Doubling his pleasure
Vincent De Haitre is taking on a full schedule as track cyclist and speedskater to nail down Olympic spots for Canada
Vincent De Haitre was already blazing down a road less travelled — chasing summer and winter Olympic dreams as both track cyclist and speedskater — when the COVID-19 pandemic stuck a fork in his map.
After careful consideration, the 25-year-old from Ottawa charted a hurried-up course of action, one that poet Robert Frost might have endorsed.
“It’s kind of corny but I like that poem ( The Road Not Taken). It resonates a little bit with me,” De Haitre said from his home in Calgary. “When I first started thinking about it, I thought I’m a speedskater but I also want to be a cyclist, and not a lot of people try to do both at an Olympic level. That’s the path less travelled.
“I was on that path and then the world changed. And this path has only been walked by one other person.”
Bob Boucher competed for Canada in the 1968 Winter Olympics as a speedskater and the Summer Olympics as a track cyclist; and there were just 238 days between the closing ceremonies in Grenoble and opening ceremonies in Mexico City. De Haitre’s turnaround between Tokyo next summer and Beijing in February 2022 would be even quicker, 181 days.
In 1976, Canadian Sue Holloway became the first woman to compete in two Olympics in one year; as a cross-country skier in Innsbruck, and a sprint kayaker in Montreal.
“The only thing I can think of to tell him, as athletes especially in dual sports we tend to overdo it. You’re driven by training,” said Boucher, now 76 and living in Nelson, B.C. “I don’t know how many times I buried myself by doing too much. So just lighten up. Be easy on yourself. Don’t beat yourself up. Stay in the technical mode.”
It’s wise counsel for De Haitre, who has lived for just two months with his decision to continue down both Olympic paths despite the pandemic wrinkle. He was in Victoria in late March preparing for a cycling camp when the Canadian Olympic
Committee pulled the plug on participation at Tokyo and two days later the International Olympic Committee postponed the Games to July and August 2021.
“I had to plan 18 months ahead, all while not knowing when I can walk into our training facilities again,” said De Haitre. “It was a very stressful time, getting everybody on board with both national teams. It was really me calling my shot, saying this is what I believe I can do and standing by that, not wavering, to really build confidence with both national federations that this is possible, I can do it, and I hope you believe in me.”
Since then, physical distancing dictated most of his training occur in his Calgary home, though he now rides and in-line skates outdoors in a vacant research park. A typical six-day week will incorporate 20 hours of training. He still doesn’t know when he can get physio treatments for the back, ankle and knee pain that has been building, or when he can receive instruction in person from cycling coach Jono Hailstone and skating coaches Bart Schouten and Todd Mcclements.
“Essentially my life is kind of in their hands. Where I am and what I do is basically up to them now.”
It is early in the new process and nobody is quite sure how it’s going to work. Or if it will work. Though Schouten and Mcclements have yet to talk to Hailstone, using De Haitre as intermediary they sketched out a two-sport training plan that would take their athlete through both Olympics. There will be more communication soon to confirm every detail, as alignment between Cycling Canada and Speed Skating Canada is crucial.
“That process definitely needs to happen and that’s going to be the critical piece as to whether this whole thing works or not,” Hailstone said. “It goes deeper than just coaches. It’s the gym, strength and conditioning, physical therapy.”
De Haitre needs to carve out a spot on the speedskating team for Beijing, and will have to qualify for those Games before he competes in Team Pursuit in Tokyo. Cycling Canada also wants him at four training camps before Tokyo.
“The main complicating factor is qualification,” said Hailstone. “For 2021, he’s fully committed to cycling and he’ll train full time (up to Tokyo). For the rest of this year we’re trying to juggle between the two sports and try to make sure everyone gets what they need.
“If you wanted this to work and had to choose a winter and summer sport, these are probably the two you would choose. They’re both obviously lower-body focused, so the actual physiology is pretty similar. The main difference is the technical aspect; in team pursuit it’s the bike-handling skills. You’re only a few centimetres away from the wheel in front of you. Make one mistake and it’s pretty costly.”
The technical fine points of speedskating are just as important, and De Haitre will have only six months after Tokyo to regain his touch through all those left hand turns if he is to compete in the 1,000 metres or the 1,500 metres in Beijing.
“The main challenge is that he get stronger again in the position and can hold his speed,” said Schouten. “There are a lot of G forces nowadays because the speed is increasing. To be technically so proficient that he can handle those forces on his legs in the turn, going 60 or 61 kph and doing that 180-degree turn, will be his biggest challenge.”
There are doubts, not about De Haitre’s commitment, but his ability to train appropriately for both sports and elicit peak performance in two Olympics just six months apart.
“If you didn’t have any doubts or questions, you wouldn’t be dealing with reality,” said Hailstone. “The commitment is not an issue. He’s committed and he’ll do the training he needs to do for both sports. But the third piece is just managing fatigue. If he’s got this much time allocated to skating and this much time allocated to cycling, where does the rest come in and which program does it get taken out of?”
In concert with coaches in both programs, De Haitre has to strike the balance to ensure against groin, back and joint injuries related to training load. Schouten said Speed Skating Canada employs world-leading athlete monitoring software that will streamline the process on their end.
“The biggest trap is not giving him enough rest when he’s switching modalities. It’s really important he understands that. We’ll be on top of that so we don’t overtrain or under-rest Vince.”
The rest will be up to De Haitre.
“His willpower and dedication to what he wants to achieve are his biggest assets,” said Schouten. “From there, everything will come together. If the will is there and the dedication is there, he’ll make the right decisions ...”
There are surely medals up for grabs on the oval. De Haitre is the Canadian record-holder in the 1,000-metres and if healthy and properly trained, would be a threat at that distance and the 1,500-metres. He’s also a good bet for the team pursuit squad.
He began skating at age seven or eight, gave it up for a year, but missed it too much. That season away cost him race shape and he was routinely humbled on the track, so he recommitted himself. At age 19, he surprised most observers by qualifying for Sochi 2014. Four years later, with confidence and pedigree aplenty, he qualified for Pyeongchang.
It was a major disappointment, as a bruised heel suffered in dryland training just four days before his first event put the kibosh on medal hopes. He was on crutches when not in skates, but gutted his way to the start line and finished 19th in the 1,000-metres and 21st in the 1,500.
Pyeongchang is unfinished business driving him forward to Beijing. But he’s just as interested in cycling and holds the 1,000-metres national record in that sport as well. It’s not an Olympic distance so he’ll be competing in Team Pursuit.
“I know deep down that I’m a good cyclist. It’s just a matter of finding an event that lets me showcase that.”
He plans to skate through the 2026 Olympics. If successful at both sports, he could see himself cycling into 2024.
“If I inspire someone to do more than just one sport or even just one thing in life outside of sport — finding something they like and also realizing they don’t have to give up everything to chase it — I feel that would be amazing.”