DASH Speedskating

Weekly Segment: Did You Know? William H. “Bill” Cushman was born in 1934 on August 6th, he had begun skating at the age of three, and was one of the original members of Midway Speedskating Club in it’s founding year of 1946. He competed until 1960 and was a figurehead of the club well after his retirement as an athlete, the following year, he began coaching the club and would continue to do so until the 1990’s, during this time athletes could expect that Bill would be joining them in all of their workouts. As a coach and mentor, Cushman emphasized the importance of pursuing your education as an athlete, remarking that “skating doesn’t put bread on the table.” Whenever he wasn’t coaching Bill was contributing to speedskating behind the scenes, he served as USISA secretary for eight years, US Speedskating president for 11, and in 2010, a year prior to his passing, he received the George Howie Award for his incredible contribution and dedication to the sport of speedskating. Bill’s goal for Midway Speedskating Club was to provide the youth of the Twin Cities area with quality coaching while having lots of fun and pursuing an education, once saying “The basic goal of Midway is to give the youth of our area a program to develop into the best skaters each can be and provide a direct path to World and Olympic competitions, while having fun and completing their education. It can be done!”. To honor his incredible legacy, Midway awards “The Bill Cushman Scholarship” every year in order to support developing skaters attending college while pursuing Olympic dreams. • Midway Speedskating Club head coach for 30+ years • National Speedskating Hall of Fame inductee as of 1996 • US Army veteran • Manager of the 1980, 1984, and 2002 US Olympic Speedskating teams • George Howie Award 2010 • US Speedskating president from 1989-2000 • The Bill Cushman Scholarship award   By: Auggie Herman Thanks for sharing this with us Auggie!

Weekly Segment: Did You Know? History of Northbrook Speed Skating Club The Northbrook Speed Skating Club (NBSSC), founded in 1952 by Ed Rudolph, has earned national respect not only for its excellence in coaching but also for its welcoming, family-oriented atmosphere. NBSSC is recognized for its well-organized structure, offering both American Pack racing and individualized programs for metric racing. The club provides speed skating classes ranging from beginner "learn to skate" sessions to national-level competitions in both short track and long track disciplines. The Northbrook Park District has been instrumental in the club's success, having supported the creation of natural ice rinks for training over the years. In 1960, they built a 400-meter bicycle track with a 45-degree banked turn, enabling the formation of a large, natural ice rink in the infield. By 1968, the district had established the Northbrook Sports Center, which now serves as NBSSC's home base. The club is also a proud member of US Speedskating.   For over 70 years, the Village of Northbrook had a speed skater in every Winter Olympics (from 1952 through 2018). Northbrook Speed Skating Club Olympic Members (from 1952-2018 Olympics): Chuck Burke Beverly Buhr Eddie Rudolph Dianne Holum (Silver in 500m and bronze in 1000m in 1968, gold medal in 1500m and silver in 3000m in 1972) Neil Blatchford Sally Blatchford Leah Poulos (Silver in 1000m in 1976, silver in 500m and 1000m in 1980) Anne Henning (Gold in 500m and bronze in the 1000m in 1972) Gregory Lyman Lydia Stephans Mark Huck Janet Goldman David Cruikshank Andy Gabel (Silver in 5000m relay in 1994) Nathaniel Mills Shani Davis (Gold in 1000m and silver in 1500m in 2006, gold in 1000m and silver in 1500m in 2010) Margaret Crowley Lana Gehring (Bronze in 3000m relay in 2010) Brian Hansen (Silver in team pursuit in 2010) Mitch Whitmore  Patrick Meek **Shani Davis was a member of NBSSC before calling Evanston Speedskating Club his home. Patrick Meek considers Northbrook his first home before moving to St. Louis. By: Blair Cruikshank Thanks for sharing this with us Blair!

Weekly Segment: Did You Know?   Speedskating in the Winter Olympics The Beginning: Speed skating was an official event in the 1924 Winter Olympics in Chamonix, France. There were medals awarded for individual distances of 500m, 1500m, 5k, and 10k, but also an all-around title as well. This was the one and only time an all-around title was recognized even though at the time, the all-around title was considered the most prestigious within the ISU(International Skating Union).   North American Influence: During the 1932 games in Lake Placid, New York, the events were organized as pack style instead of the traditional metric. Many European skaters did not like this format and protested these events. Not surprisingly two American skaters swept the four gold medal spots.   Ladies Participation? Though ladies did participate in the 1932 games, they were there as an exhibition sport only, and not until the 1960 games in Squaw Valley did the women finally have their official spot in the event.   Growth of Pack Style in the USA: Though the Olympics continued to be metric style, through out the 60s, 70s, and 80s, pack style racing had become wildly popular in the US with the nation championships often seeing as many as 400 skaters competing. Even the top metric skaters would find their way to “pack nationals”. It is believed this popularity gave way to what is now short track racing.   Short Track in the Olympics: With the popularity of pack style came short track skating in the Olympics. First as an exhibition in the 1988 games in Calgary and then officially in the 1992 games.   Fun Facts: The men’s 1000m has only been an official event since the ‘76 games because of the emergence of the world sprint championships. Additionally, the ladies 5k was added in ’88. Team Pursuit was made official in 2006 and coming full circle, mass start was added in 2018 in a kind of full circle moment for pack style competition. By: Dan Carney Thanks for sharing this with us Dan!

