Speed skaters bring in Canada Winter Games haul

The Canada Winter Games were a big highlight of the 2022-23 season for the Saskatoon Lions Speed Skating Club.

Lions skaters picked of eight of Saskatchewan’s 20 medal wins at that multi-sport event held from February 18 to March 5 across Prince Edward Island, with long track speed skating taking place at the Halifax Oval in Halifax, N.S. Luca Veeman, who was Saskatchewan’s flag bearer at the Canada Winter Games opening ceremonies, took home five medals and Serena Dallaire captured a pair of medals.

For the main feature of March’s upload of “Howe Happenings,” we caught up with Veeman and Dallaire to reflect on their experiences at those games. Both said their respective successes at those games increased their confidence about how great things can be when it comes to competing in big meets or multi-sport games.

February proved to be a big month for Veeman, who skated for Canada at the International Skating Union’s Junior World Cup Final and World Junior Speed Skating Championships both held in Inzell, Germany. He went to Canada Winter Games following those meets and aimed to live up to the honour of being Saskatchewan’s flag bearer at the opening ceremonies.

Dallaire went into the Canada Winter Games in search of personal bests and didn’t expect to medal. She was pretty pumped to return to Saskatoon with a pair of medals.

Besides the piece on the Lions medal wins at Canada Winter Games, we have a photo roundup that contains photos from the Saskatchewan Provincial Cross Country Ski Championships that were hosted on the Glenn Reeve Fields by the Saskatoon Nordic Ski Club and continuing activity at the Clarence Downey Speed Skating Oval and the Indoor Training Centre.

You can find these items on the “Howe Happenings” blog at howehappenings306.blogspot.com.

New content will be released on the ninth day of each month. We hope you will enjoy the stories that make up the posts on the “Howe Happenings” blog.