified straight through from Friday's racing we have no one in the Repecharges this morning.

Alix and Jeremy won't know who they are up against until the results of the Repecharge A-Final. Good luck Alix and Jeremy!

World Cup 1 - Day 2 Wrap Up

Today we had the two starters, Lachlan Hay and Jeremy Beck in the 1500m and 1000m respectively. Because of Lachie's win in yesterday's heat he avoided the repecharge rounds and went straight into the afternoon's semi's. Jeremy used a lifeline and skated in this morning's repecharges. Alix got to enjoy the day's racing but will line-up tomorrow in the 1500m.

Jeremy was the first Aussie up. He qualified all the way through to the Repecharge A-Final by placing 2nd in Rep Heat 5 behind the pace setting Brit in a cruisy 1:31, 1st in Rep Quarterfinal 2 in a slamming 1:28 (must be a pb!), and 2nd in the second Rep Semifinal behind the same Pom. His 4th place in the Rep A-Final in 1:59 suggests he crashed out in the latter stages. Decent run though, putting him in 18th overall.

For the final classifications in the Men's 1000m competition click HERE.

Lachie only got one crack at it today because of his good work yesterday. The Semifinal was won by a Korean in 2:13. Lachie finished up on a DQ and from the looks of the splits he was on the pace until the third last lap where he must have gone down. The DQ would have stripped him of valuable finals points, landing him in 19th overall.

For the final classifications in the Men's 1500m (1) Competition click HERE.

Tomorrow is the final day. Both Men's and Women's 500m and 1500m(2) competitions are run as well as the Relay finals. The Aussie's in the line-up include Alix Myra-Anderson in the Women's 1500m(2) and Jeremy in the Men's 1500m(2). Both Alix and Jeremy qualified straight into the Semi's so no one has to get up for the Repecharge. Alix and Jeremy won't know who they are racing until the qualifiers are finalised from the Repecharge A Finals. If they can get through their races without any DQ's they are guaranteed a spot in the A or B Finals!!

We have no starters in the 500m or Relay in either the Mens or Womens so we'll be hanging on for the 1500's. Good luck to Jeremy and Alix!

World Cup 1 - Day 1 Wrap Up

A pretty good day for the Aussies. Alix got disqualified in her first 1500m but qualified through to Sunday's 1500m competition by fininshing in a fastest third qualifying spot with a quick time of 2:27 behind Zhou of China and a Canadian. Because of her disqualification in the 1st 1500m she gets to carry the drinks tomorrow but her result in the 2nd 1500m sees her avoid the Repecharge rounds on Sunday morning and go straight into the Semi's... Not bad for first go!

Alix's Results: (click on the distance for lap splits)
1st 1500m (DQ)
2nd 1500m (fastest 3rd)

The boys similarly had excellent results. Lachie finished first in the 1st 1500m competition - that puts him straight into the Semi's tomorrow avoiding the repecharge. He got DQ'd in his heat of the second 1500m competition which means he has drinks duty on Sunday. From the lap splits it looks like he had a tangle with the Chinese skater in the last lap.

Lachie's Results:
1st 1500m (1st place)
2nd 1500m (DQ)

Jeremy skated in the 1000m and second 1500m. He qualified out of his 1000m prelim on a fastest third but finished 4th in a tough heat. That puts him into the repecharge tomorrow morning for a second shot at qualifying through to the afternoons racing. We wish him well. Jeremy's 1500m heat was a tough one with Olympic Gold medallist Ann Hyun-Soo but he managed to avoid Sunday's repecharge round by finishing in second, putting him straight through to the Semi's!

Jeremy's results:
1000m Prelim (fastest 3rd)
1000m Heat (4th)
1000m Repecharge Heat Startlist
1500m Heat (2nd)

Tomorrow's Aussie agenda:

Jeremy lines up in the 5th 1000m repecharge heat tomorrow morning in an all-Commonwealth affair against Blake Skjellerup of New Zealand and Paul Worth of Great Britain. The first of the mens heats is at 9:10 am Harbin time (11:30 our time). Lachlan sleeps in and races the 1500m Semi after 2:57pm Harbin time.

Looks like some exciting racing to come!

World Cup 1 - HARBIN, China

World Cup 1 starts today in Harbin, China. We have an Aussie contingent representing us again this year and we welcome first timer Alix Myra-Anderson who will line up in both 1500m competitions. She is in heat 3 in the first and heat 1 in the second, with her second heat looking decidedly harder including a Canadian and a Chinese skater. Alix will race the qualifying rounds for both 1500m competitions today, with the the rest of the rounds tomorrow and Sunday. We all wish her well!

Conspicuous in her absence is our new Aussie - Tatiana Borodulina. Perhaps she is resting up for next week in Kobe? We cant wait to see her on the startline in the green and gold.

On the men's side of things we have the old hands of Lachlan Hay in both of the 1500m competitions today and Jeremy Beck in the second 1500m and 1000m events today. No one represented in the 500's or Relays for this competition so we will all be hanging on the endurance events.

Looks like this year Samsung has taken over the timing for the World Cups. The new results page is here. Not sure if we will get the live lap splits and fininshline photos like we did with the finishlynx mob but fingers crossed The more info the better. I will write a wrap-up at the end of the day.

CORRECTION: (First race up today is the Ladies 500m at 9.30am Harbin time which is 11.30am on the East coast of Aussieland) FIRST RACE is actually 10.35am local Harbin time and is the Womens 1500m. Alix is the 1st Aussie off the line in the 3rd heat. Click here for the live local time in Harbin, China.

Good Luck to the Aussies!!!

Emma wins in NZ - Twice!

Emma Coxon-Smith (14) placed 1st in both the Junior and Senior Women's division at the New Zealand National Championships. The competition was held over the weekend (12th, 13th and 14th of October) in Dunedin which is rumoured to have fast ice.

Apparently she managed to pull of another massive "Inside Squeeze" to take 1st across the line in one of her distances - the Queensland skaters will know what this is! She also broke two NZ records in the process. I don't have anymore detail as yet but I will write more when I get it.

Well done Emma!!

DAMO JOINS THE 500KG CLUB!

Today marks the day that Damian Ryan hits 500kg on the leg press. He has been in the 400's for a few months now but finally cracked the 1/2 tonne tonight. He was doing the 'Stack' that I outlined in a previous post. he did his first set on 480kg and managed 12 reps easy so we stepped it up to 500 and he got out the full 8 reps. For all the doubters I will have a camera at the next session so you can see that he didn't cheat!!

Well done Damo!