By Julia Rim
Ottawa’s Andrew Lahey, who placed third at the world junior short-track speed skating championships, will not be at the Winter Olympics because Canada already has enough competitors.
Sixteen-year-old Lahey beat out international competitors to win the men’s 1,500 metres and placed second in the 500 metres.
He placed ahead of Dan Weinstein, who made the U.S. Olympic team and will compete in Nagano. Weinstein was eighth overall at the junior world’s.
“I am not bitter or angry about it, but still it would be nice to be able to go,” says Lahey.
But he, like many other good Canadian skaters, did not even try out for the Olympic team because he is not yet a top skater in the country.
To make the Olympic team, Lahey will have to attend a specific set of trials that are held only in an Olympic year. He’ll skate a total of eight races—four 500 metres and four 1000 metres—to get a ranking. Only the top six competitors make the team, and they aren’t always on the national team.
Lahey’s next move is to raise his national standing. Last year he ranked 38th, and needs to be in the top eight to make the national team.
Sandra Chouinard, president of the Gloucester Speed Skating Club, says Canada has more depth in the sport compared to the U.S.
She says the U.S. has about 300 competitive speed skaters, whereas Canada has 10,000.
“It’s good there is so much competition in Canada because those involved have to be completely dedicated and well-prepared,” Chouinard says. “Those who make our Olympic team are generally the best in the world.”
Lahey says he will continue to train and get ready for 2002.
“I will wait for the next Olympics,” he says. “I am really looking forward to it.”
Lahey started speed skating 11 years ago when a family friend suggested he and his father join the Ottawa Pacers Speed Skating Club.
Since then life hasn’t been the same. Lahey has a specific training regimen, and he goes to competitions almost every other week. During skating season, he trains four evenings a week on ice—three one-hour sessions and one two-hour session—at the J Alph Dulude Arena or the Orleans Recreation Complex. In the summer, Lahey runs and weight trains daily.
Lahey says he finds it difficult to keep up with his school work. He recently moved from Nepean High School to Confederation because it offers a specific athletics program.
“Skating is a lot of hard work,” he says. “But it pays off.” The best thing, says Lahey, is the excitement he gets from rounding a track beside his competitors.
He also says he doesn’t find international competition overwhelming.
“It can get really competitive, but I think I manage pretty well,” Lahey says. “I actually really enjoy the competitions.”
His coach, David Morrison, of the Ottawa Pacers and the Gloucester Speed Skating Clubs, says Lahey is good at short-track speed skating because he likes the mass start, where competitors are beside him at the beginning of a race.
Morrison predicts good things for Lahey, though he says short-track is very competitive at the senior level.
“I think Andrew should be able to move way up to at least a 21st or 22nd ranking, perhaps higher,” he says. “Whether he will skate fast enough to make it in the top 16 this year, I don’t know, but maybe next year.”
Lahey will try to improve his ranking at the Canadian open championships in Calgary on March 6-8.