While long track speed skating has been moved north to Fort Saint John, short track action at Kin 1 provided big excitement Monday.
Two local athletes had strong showings as Prince George’s own Callie Swan(16) and Vanderhoof’s Alison Demaries(17) both won their 500m heats. Callie also placed second in her 1000m heat and will advance to the next round.
“I’m super happy about it” says Callie “There was a fall, but that’s short track racing and I’m really proud I got first and it is setting me up well for the next few times we do 500m.”
She added that the local crowd was a big help.
“It’s amazing; I’ve never been in front of such a big crowd. Some people say it helps, and it really does; it makes you get pumped up and when … you are doing a big pass and the crowd is getting riled up it makes you want to keep going and make them proud.”
Her team mate Alison was also thrilled with being able to compete in front of so many friends. But she says the Games experience hasn’t been just speed skating.
“The first two days we didn’t have any competition, just an hour of training. Then the rest of the time we got to go around the village and have fun, we got to go to the opening ceremonies which were really cool.”
Team BC placed 3rd in the team relay semi finals and was eliminated. Both Alison and Callie will be back in individual competition Wednesday.
photo credit: Canada Games 2015
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