My Relationship with US Speedskating: The Early Years, and the Possible Origin of the Conflict
When I first started speedskating at age 11, my family and I weren't quite sure how serious I'd be about the sport. My first coach, Mark Jastrzembski, started the West Michigan Speedskating Club in 1988, after watching the Calgary Olympics. I was one of the first members of WMSC.
I spent my first year and a half on a pair of borrowed Planerts, which I supplementally supported with various combinations of Ace bandages and duct tape. Once I finally got a decent pair of skates and turned the Planerts back in to the club, the blades were found to have a hollow radius. No wonder I had been such a hazard to the other skaters!
During my early competitive years, I rarely ventured out of the state of Michigan. Once I set foot on the 250 meter outdoor track up north in Petoskey, I knew that long track was my true calling.
I competed in my first long track, pack-style Nationals in 1992; current National Team member Amy Sannes won our age division, and I came in 4th overall. Mike Crowe, who was National Team coach at the time, had seen me and Amy compete at the Nationals, and he invited both of us to come to a National Team training camp in Calgary that summer. I couldn't believe it. It seemed like I had gotten my foot in the door that would open to my dream of full-time speedskating training.
My trip to that camp in August of 1992 was certainly memorable. I was 15 years old, and flying alone for the first time. I flew from Chicago-O'Hare to Des Moines, Iowa, where there was a mechanical problem with the next plane, and I had to stay overnight in a hotel. I called Katie Marquard-of USISA- to let her know what was going on. She talked me through the situation, and called Mike in Calgary to let him know I'd be arriving a day late.
My first National Team camp was a great experience. It was the most scientifically advanced training program I had ever been exposed to, and it was the first time I had used a heart rate monitor in training.
After the camp, Mike invited me and Amy to move to Butte, Montana, and train with the National Team that coming season. Here is where I believe my problems started (although I woulnd't be aware of this until later): Amy went, and I didn't.
As a teenager, there was nothing I wanted more than to train in a full-time speedskating program, but my parents didn't allow me to go. My mom was concerned that all of the other activities in which I was involved - including my education - would fall by the wayside. Also, she thought that 15 was too young to be leaving home to train.
Disappointed and confused, I spent my sophomore year of high school trying to come to some sort of decision about my future. That fall, I figured that running cross country would substitute for speedskating training, and so I did no skating-specific work at all. By mid-November, at the start of our short track racing season, I found myself in the unique position of being totally burned out from running and completely unprepared for speedskating.
After a rude awakening at a short track meet in Jackson, MI, I dropped speedskating in disgust and didn't think about it for a few months.
In the spring of 1993, I started to train again, and in the summer I attended a training camp in Lake Placid with a group of other skaters from Michigan. That camp was run by Stan Klotkowski, who had worked with several Olympic-level skaters in Poland and the USA, before moving to Lake Placid to coach a group of younger skaters.
At that camp, I did well enough on some of the dryland tests that Stan noticed me and invited me to come train with his group. Of course, I was thrilled, and agreed immediately. I was so happy to be back on track. Little did I know, that by aligning myself with Stan, I was putting myself outside the mainstream of speedskating. Well, maybe I kind of sensed it, but my naive reasoning was this: "A speedskater is a speedskater, right? This is such a small sport. When I get on a high enough level, USISA will appreciate me no matter what program I come from!"
When I try to come up with possible reasons why USISA turned against me, I wonder if it's possible that they held my rejection of Crowe's offer to train with the team in 1992 against me. And then, did it make matters worse that I chose to train with Stan only a year later?
If this is the case, then what people need to understand is that this is just the way my WHOLE life arranged itself best. It had nothing to do with rejecting one coach, or choosing one coach over another. First of all, by 1993, I was 16 years old, and for some reason, that age "sounded better" to my mom, as far as letting me leave home to train. Secondly, because Stan is Polish, and so is my mom, it was much easier for him to convince my parents that he would take care of me. (This may sound silly, but it is true.)
Also, in the fall of 1993, my whole family moved from Muskegon, MI, to Mason City, Iowa. We all figured that if I were going to be uprooted anyway, I might as well go to Lake Placid and skate.
After spending October 1993-January 1994 with Stan in Lake Placid and Milwaukee, I had a pretty decent racing season, barely missing Junior Category One, and setting a North American age-group record in the 1500 meters that would stand for 8 years.
I rejoined my family in Iowa for the remainder of my junior year, followed Stan to Salt Lake City in August of 1994, and the rest is history: "Children of the Dirt Oval."
