DUFFY AIMING TO MAKE MOST OF HOME COOKING
Oakville speedskater in own backyard for World Cup short- track event
Patrick Duffy gravitates to the dark and disturbing as a history major at Montreal’s Concordia University.
“I like to focus on World War II and the Holocaust,” says the 24- year- old member of Canada’s short track speedskating team. “Those are two pretty dismal things, I know, but for me, there was just so much going on in that era. I can’t help but enjoy reading everything about it. I think it’s an area that can be learned from, especially for diplomatic reasons.”
On a ( much) lighter note, Duffy relies on that same philosophy in short track. His sport is tactical in nature, with every race essentially a battle to the finish line.
“You can’t learn without making mistakes, right?” said the native of Oakville. “You can’t learn without losing.”
Normally, Duffy flies under the radar compared to the big names on the national team such as Charles Hamelin, a three- time Olympic gold medallist; Marianne St- Gelais, a three- time Olympic silver medallist, and Valerie Maltais, a six- time visitor to the podium at the world championships. Duffy is still an up- and- comer, with one World Cup bronze medal on his resume.
As the only competitor from Ontario, however, Duffy can expect plenty of media attention this weekend as the World Cup short track circuit stops for the first time in Toronto. The top skaters on the planet are set to converge on the MasterCard Centre, otherwise known as the Toronto Maple Leafs’ practice facility. The heats begin Friday, with medal rounds Saturday and Sunday.
For Duffy, a podium finish on home ice would border on the indescribable. “Pat has just been on a steady progression,” says Derrick Campbell, head coach of the senior men’s team. “Every year, he gets a little bit better. He gets a little bit stronger. He gets a bit fitter. He gets a bit faster. Pat is a racer. When competition day comes around, he steps up his game.”
At the season opener in Montreal last weekend, Duffy bulled his way into third place in the 1,500- metre final. With two laps to go, he watched in disbelief as Hamelin and Russia’s Semen Elistratov collided in front of him and wiped out.
Suddenly, Duffy found himself in first place, needing to take care of business to lock up the first World Cup gold of his career. In unfamiliar territory, he watched helplessly as three skaters passed him on the home stretch to bump him off the podium.
“I think I panicked,” he says. “I need to be adaptive and relax. I just need to have confidence in my ability to lead it out and win it.”
Like many speedskaters in Canada, Duffy discovered the sport after a stint in hockey with modest stats and plenty of flash.
“I didn’t have the best hands, but I was always one of the fast ones,” he says. “I would skate from end to end and try to make a show a little bit.”
At 11, he found his calling in a sport that demanded nothing in the way of hand- eye co- ordination and everything in the way of foot speed.
“I did one competition that first year,” he says. “I just remember skating fast all the time and not really focusing on technique or strategy, because I was quite young. I just remember going hard all the time. It was fun.”
These days, as evidenced by the fourth- place finish in Montreal, going hard is just one ingredient for success.
Technique and strategy come with experience, giving cagey veterans like Hamelin an edge in every race.
“I think this past weekend in Montreal was a good kick- starter,” Duffy said.
“There were a couple of errors I made, but it was still good for me to gain confidence and learn from any mistakes I made. I can apply them to Toronto for this weekend.”