First Day Of The World All-Round

Written by T Dobbin
Yesterday was the first day of the ISU World All-Round competition in the famous Thialf ice rink in Heerenveen. The stadium was completely full with 12,000 spectators and seas of orange. The crowd was spectacular and the cheers could be heard throughout many of the surrounding roads in Heerenveen. The atmosphere in Thialf was by far some of the best that we have seen in our speed skating experience.

The first event of the day was the men's 500 meter sprint. Shane was paired in the fourth pair with German Marco Weber. Shane opened in a 11.04 second 100 meter but had the advantage of coming out of the first corner with someone to chase. Shane skated a time of 38.41 seconds which placed Shane in 22nd position after the first event.

There was huge problems with the ice again this weekend and the Zamboni's left tyre tracks in the ice and huge Zamboni streaks around the track. When the 5,000 meter event started the humidity in the ice rink was at 32%, when the final pairs were skating the humidity got up to 50% which is just about unheard of in ice skating. Apologies were made at the team leaders meeting, explaining to the coaches that during the 5,000 meter ice cleanings thousands of people would come in and out of the ice rink leaving the doors open and somehow had set off the fire alarm doors which automatically open and stay opened until the alarm is turned off. It was poring with rain outside yesterday and with the doors open for this long it had caused a problem inside with the air pressure and the conditions of the ice. The ice makers have assured all the coaches that the conditions today would be 100% better, and let's hope so for the skaters sake.

However, Shane skated a very strong race to finish his 5,000 meter season and his first in long track. It was second event of the day and Shane was paired with Olympic Champion Sven Kramer in the 10th pair. It was an honour to be the same pair as Sven Kramer especially in front of his home town croud with the roar coming out of Thialf. It was probably one of his best races of the season technically skating a very flat race throughout each lap and his fastest opening lap ever. Shane managed to finish with a top ten finish in this event finishing in 9th place and beat his time set in the Heerenveen World Cup in November of last year. See below Shane's lap times for the 5,000 meter.

Shane Dobbin
1. 200m 18.95 (18.9)
2. 600m 48.60 (29.6)
3. 1000m 1:19.40 (30.8)
4. 1400m 1:50.49 (31.0)
5. 1800m 2:21.29 (30.8)
6. 2200m 2:52.04 (30.7)
7. 2600m 3:23.25 (31.2)
8. 3000m 3:54.43 (31.1)
9. 3400m 4:25.40 (30.9)
10. 3800m 4:56.66 (31.2)
11. 4200m 5:28.06 (31.4)
12. 4600m 5:59.34 (31.2)
13. 5000m 6:30.64(31.3)

The top 15 from the 5,000 meter is as follows:
1 Sven Kramer NED 6:19.63
2 Håvard Bøkko NOR 6:21.08
3 Ted-Jan Bloemen NED 6:23.41
4 Jonathan Kuck USA 6:23.47
5 Ivan Skobrev RUS 6:23.88
6 Sverre Haugli NOR 6:26.03
7 Jan Blokhuijsen NED 6:27.68
8 Wouter Olde Heuvel NED 6:29.45
9 Shane Dobbin NZL 6:30.64
10 Trevor Marsicano USA 6:32.79
11 Lucas Makowsky CAN 6:35.06
12 Marco Weber GER 6:36.88
13 Hiroki Hirako JPN 6:36.94
14 Patrick Beckert GER 6:37.05
15 Johan Röjler SWE 6:41.14

For full results go to: http://www.knsb.nl/wk/english/results-draws-and-write-down-lists/

Or to watch today's events live on the internet go to: http://www.knsb.nl/wk/english/live-results/

Don't forget if you have Eurosport today's events will be shown tomorrow and tomorrow is once again shown live.

Today's only event for the men is the 1500 meter. Shane is in pair number four with Italian Luca Stefani starting on the inner lane. The first competition day for the ladies is today starting with the 500 meter and their 3,000 meter. After the men's 1500 meter we will know if 9th place in the 5,000 meter will qualify him for the 10,000 meter which is raced tomorrow afternoon.