Weekly Segment: Did You Know? By: Austin Carlson Chris Witty, born in West Allis, Wisconsin, has competed internationally in both speed skating and Track Cycling. She participated four Winter Olympic Games and one Summer Olympic games. She is one of 11 American athletes to compete in both the winter and summer Olympic games. Over her career she set four world records in the 1000m event as well as two junior world records. She was selected by her teammates to carry the US flag at the opening ceremony in Torino in 2006.   Olympic Games Lillehammer – 1994 Nagano – 1998 • Silver – 1000m • Bronze – 1500m Sydney – 2000 • 5th – 500m Track Cycling Time Trial Salt Lake City – 2002 • Gold – 1000m Torino - 2006   Other Achievements • 1996 World Sprint Championships - Gold • 1996 World Single Distance Championships, 1000m - Silver • 1997 World Sprint Championships - Bronze • 1998 World Sprint Championships - Bronze • 1998 World Single Distance Championships, 1000m - Gold • 2000 World Sprint Championships - Bronze • 2000 World Single Distance Championships, 1000m: Bronze She is also a member of the DASH Gold Medal Advisory Board! Thanks for sharing this with us Austin!

Weekly Segment: Did You Know? By: Brian Bullard Dr. Mike Woods competed internationally in long track speed skating from 1972 to 1984. During that time, he participated in 3 Olympics (1976, 1980, and 1984). While training, Dr. Woods completed his undergraduate education and medical school, ultimately competing in the 1980 Olympics while in his anesthesiology residency. During this period, he had limited time to train and spent much of his time doing single-leg up-downs, which came to be known as “Wooders.” Dr. Woods achieved multiple World Championship podium finishes in both the 5000m and 10,000m events. He also accomplished a world all-around 4th place finish in 1980. He is still involved in coaching skaters at the Pettit National Ice Center! Thanks for sharing this with us Brian!

Fueling up for peak performance with @FactorMeals! 💪🏻 As a speedskating team, we need the right balance of nutrition and convenience to stay on top of our game, and Factor delivers every time. Ready-to-eat, chef-prepared meals packed with the protein and nutrients we need, right when we need them. A huge thanks to Factor for helping us stay strong and focused, whether we are on the ice or recovering after practice. No prep, no stress—just results. #FactorMeals #AthleteNutrition #FueledByFactor #Milwaukee #dashskating #speedskating

Weekly Segment: Did You Know? By: Bonnie Blair Sheila Young Ochowicz was a speedskater and track cyclist from Detroit, MI. She won 3 World Titles in each sport, and in 1973 and 1976, she won gold in both speedskating and cycling. She was the first American athlete to win 3 medals in the same Olympics. She also became the first female to go under 41 seconds in the 500m in speedskating in 1973. She set 5 World Records (3 in the 500m and 2 Sprint points) 1976 • 3 Olympic medals (Gold 500m, Bronze 1000m, Silver 1500) • World Sprints (Gold overall) • All Around Championships (Bronze Overall) • Cycling (Gold sprint) ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀‎‎ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀‎‎ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Thanks for sharing this Bonnie!

REGISTRATION NOW OPEN! Club season is right around the corner, email leah@dashskating.org to join🔥

Warm ups ⇢ Short track ⇢ Counting down the days til long track 🤩 #dashskating #speedskating #Milwaukee #schaatsen

The Olympics brings out the best qualities in athletes and people around the world. Your contribution will get more kids in sport and the opportunity to experience the very best of the human spirit! $10 Bronze level $24 Silver level (for 2024 Paris Olympics) $34 Gold level (for 2034 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics) Please consider donating and sharing this message with your family & friends. Thanks for your support! Let’s go USA 🇺🇸 PayPal: https://lnkd.in/e36H8UvH David Cruikshank 4x Olympian Speed Skating Bonnie Blair Cruikshank 5x Gold Medalist Speed Skating