Community Corner

Speedskating Campers Hit the Rink at the Prince William Ice Center

The United Capital Blades Speedskating Club is shaving off ice and time at their summer speedskating camp at the Prince William Ice Center this week. The camp functions as an open practice for the team, in which other skaters of any skill level can learn or improve their speedskating skills alongside the UCB team. 

The DC area is highly competitive in the speedskating world, and teams often skate year-round and do extensive off ice training. The Prince William Ice Center hosted the US Junior National Short-Track Speedskating Championships the last two years. Despite using the Prince William Ice Center rink, the UCB Speedskating Club doesn't have any Woodbridge skaters.

"We'd love to have some from Woodbridge," UCB President Anna Rhee said. "People come and they watch, and we say, 'Would you like to try?' and they say, 'Mmm, we couldn't do that.' Well, actually everyone had to start from the beginning." 

The track is 111 meters, and an Olympic time for nine laps is in the 86 to 88 second range, Rhee said. If a skater can complete a lap in under 10 seconds, they can compete nationally. The fastest speedskaters get close to 8 seconds per lap. 

Gabriella Hachem had only been speedskating for a little over two years when she won two gold medals for her age group in the 2013 US Junior Short-Track Speedskating Championships in Omaha, Nebraska.

"It was my first nationals," she said. She joined United Capital Blades as soon as it was founded, and loves the summer camp. "It's hard, but it's good for you, because we all get a lot better during summer, and it helps us prepare for competition." 

United Capital Blades is holding another speedskating camp next week at the Prince William Ice Center. They request registrations by Sunday night, as this makes it easier to provide enough skates for everyone. To learn more, email capitalspeedskating@gmail.com or visit www.capitalspeedskating.org.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here