When I first started speedskating at age 11, my family and I weren't quite sure how serious I'd be about the sport. My first coach, Mark Jastrzembski, started the West Michigan Speedskating Club in 1988, after watching the Calgary Olympics. I was one of the first members of WMSC.
I spent my first year and a half on a pair of borrowed Planerts, which I supplementally supported with various combinations of Ace bandages and duct tape. Once I finally got a decent pair of skates and turned the Planerts back in to the club, the blades were found to have a hollow radius. No wonder I had been such a hazard to the other skaters!
During my early competitive years, I rarely ventured out of the state of Michigan. Once I set foot on the 250 meter outdoor track up north in Petoskey, I knew that long track was my true calling.
I competed in my first long track, pack-style Nationals in 1992; current National Team member Amy Sannes won our age division, and I came in 4th overall. Mike Crowe, who was National Team coach at the time, had seen me and Amy compete at the Nationals, and he invited both of us to come to a National Team training camp in Calgary that summer. I couldn't believe it. It seemed like I had gotten my foot in the door that would open to my dream of full-time speedskating training.
My trip to that camp in August of 1992 was certainly memorable. I was 15 years old, and flying alone for the first time. I flew from Chicago-O'Hare to Des Moines, Iowa, where there was a mechanical problem with the next plane, and I had to stay overnight in a hotel. I called Katie Marquard-of USISA- to let her know what was going on. She talked me through the situation, and called Mike in Calgary to let him know I'd be arriving a day late.
My first National Team camp was a great experience. It was the most scientifically advanced training program I had ever been exposed to, and it was the first time I had used a heart rate monitor in training.
After the camp, Mike invited me and Amy to move to Butte, Montana, and train with the National Team that coming season. Here is where I believe my problems started (although I woulnd't be aware of this until later): Amy went, and I didn't.
As a teenager, there was nothing I wanted more than to train in a full-time speedskating program, but my parents didn't allow me to go. My mom was concerned that all of the other activities in which I was involved - including my education - would fall by the wayside. Also, she thought that 15 was too young to be leaving home to train.
Disappointed and confused, I spent my sophomore year of high school trying to come to some sort of decision about my future. That fall, I figured that running cross country would substitute for speedskating training, and so I did no skating-specific work at all. By mid-November, at the start of our short track racing season, I found myself in the unique position of being totally burned out from running and completely unprepared for speedskating.
After a rude awakening at a short track meet in Jackson, MI, I dropped speedskating in disgust and didn't think about it for a few months.
In the spring of 1993, I started to train again, and in the summer I attended a training camp in Lake Placid with a group of other skaters from Michigan. That camp was run by Stan Klotkowski, who had worked with several Olympic-level skaters in Poland and the USA, before moving to Lake Placid to coach a group of younger skaters.
At that camp, I did well enough on some of the dryland tests that Stan noticed me and invited me to come train with his group. Of course, I was thrilled, and agreed immediately. I was so happy to be back on track. Little did I know, that by aligning myself with Stan, I was putting myself outside the mainstream of speedskating. Well, maybe I kind of sensed it, but my naive reasoning was this: "A speedskater is a speedskater, right? This is such a small sport. When I get on a high enough level, USISA will appreciate me no matter what program I come from!"
When I try to come up with possible reasons why USISA turned against me, I wonder if it's possible that they held my rejection of Crowe's offer to train with the team in 1992 against me. And then, did it make matters worse that I chose to train with Stan only a year later?
If this is the case, then what people need to understand is that this is just the way my WHOLE life arranged itself best. It had nothing to do with rejecting one coach, or choosing one coach over another. First of all, by 1993, I was 16 years old, and for some reason, that age "sounded better" to my mom, as far as letting me leave home to train. Secondly, because Stan is Polish, and so is my mom, it was much easier for him to convince my parents that he would take care of me. (This may sound silly, but it is true.)
Also, in the fall of 1993, my whole family moved from Muskegon, MI, to Mason City, Iowa. We all figured that if I were going to be uprooted anyway, I might as well go to Lake Placid and skate.
After spending October 1993-January 1994 with Stan in Lake Placid and Milwaukee, I had a pretty decent racing season, barely missing Junior Category One, and setting a North American age-group record in the 1500 meters that would stand for 8 years.
I rejoined my family in Iowa for the remainder of my junior year, followed Stan to Salt Lake City in August of 1994, and the rest is history: "Children of the Dirt Oval."
posted by Eva at 2:54 PM
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