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After Doreen Ryan and Don Wynn won the Canadian Speed Skating Championships in 1947, the City of Edmonton opened its first 200 meter speed skating track. The very next year, the Edmonton Speed Skating Association (ESSA) was formed.

The Association skated at tracks in Rossdale, Commonwealth Stadium, Coronation Park and Hawrelak Park before Victoria Park was enlarged to a 333 m speed skating oval in 1975. In 1985, when  young Olympic hopefuls needed a place to train, the oval was enlarged to a 400 m Olympic size track. By 1999 the club had grown to over 100 members and new trailers were installed. Now the Association is working to improve the quality of the ice at the Victoria Oval and purchasing a Zamboni for the next season.

On, February 15, 2010, the edmontonstories team went to the Edmonton Speed Skating Association’s Fun on Ice event at Victoria Oval. We couldn’t have asked for a more perfect day for this event. Families, couples, and speed skating fanatics skated around the oval enjoying the warm sunshine.  

Here’s what some of the speed skaters had to say:

Kerry Nield (16 years old) and Adeline Maunder (14 years old) are crazy about speed skating. They enjoy the speed of the sport as well as the fantastic community of skaters and lifelong friends they have made.

Kerry: “I love speed skating. It’s so fast and fun and I love the people. We skate 3 days a week with them and there’s great camaraderie. A lot of us have been skating together for 6-8 years and we’re like a family. Everyone is so supportive like a team, even though it is an individual sport.”

Adeline: “Jessica (Gregg) is at the Olympics which is very cool! She coached me. One day Kerry and I might get to the Olympics and have kids look up to us.”

Brian Johnston’s first experience with speed skating was at the Silver Skate festival on hockey skates: “I wondered how much faster speed skates were over hockey skates…everyone was strung in a line across the lake at Hawrelak Park and took off together. Watching the speed skaters round the bend and change directions was like seeing a flock of birds changing direction together.” He was hooked and scoured the city for his first pair of speed skates.

Check out Connie and Scot’s in-depth interviews below:

Connie Pope is a part of the Masters group and has been speed skating for over 5 years. She competes and currently holds 4 Canadian records in her age group.

Scot Sugden is studying Physiology at the University of Alberta. A passionate speed skater, Scot used to compete, but now coaches the younger kids as well as the Masters group (30 years old and up).