Last week saw the Western Flames Ice Racing Club take delivery of 20 new crash mats to improve the safety of our skaters. At a cost of over $8000, it is not investment to be taken lightly but the safety of our skaters will be well worth the expense.

We have also had three new members in Thomas, Laurent and Emma in the last couple of weeks which brings our total to 12 members in less than 12 weeks. We have also had new skaters in Celeste and Madison and hopefully we’ll be weloming them into the WFIRC real soon.

Today, Australian Long Track speed skater Joshua Lose came to skate whilst visiting family before returning to Heereveen in Holland in a couple of weeks to start his assault on the 2011/2012 season. Josh narrowly missed Olympic selection for Vancouver but this past season finished 10th at the World Championship in the 5000m and also had a couple of top 10 finishes in world cups. Josh is a member of the Victorian Southern Flyers club but originates from Perth. Josh said he’ll be back next Sunday to try some more short track. Check his results here >>>

Mark Chong is off to Sydney this week to participate in the Elite Development Program under the watchful eye of National Senior ST Coach Ann Zhang. Mark will benefit greatly from a very intense four day program. We wish him the best for the camp and we look forward to his return.

We will be programming some racing and time trials in the next few weeks, and I know that the whole crew are really enjoying it, so we’ll be formalising it shortly.

Remember, if you want to try short track speed skating, your first session is free to try, so what do you have to lose? Send me an email if you want more information.

Frank