For Photots go to: http://www.desgphoto.com/desgphoto/gallery/index.php?p=athlet&id=2687&langswitch_lang=en

WK All-Round in Heerenveen

Written by T Dobbin
Tomorrow is the first day of the World All-Round competition held in Thialf stadium in Heerenveen. It's only the men that skate tomorrow with the first two events of four to get underway at 16.30 with the 500 meter followed by the 5,000 meters. After Shane set his new personal best time in the World Cup in Salt Lake City in December of 2009 for the 5,000 meter, this put Shane in the third and final grouping to determine the pairs for tomorrow.

With being int he final grouping, the draw was completed tonight and Shane will be skating tomorrow the 5,000 meter with Olympic Champion Sven Kramer from the Netherlands. They are paired together in pair number 10 out of 12 with Shane starting on the inner lane. See below the list of pairs for the 5,000 meter.

Pair Number 1 - Jeff Kitura CAN / Justin Warsylewicz CAN
Pair Number 2 - 24 Joel Eriksson SWE / Zbigniew Brodka POL
Pair Number 3 - Matteo Anesi ITA / Joshua Lose AUS
Pair Number 4 - Konrad Niedzwiedzki POL / Ted-Jan Bloemen NED
Pair Number 5 - Marco Weber GER / Lucas Makowsky CAN
Pair Number 6 - Mathieu Giroux CAN / Jonathan Kuck USA
Pair Number 7 - Hiroki Hirako JPN / Luca Stefani ITA
Pair Number 8 - Trevor Marsicano USA / Wouter Olde Heuvel NED
Pair Number 9 - Johan Röjler SWE / Håvard Bøkko NOR
Pair Number 10 - Shane Dobbin NZL / Sven Kramer NED
Pair Number 11 - Patrick Beckert GER / Ivan Skobrev RUS
Pair Number 12 - Jan Blokhuijsen NED / Sverre Haugli NOR

In the 500 meter Shane is paired with German Marco Weber in pair number four. All results will be live on http://www.knsb.nl/wk/english/live-results/ as well as all results, drawings and updates through the weekend. http://www.knsb.nl/wk/

For those countries that have eurosport, the World All-Round Championships will be on tomorrow live as well as on Sunday, http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/speed-skating/

It's Shane first World All-Round Championships and it's going to be good experience and a chance to finish the 2009-2010 ice season on a high. Keep posted for results.

Final Week Of Training For The 2009-2010 Ice Season

Written by T Dobbin
With only one competition remaining for the 2009-2010 ice season this weekend in Thialf, Heerenveen it's Shane's final week of training for this winter. After this weekend is over it will be time to hang up the ice skates until later in the year when Shane returns to a new training venue and city for next winter. After this weekend Shane will take a short break from training and head back home at the end of March. After his break Shane will be back into training and be starting to prepare for next winter.

Friday afternoon is the first day of racing at the ISU World All-Round Championships. The first event of the day for Shane is the 500 meter sprint. Having only ever skated two previous 500 meter races it's not one of Shane's best distances as yet. Shane's best 500 meter time is 38.20 seconds set earlier this year in Calgary, Canada. The second distance of the day on Friday is the 5,000 meter in which Shane will be hoping the ice is much better than the conditions last weekend and hopes to beat his time set then. To win the World All-Round title, you have be the best skater throughout all distances over the weekend.

See below the race schedule for this weekend.

Friday 19th March 2010 - Start time 16.30
Men's 500 meter
Men's 5,000 meter

Saturday 20th March 2010 - Start time 14.00
Ladies 500 meter
Men's 1,500 meter
Ladies 3,000 meter

Sunday 21st March 2010 - Start time 13.00
Ladies 1,500 meter
Men's 10,000 meter
Ladies 5,000 meter

In both the men's 10,000 meter and ladies 5,000 meter, only the top twelve skaters in the All-Round overall take to the start in these final distances of the weekend. In total there will be 24 skaters racing the All-Round Championships consisting of 15 from the Europe, two from Asia and finally seven from the North America and Oceania region. Keep posted for results from Shane's first World All-Round Championships.