Lochland Sets New 1500m Record

Australian Long Track newcomer, Brooke Lochland, set a new National Record for the ladies 1500m in Heerenveen this past weekend. Brooke skated to a 2:11.94 1500m to take a second off Melissa Kah's (nee Sandford) previous record of 2:12.92, set back on the 19th December 1993 in Calgary. Congratulations Brooke. Brooke also set a new personal record in the 500m with a time of 44.10 which bettered her previous best by 2.57 seconds!

Sophie Muir also competed at the Heerenveen event, skating a 40.25 500m and a 1:23.53 1000m to take first placing in both distances.

Daniel Greig skated the weekend in Heerenveen with a 37.50 500m and a 1:17.11, 1000m prior to his departure to Japan with Sophie.

We wish Sophie and Dan all the best for the World Sprint Championships next weekend.

CALGARY REPORT

In Calgary, Daniel Yeow skated in the Canada Cup #1, competing in various distances over the three days.

Day #1 - 500m, 43.22 - 91st place, 1000m, 1:24.25 - 47th place
Day #2 - 1500m, 2:11.14 - 78th place
Day #3 - 500m, 42.68 - 80th place

By his own account, he was unhappy with his times and it is understood that he suffered a muscular back injury during the race meet. We wish Daniel a speedy recovery and a return back to training and racing as soon as possible.

ANOTHER NEW KID ON THE BLOCK

Another newcomer for Australia is 23-year-old Calgary based, former triple jumper and 400m sprinter, Relja Cvjeticanin.

Relja started skating last year and on the 3rd of January, competed in his first competition, skating a 49.41sec 500m. Relja says that he slipped at the start and after 200m or so, coasted to the finish.

Prior to the start of 2009, Relja had never skated in any form, so to be able to hit a sub 50 within a year is not bad going! We look forward to seeing more results and PB's from Relja in the near future.