CAN Announces Short Track Team for Harbin

Speed, power and a fiercely competitive will-to-win are classic hallmarks of Canadian short track speed skating and all three will be on display at the 24th Winter Universiade beginning February 18th in Harbin, China.

Canada will send a five-man, five-woman short track contingent to China and many of Team Canada’s best medal hopes at the games will come from the athletes competing at the Skating Gym at the University of Science and Technology.

Annik PlamondonLed by manager Mark Mathies and coach Stephen Gough, the latest edition of Canada’s university short track team is a good bet to better the podium performance of the 2007 Winter Universiade squad. Two years ago in Torino, Italy, Laval’s Anne Maltais won Canada’s only medal in the sport, earning a bronze in the women’s 500-meter race.

While this year’s group will be hard pressed to challenge the record, 17-medal haul enjoyed by Canada at 1985 Universiade in Belluno, Italy, the 2009 group may very well take a shot at the medal totals posted by Canada’s speed skaters at the 2003 games in Tarvisio, Italy. That year, Concordia’s Jeff Scholten, Calgary’s Daryl Rasmussen and Marc-André Monette of College Ahuntsic each won two medals with Scholten claiming gold in the men’s 500-meter event.

“There are two or three athletes on this year’s team who are on the threshold of breaking through on the international scene,” said Speed Skating Canada communications manager Mylène Croteau.

McGill University students Nita Avrith of Montreal and Annik Plamondon of Longueuil, Que. are both back for a second trip to the Universiade. Avrith reached the quarterfinal round of the 500-meter event in 2007, while Plamondon reached the quarterfinals of the 1500-meter.

Université de Montréal’s Valérie Lambert and Collège de Maisonneuve’s Marie-Andrée Mendes-Campeau, both of Montreal, and University of Calgary’s Gabrielle Waddell of Red Deer, Alta., round out the women’s roster.

Guillaume BastilleOn the men’s side, Guillaume Bastille of Rivière-du-Loup, Que., could be the one to watch in the individual competition. A member of the national senior team, Bastille (UQAM) won three bronze medals in a World Cup event in February 2008 – two in the 1000-meter and one in the relay. He finished the 2007-08 World Cup season ranked 14th in the 1000-meter event, and was a silver medalist in the overall standings at the 2008 Canadian Open championships.

Fellow UQAM skater Alex Boisvert-Lacroix of Sherbrooke, Que., also has the potential to post impressive results in Harbin. After bursting onto the national scene in 2007 with a surprise 500-meter win at a National Team Selection event, Boisvert-Lacroix followed it up with a silver medal in the relay and bronze medal in the 500-meter in his first ever World Cup event.

“Guillaume and Alex are in a group of athletes who are right on the edge of making it to the World Cup circuit on a full-time basis,” said Croteau. “Right now we have eight or nine men consistently fighting it out for the spots on the World Cup team. At any given time, all of them could be considered for a spot on the international stage. The Universiade will provide these athletes with another opportunity to make a name for themselves at a top-end international competition.”

Richard Shoebridge of Cambridge, Ont., is the lone returning athlete from the 2007 Universiade. The University of Calgary student qualified for the quarterfinals of both the 500-meter and 1500-meter events in Torino.

Fellow U of C skaters Tyler Derraugh of Winnipeg and Liam McFarlane of Medicine Hat, Alta., join Shoebridge on the men’s Universiade team. Derraugh competed at the 2003 Canada Winter Games for Team Manitoba and is a member of Speed Skating Canada’s Talent 2014 development squad. McFarlane is a member of Canada’s National development team, and was 11th overall at the first National Team selection event in 2007-08, finishing sixth in the 500-meter.

TEAM CANADA WOMEN’S ROSTER

Nita Avrith (McGill/Montreal, Que.)
Valérie Lambert (Montréal/Montreal, Que.)
Marie-Andrée Mendes-Campeau (Collège Maisonneuve/Montreal, Que.)
Annik Plamondon (Montréal/Longueuil, Que.)
Gabrielle Waddell (Calgary/Red Deer, Alta.)

TEAM CANADA MEN’S ROSTER

Guillaume Bastille (UQAM/Rivière-du-Loup, Que.)
Alex Boisvert-Lacroix (UQAM/Sherbrooke, Que.)
Tyler Derraugh (Calgary/Winnipeg, Man.)
Liam McFarlane (Calgary/Medicine Hat, Alta.)
Richard Shoebridge (Calgary/Cambridge, Ont.)

STAFF
Team Leader: Mark Mathies
Coach: Stephen Gough
Athletic Therapist: Mireille Brosseau