SPEED SKATING: Australia’s Daniel Greig says he is in shape but will need to find his top speed after his World Cup outings in the 500 and 1000 metre Speed Skating World Cup in Heerenveen, Netherlands over the weekend.
 
Greig finished 14th and 18th in his two 500m B races, ranking him in 36th for that distance, whilst his 1000m race came in at 21st with a ranking of 40th.
 
“It was a stable start to the season in Heerenveen,” Greig said at the conclusion of the event.
 
“We have been trying some new things with my technique and skate setup lately. The racing shows that my fitness is there but as always with me it will take me a little longer to find my top speed.”
 
“We are building on a better base than we have in previous years, so I am looking forward to coming five weeks.”
 
Coach Desly Hill acknowledged that Greig is, “doing better than normal” for this time of the year and they don’t plan on staying at this level for long.
 
“This weekend we had a pretty unsettled weekend with Dan’s races. The first World Cup always takes a while to settle in and get used to the speed again,” Hill said.
 
Josh Capponi, who races the longer 5000 metre distance and Mass Start, risked it all trying to get to next week’s 10,000m quarter finals World Cup in – ending up 32nd in his 5,000m.
 
“Josh held pace until half way (in the 5000m) but finished in 6.46,” Hill said.
 
The second of six Speed Skating World Cups will be held in Stavenger, Norway from 17 to 19 November.

Belinda Noonan 
OWIA