White River Junction
Weinstein, an Etna resident who skated for the United States at both the 1998 and 2002 Winter Olympics, last winter started the Upper Valley Speedskating Club, training charges for the first time with their own twice-weekly, hourlong sessions at Wendall A. Barwood Arena.
With 10 to 12 regulars ranging from age 3 (Weinstein’s youngest child, Levi) to around 50, the new format allows the club to perform the sport as intended — that is, very quickly.
“Being with SCaD for three years was great, because it helped expose a lot of people to the sport,” said Weinsten, 36, a short-track national champion in 2000 and a relay world champion a year later whose team suffered a late fall to place fourth at the 2002 Olympics. “But it was kind of like being a runner and being limited to a treadmill. (The members) wanted to go fast, but there was really no way to go as fast as they could safely, without a full track to work with.”
That’s what they’ve got now at Barwood, with pads set up in the corners and a coaching staff that includes Weinstein’s wife, Amelia, former U.S. National team member and Olympic alternate Sarah Chen and her younger brother, Matthew Chen, a Dartmouth College freshman who’s been ranked in the top five nationally in his age group for years.
The ice time allows the group to venture beyond basic technique and work on — you guessed it — speed drills, as well as proper positioning and weight shifting while negotiating turns and passes at full throttle.
The UVSC has its share of hockey converts, including Woodstock 14-year-old Alex Inglis and brothers Liam and Sebastian Kitchel, of Norwich. The Kitchel brothers, aged 10 and 7, even recruited their parents, Davis and Katie, to join in.
Katie Kitchel — who started off on hockey skates, but showed off her first pair of long-bladed speedskates during Wednesday’s UVSC session — recalled when Liam first shifted his skating passions.
“He was playing for Hanover Youth Hockey, but after trying speedskating, he absolutely loved it and said, ‘This is what I thought (skating) was all about,’ ” she said. “For him, skating as fast as you can in a circle is the best way to do it.”
The outings have also allowed Davis Kitchel, 49, to finally indulge in speedskating after becoming enamored with the sport as kid watching telecasts of the 1980 Olympics and American Eric Heiden, who captured five gold medals in Lake Placid, N.Y.
“I’ve always loved the sport, but there was never really anywhere to do it,” Davis Kitchel said. “This has been awesome, working with great coaches with this program. We actually went with the Weinsteins recently to Lake Placid and skated on the same long track where Heiden won his golds, which was incredible.”
It’s also a familial affair the for mother-daughter combination of Fariha Chaudhry and Noura St. Hilaire, of Grantham. Groups are split up for drills based on ability, not age, so sometimes parents and their children may be skating alongside one another.
“I don’t know another sport where that happens,” said Chaudhry, whose daughter is 12 and a seventh-grader at Crossroads Academy in Lyme. “To be my age and discovering a new sport is wonderful; to be doing it together and having it be a family sport is even better.”
Some of UVSC’s younger skaters have participated in U.S. Speedskating competitions this winter, going against some of the region’s best in their age groups. St. Hilaire, eighth-grader Kiana Allan, Liam Kitchel and Grace and Sophie Weinstein in December skated in a meet hosted by the Bay State Speedskating Club in Walpole, Mass., earning a number of top-three finishes in events ranging from 111 to 500 meters.
Liam Kitchel placed second overall in the 500 in Walpole and went on to compete this month at another U.S. Speedskating event in Cromwell, Conn., where he was the fastest qualifier in three events but fell in two of the three finals, placing third in the 500.
“He still needs to learn how to pass,” Davis Kitchel said.
Even better would be forging an early lead and staying there. On Wednesday, the group spent part of the hour focused on starting drills, where jockeying for initial positioning is paramount.
“It’s hard to pass, especially in sprint races,” Weinstein said. “If you can get out front early, it’s kind of like having the pole position in a one-lap NASCAR race.”
Standing nearby, Amelia Weinstein showed she isn’t an auto racing fan. “I have no idea what you’re talking about,” she quipped.
The group also spent time on crossover footwork and navigating turns with correct form, typically with one arm in motion and the other perched on the back, according to Matthew Chen. Added Weinstein: “You want to stay low, know where your shoulders are — actually, slouched shoulders are OK, even though terrible for regular posture — put your hips into every turn and have one foot on the ice at a time for full weight transfer.”
Sarah Chen — a Dartmouth senior who while still in high school moved from her family’s Southern California home to train with the U.S. national team in Utah — missed Olympic qualification by one spot for the 2014 Sochi Games and has since ceased competing. Yet she still enjoys the sport and, like Weinstein, had always fancied instructing when her competitive career halted.
“I started out in a club just like this, so it’s a great way to stay involved,” she said.
Weinstein, who still skates extremely fast, is glad to be helping introduce people to a sport that brought him so far. He’s also been happy to see that, more often than not, potential pupils need very little prodding.
“Especially for the adults, when we tell them we have a speedskating program, they say, ‘Yes! I’ve always wanted to do that,’ ” Weinstein said. “It’s just been a matter of having something that’s available.”
Jared Pendak can be reached at jpendak@vnews.com or 603-727-3225.