Skjellerup seeks ice time

OPPORTUNITY: Blake Skjellerup's ice time is restricted by availability and cost. At home in Christchurch, he can train for only four hours a week because of restricted rink time.

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When Blake Skjellerup, New Zealand's top short-track speed skater, starts an international competition, it is at a disadvantage.

At home in Christchurch, Skjellerup can train a paltry four hours a week because of restricted rink time, a fraction of what the top international racers do.

To narrow the gap, Skjellerup left yesterday to train for three months in Seoul, South Korea, with some of the world's best.

It will be a radically different training regime. He will train fours hours a day and six days a week, a load he hopes will enable him to improve his times, and, more importantly, his world ranking.

In Christchurch his ice time is restricted by lack of availability at the one rink in the city, and by cost.

"If you want to hire the rink for extra training you basically have to hire the whole building, and it's too expensive," said Skjellerup.

In the past the 22-year-old has had to try and make up for a lack of time on the ice with training off-ice.

"I would do as much off-ice training as the leading skaters, but when it comes to skating I'm doing only a fraction of what they are doing," he said.

New Zealand coach Ken Park, a Korean, has helped smooth the path for Skjellerup to train in Seoul.

Skjellerup spent three weeks in Korea before the world championships in Milan in March this year. In that training stint he trained four hours a day, six days a week.

"The improvement I saw in three weeks was huge. If I had been there for three months, maybe my world championship results would have been even better," said Skjellerup, who was ranked 22nd after the championships.

The trip, which will cost $3000, has been organised by Skjellerup himself. He is not ranked high enough in the world to warrant Sparc funding, so he has knocked on the doors of businesses in Christchurch to obtain sponsorship and will be contacting other potential sponsors from Seoul by email and telephone.

During his stay in Korea he will start in a World Cup meeting in China. He wants to race in two other World Cup meetings – in the Netherlands and Italy – but has to find the money for those two competitions.

Skjellerup's long-term goal is to qualify for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, and the three-month stint in Korea is the first stage in the process.

He will miss the New Zealand championships next month but feels that improving his world ranking is a greater priority. The lower his ranking the better his chance of selection for the Winter Olympics.

- © Fairfax NZ News