Bloemen adds another autumn record
EDMONTON Records, as they say in speedskating, are made to be broken in January, February or March.
Not in September. The World Cup season doesn’t even start until November and it seems most speedskaters don’t hit their stride until the new year.
But Ted-Jan Bloemen, who cares less about the calendar than the stopwatch, is becoming a legend of the fall at the Olympic Oval in Calgary. For two years now, the longdistance specialist has cracked open his season in September by breaking the Canadian record in the 5,000 metres. On Sept. 22, almost exactly a year after he’d whittled the mark down to six minutes 11.64 seconds, he did it again, shaving it to 6:08.06.
“It is pretty unusual, although I did it last season, too,” he said. “I think for me, this is not peaking right now. I think I’ve been really good before in the fall and it’s just kind of how our program works. It doesn’t mean this is the end. I’ll get better from here, I think.”
Bloemen is 31, but PyeongChang will be his Olympic debut. He’s been in Canada’s national program since only the 2014-15 season after tiring of a constant uphill battle to make the national team in the Netherlands, where he was born and learned to skate. Because his father Gerhard was born in Bathurst, N.B., and lived in Canada for a while, Ted was able to obtain citizenship.
The move has been a great one. In addition to his 5,000-metre record, he is also the fastest Canadian male over 3,000 and 10,000 metres. In fact, he holds the world record in the latter distance, lowering it to 12:36.30 on Nov. 21, 2015. That accomplishment naturally makes him a medal contender for PyeongChang.
Bloemen is pre-selected to race for Canada in the first four World Cup meets, but he’s going to participate in the trials in Calgary in October anyway.
“It’s not like you can keep up with the top guys just by training harder one season,” he said. “I’ve been giving it everything for the last four years and I’ll continue to do so.”