SPEED SKATING IN EDMONTON

Facilities

Prior to 1948, speed skating in Edmonton occurred at community hockey rinks and races were held along with winter carnivals. Finals were sometimes held at the Arena (Edmonton Gardens) or at the 119th Street rink just north of Jasper Avenue (covered and with natural ice).

In 1947, as a result of Doreen Ryan (Junior) and Don Wynn (Intermediate) winning Canadian Championships in Sudbury, Ontario on a 6 lap to the mile track, the City of Edmonton Parks & Recreation Department, under the chairmanship of Jack Reilly, indicated that they would provide a track with the proviso that all community clubs would amalgamate into one Edmonton Speed Skating Association (ESSA).

Subsequently, an 8 lap to the mile (200 meter) track was prepared in Diamond Park in Rossdale in 1948 and the ESSA was formed in 1949. Initially, no warm-up building was provided.

This was soon changed to a 6 lap to the mile (268 meter) track and a warm-up building was built in conjunction with the adjacent hockey rink. In 1959 the Canadian Olympic Trials were held on this track. Doreen Ryan made the 2 women 1960 Olympic Team and saw her first 400m track in Squaw Valley. This was the first time that women were included in the Olympics in Speed Skating. Doreen skated again in the 1964 Olympics in Innsbruk.

A request was made to accommodate a 400m track. As there was no room in the present location it was moved to the old soccer pitch at Clarke Stadium (Commonwealth Stadium). A warm-up facility was provided. Edmonton’s Paul Enoch set a Canadian Record on this track in the 5000m, which stood for 12 years. Due to problems with growing grass on the soccer field, the track was moved to Coronation Park in 1969.

Murray Gardiner was coach of the Edmonton Speed skating Club from 1962 to 1974. He was an early promoter of Olympic Style speed skating in Canada and under his leadership Edmonton produced many Canadian Champions and Olympians. Canadian Champions included Bob Hodges, Frank Ludke, Paul Enoch, Andrew Barron, Tom Overend, Cam Tipping and Verna Overend. Olympians included Bob Hodges, Frank Ludke, Paul Enoch, Andrew Barron and Tom Overend. Murray was also coach of the 1972 Canadian Olympic Speed Skating Team.

From 1969 to 1975 the club was practicing at Coronation Park, where the running track was flooded by the City. However, the corners did not have the required radius of 25 meters and the track could not be used for competition (it was very awkward to skate on). Hawrelak Park was used in 1974 as the site for the Alberta Championships.

In 1974 Cam Tipping, who was on the National team, had to train in Edmonton and found Coronation inadequate for this purpose. Jack Tipping and Bud Hall of the ESSA, in cooperation with the City, suggested Victoria Park as a possible site for a competition track. In the fall of 1975 some trees and shrubs were removed and the small skating rink in Victoria Park was enlarged by the City to a 333 m speed skating oval. In December 1975, the Canadian National Team Trials were held at Victoria Park, with participation of Canadian Champions Cam Tipping (from our club) and Craig Webster. Several Alberta Championships were held between 1975 and 1985, but no larger competitions were possible because of lack of dressing rooms and officials space.

In 1985, the club was gearing up for the 1988 Olympics with several talented young hopefuls (such as Geoff Williams and Colin Davidson) and it was felt that the 333 m oval was inadequate for training for such an event. A Community Recreation Grant was obtained from Edmonton Parks and Recreation and the oval was enlarged to a 400 m Olympic size track. As a result, three of our club members were fore-runners during the 1988 Olympics and our member Arty Lancaster represented Canada at the 1990 Junior World Championships as Canadian Champion. Several Alberta Team Trials were held in Edmonton and the times of the 1992 trials stood as track records for over 10 years, as a result of shaving by a Zamboni.

In 1990, several meetings were held between the ESSA and Kim Sanderson, who was the Community Recreation Coordinator of Parks and Recreation assigned to Speed skating. These meetings resulted in a report on: the Vision of the Future of Speed skating in Edmonton. This vision included an artificial ice surface at Victoria Park and a canal type ice surface link to Hawrelak Park (a copy of this report is enclosed). These meetings were initiated because the facilities surrounding the oval were inadequate and extra trailers had to be moved on site for competitions.

By 1999 the facilities were still the same as in 1975. The club had grown to over 100 members and the dressing rooms were overflowing during regular practices. The new trailers installed in the fall of 1999 improved the quality of the dressing rooms, but not the amount of space. The now financially stable club is proposing to the city to realize one of the visions of the future of speed skating by building a clubhouse using their own financing.

The Victoria Park Oval is possibly the most scenic outdoor speed skating track in Canada and is well protected from inclement weather by its location in the River Valley and the surrounding trees. The club has been happy with this site and has successfully shared it with public skating. Up until 1998 the public was allowed to skate on the inside during club practice. The last few years the club has had sole use of the ice during practice hours.

Some member histories

In 1973 Willem Langenberg had completed his doctorate in Geology and had a post doctorate opportunity in Canada. He chose Edmonton, as he had heard that Andrew Barron, who had competed for Canada in the 1972 Olympics, skated out of Edmonton and assumed that Edmonton had a strong club. When he arrived however, he found that it consisted of only a few members and 4 of them, Andrew Barron, Tom Overend, Cam Tipping and Verna Nystrom were all training in Europe. Andrew and Tom also skated in the 1976 Olympics in Innsbruck. Willem coached the Canadian Junior National Team from 1978-1980, training in Lake Placid and Milwaukee, and did a trip to Inzell and Berlin as an apprentice coach with the National Team. Willem was ESSA’s head coach from 1978 till 1992, was Alberta’s Provincial coach from 1980 till 1985 and helped two skaters become Canadian Champion. He is currently coaching and skating with the Masters group. He is president of Marathon Skating International, which hosts a series of marathon races in North America. In addition, he is also president of the Silver Skate Festival Society, which hosts marathon races locally, as well as other skating events. Willem is spearheading a movement to have the 10k mass start race as an official Olympic event, as it was at the 1932 Olympics.

Since 2002, Kathy Gregg, took over from Sean Maw as the technical director of the club. Kathy skated in the 1976 Olympics in Innsbruk, competing in the 500 and the 1500 m and in the 1980 Olympics at Lake Placid, skating the 80, 500, 1000, and 1500 m. Kathy indicated that the 1980 Opening Ceremonies in Lake Placid was especially memorable as, it was just after Canadian Ken Taylor had just got the American hostages out of Iran. It is also where she met Randy Gregg. She currently has her daughter Jessica, who has recently qualified to skate on the short track team for Canada at the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver, and son Jamie, who will be vying for the team at the long track trials. Her other daughter Sarah, is on the National B team and is hoping to compete at the 2014 Olympics.

The latest former Olympian to join our club is Gordon Goplen. Gordon comes to us from Saskatoon. He skated in the 1988 Olympics in Calgary, competing in the 5000m and the 10,000m. Gordon was also impressed with the opening ceremonies, as well as meeting Eddy the Eagle, Katarina Witt, and the Jamaican bobsled team. Gordon has two daughters in the ESSA program.

Our current president, Jules Chabot, holds the Canadian Masters (35-39) records in the 500, 1000, 1500 and 3000m. Jules is spearheading the effort to get a Zamboni to shave and flood the ice at Victoria Park. ESSA has been in Victoria Park since 1975. Work has been done to go from a smaller skating rink to the present day 400 m Olympic sized oval. The work continues….Jules has 3 children currently in the program.

Doreen Ryan, Willem Langenberg and Brian Johnston
October 2009