Laura Hall likes to go fast.
Since picking up speedskating at the age of five, the now 11-year-old Laura is representing the province on the national stage.
Laura made the trip to the Clarence Downey Speed Skating Oval in Saskatoon for the two-day Canadian Age Class Long Track Championships held on Feb. 7-8.
The long-track championships serve to introduce the nation’s most promising long-track skaters to national competition and to develop better athletes.
More than 170 skaters from the ages of 11 to 29 from across Canada competed in the championships.
She was introduced to the sport by her dad, Mike Hall, who also began speedskating at the age of five.
“At her age she is already better than I was, she has won more medals and been to more events,” said Mike proudly.
He explains that it was an easy decision to introduce Laura to speedskating since he helped to found the Salmon Arm Ice Breakers Club more than 15 years ago.
Laura quickly took to the sport and a few years ago Mike made the difficult decision to have Laura skate out of Vernon instead, where she would have more resources to help her excel in the sport.
Two times a week the Halls make the trip to Vernon for practice, and once a week travel to Kamloops for ice time.
The sacrifices made have paid off as Laura finished fifth overall in the 11-year-old age group, which was contested by 17 skaters.
“I was very nervous before my first race, (100-meter) but it was an excited kind of nervous,” says Laura. “I didn’t know any of the other girls and how I would compare against them.”
She also skated in the 300-m, 500-m, 1,200-m, and 3,000-m events.
One-one-hundredth of a second was all that separated Laura from winning the bronze in the 100-m race.
She prefers the longer distances, though, and showed that she is made for the longer endurance races as she skated her way to a bronze medal in the 3,000-m event.
“I want to go to the Olympics and win medals for Canada,” explains the bronze medalist.
The nearest long track is in Prince George or Calgary, but that has not been a hinderance for Laura. Mike explains that 95 per cent of the skills in short track are transferable to the long track.
More often than not it’s the fastest skater who wins the race in long track, as opposed to short track where there is more jostling for position and strategy involved, says Laura.
“She has shown to be very coachable; if she continues to put in the necessary work I think she can achieve her Olympic dream. It’s just a matter of the work now and the next 10 years to get there,” says Mike.
He explains that his daughter has a great aerobic capacity, but doesn’t have lots of power, which can be improved by work.
In two weeks Laura will compete in the short-track provincials in Vanderhoof, where she hopes to qualify for the Canadian West Championships in Selkirk, Manitoba in March.
