Michael Wrubleski competes at the speed
skating facility at
Mount Pleasant.
Photo by Troy Fleece, Leader-Post
A Family's Need for Speed
Julie Folk, The Leader-Post
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Michael Wrubleski began speed skating as a child to
learn how to skate. By the time he learned how to skate he was hooked on
speed skating; today he's planning on making it his future.
The Wrubleski family have all speed skated through the
years. Michael, his twin sister Sarah, his sister Alex and his brother
Derek were all speed skating at one point in time, driven to Regina
Speed Skating Club practices at Mount Pleasant by dad Randy and mom
Michelle.
Today Michael is the only one of the siblings still
skating competitively, but he loved the family aspect of his sport
through the years. While others in his family have moved from the sport,
he's stayed with it.
"It's always been with me," said Michael, 17. "l enjoy
so much about it... I enjoy going really fast, and the group of friends
I have with skating. And it's fun to travel, to go places around
Canada."
Wrubleski began competing around age 10. While he skates
in both short-track and long-track competitions, he excels in long track
and plans to focus on those events in the future. He has done well at
national competitions in the past and continues to achieve personal
bests.
"He just grew; in the last year he grew from a little
guy to 6-foot-1," said Randy.
"The muscle hasn't come yet, but I keep telling him,
'Just wait; you're a Wrubleski.' He has excellent technique. Out of the
long-track skaters you watch, his technique is among the best."
Michael said he was disappointed not to qualify for the
Canadian long-track speed skating championships this year. He had three
chances to qualify at events in Regina, Saskatoon, and Moose Jaw.
Wrubleski won the Regina event, but wasn't able to make the Moose Jaw
competition because he was away at the Canada Cup national competition
in Calgary.
The Moose Jaw event was the coldest competition, meaning
the ice was the fastest, and athletes achieved better times than at
previous events and beat Wrubleski's times from other competitions.
Wrubleski made personal bests at the Canada Cup,
but after the first day of competition, he found out his house
in Regina had been broken into and so he had to come home early.
But now he's setting his sights on his next
goal. "I'm going to the Olympic Oval Finale competition in
Calgary (held March 18-22) to finish up my long-track season and
try to get some times to qualify for the Oval Program next year
in Calgary," said Wrubleski. "After high school, I'd like to go
to Calgary and train at the Oval."
Training at the Oval, speed skaters work toward
the goal of making the national development team, and then the
national team, which travels the world, hopeful to make the
Olympics.
In Calgary, Wrubleski will skate ISU competitions, which
eliminate mass starts. He'll also get the opportunity to train indoors,
something he's not used to after 13 years of outdoor training in
Saskatchewan.
Michael practices three nights a week with the Regina
Speed Skating Club, in addition to cross-training with cycling in the
summer. His sister, Alex, cycled in the Olympics in 2008. She used speed
skating as her cross training, as the two sports work well together.
When Michael moves on from the Regina Speed Skating
Club, Randy most likely will as well. Michael's father has been with the
club since his kids first joined. While he started as another parent, he
soon got more involved in the club.
"In 1995 l started timing competitions, and then in 1996
I developed software to run the competitions, and I've been running
competitions ever since," said Randy, who works with CGI for his day
job.
The format for running competitions changed around that
time, so Randy developed the software to change with it. Now, Speed
Skating Canada has come up with a national package for competitions, so
Randy would like to help the club get on national package software.
Wrubleski started running the two competitions in
Regina, and then was soon asked to run competitions in Moose Jaw,
Melville, and Prince Albert.
Wrubleski has been the past-president of the club for
four years after four years as president. He is also the representative
for the club on the provincial board, and is the club's equipment
manager.
"The club has a lot of work, in terms of maintaining our
facilities and keeping the executive going," said Wrubleski. "Within our
club, the executive, the coaches, and the officials are all volunteer.
The amount of work some people are putting in is unbelievable."