Netherlands skating team KNSB Gewest Fryslân has already achieved some impressive podium finishes this season. Don’t miss out on the climax of the action!
Victron Energy is very proud to be nurturing young skating talent, once again, as Main Sponsor of the team.
The more-than 100 year old club continues to produce world-class skaters through their coaching programmes. We’ll hear a little more about some of the successes they’ve achieved so far this season in a minute – but if you’re new to the sport, let’s take a quick look at what it’s all about!
At first glance competition rules and event classes can seem a little bit baffling – sometimes they really are! But the sport of skating provides lots of excitement for the casual spectator and connoisseur alike.
Competition skating is an Olympic class event practised, most notably, by a number of European countries, Canada, USA, South Korea, China and Japan.
Ice Skating fans often have a favourite event and there are a number of skating disciplines to choose from – featuring
Short and Long track events for individuals, teams and even Mass Start! – together with Figure Skating singles or pairs.
Performing on ice-skating tracks of up to 400m in length, official Speed Skating competitions are organised into distances of 500, 1000, 1500, 1500, 5000 and 10,000 m. Even over long distances it is possible to maintain speeds of over 50kmh/30mph on blades which measure 420mm / 17 inches.
Some events take place on a shorter track allowing the excitement to build as skaters navigate tighter curves at which they arrive more quickly! In races with four to eight skaters, success hinges on a combination of tactics, agility, and acceleration. It’s not always the strongest or fastest skater who wins; strategy plays a crucial role.
During races between two (and sometimes three) competitors the inside and outside skater must swap lanes at each lap to share the advantage.
Sprint Racing is a singles race over distances of 500m / 1,000m / 1,500m – where the skater’s overall performance is recalculated to provide their average speed over 500 metres.
Figure Skating
Performed as singles or pairs to music, competitors strive to exhibit their form, style, and technique through movements, spins, jumps, and figures on the ice. In the pairs events, these skills are thrillingly augmented by synchronized movements, where the partnership coordinates their actions – ‘both ahead’ or with one partner in reverse – and performs lifts, throws, throw jumps, and death spirals – making for hair-tingling viewing. Points are awarded based on the quality of their performance, including the execution of their elements and the technical difficulty.
Team Pursuit
The Team Pursuit event is contested between two teams of three skaters each, over six or eight laps. At the start of the race the teams begin on the straight, opposite each other on the oval rink – therefore separated by half-a-lap. A team wins when all three of its skaters cross the finish line ahead of all three of the other team – or when the whole of one team overtakes the other.
Mass Start
Arguably one of the most exciting events in skating is the Mass Start – in which up to 24 skaters race 16 laps. These ‘short track’ events see skaters compete en-masse, round tight curves with no designated lanes. They are frantic dashes to the winning line with a lot of contact between skaters, and great potential for clashes …and sometimes chaos! It’s an elimination event where succeeding heats are populated by the winners of previous bouts – on the way to the top there will be many falls and disqualifications!
Gewest Fryslân are sliding ahead of the competition!
This season’s Ice skating competition is warming up. Let’s take a quick look at some of the notable performances which have been achieved by our sponsored skaters – so far.
Among the Junior team Mats Bendijk comfortably won his last 3000 meter event with Sil van der Veen taking third place. Elsewhere, Mats Bendijk achieved silver in one of his 1500 metre events, whilst in the Team Pursuit event Bendijk, Sil van der Veen and Mika Kolder achieved third place.
Team eventers Britt Breider, Elbrich Nicolay and Elanne de Vries won the Team Sprint and their Mixed Relay race, whilst also achieving second place in the Team Pursuit.
We’re very proud of the competitive spirit amongst all our team members – and whilst any one snapshot of stand-out performances may not reflect the efforts of the whole team – other skaters who have climbed the podium already this season include: Kai-Anre Ottenhof, Jonas de Jong; Leon Visser; Jack Boekema; Berend Lange; Sem Spruit; Jarin Ridder; Niek Almost; Rutger Jansma; Anouk Aalders; Eva-Sofie Elferink; Willeke Bouwhuis; Breider and Sietse de Vries; Kailey van der Veen and Tjalle Nijenuis; Otte Hilarides and Ingmar Carpenter; Djoeke Schmitz; Lana Sumirah Schiphof; Janna Wietske van der Ende; Silke Middeldorp; Isa Vijfhuizen; Aaliyah Naceri and Djura Elzinga.
Tijn Borst secured the national title in the neo-senior women’s marathon, breaking away with Vera van Ditshuizen and Kaat van Steekelenburg in the final. In a strong sprint to the finish, she outpaced the others to claim the victory.
That’s a quite lot of skaters who have stretched themselves to greatness. I hope I haven’t missed out any notable early successes – but we can see already that the whole team are really committed to achieving notoriety for their club, their coaches, and for themselves!
The achievements of Pien Smit are worth singling-out as she seems to be shaping up for a World Cup debut.
If you find yourself in the Netherlands this weekend or sometime over the next couple of weeks you can spectate the Gewest Fryslân team’s upcoming competitions on the following dates and locations:
- 11th and 12th of January: Daikin NK Shorttrack in Leeuwarden (the capital city of the province of Fryslân)
- 18th and 19th of January: KNSB Cup A3 Klaverblad Bokaal (figure skating) in Heerenveen
- 18th of January: KNSB Cup Top 2 Shorttrack in Heerenveen
We wish our sponsored team all the luck and success in the world and we will be bringing you more news as the culmination events of the 24/25 winter season reaches their climax!
All photographic images are the work of Wiebe Sietze
