Mitchells Plain speed skaters rolling for gold in Jozi
GOOD LUCK: Lentegeur skaters
A team of speed skaters, made up mostly of youngsters from Mitchells Plain, will be aiming for gold at the national championships in Joburg next weekend.
Nabil Noordien, spokesperson for the Cape Town Speed Skating Club, said the team of 11 riders will leave the Kaap this morning while the trip will be a first for the newly-formed club.
“We used to be under the banner of Western Province but through matters out of our control, the team had to be rebuilt last year under the new banner of Cape Town Speed Skating Club, so this will be the first time we will be competing at nationals.
“Previously the highest we have finished was third but we are always pushing to do better. We are aiming for gold in at least two of the events.”
Nabil says the team is made up of male and female riders between the ages of eight and 20 and they all hail from Lentegeur.
“Lentegeur has always been the stronghold of speed skating in Cape Town and it has remained so for a while. We try to get people from other areas to join in but it is hard to get them to come all the way for training.”
Speed skating involves people racing on rollerblades with 110mm wide wheels around a track in a variety of distances from 100m to 42km.
Club chairman Jerome Hansen, who has been a pro skater for 15 years, says: “The aim is to build this team up to qualify for the next Olympics (Paris 2024). Skating will form part of the event and if we do well at the national championships from now, then we hope to have a few athletes qualify.”