Nelson's Scott Bickerton back on skates with eyes on Sochi in 2014
By Bruce Fuhr
During his brief speed skating career Scott Bickerton has hit his share of ruts in the ice.
Which can be par for the course in a sport when you’re an up-and-coming athlete.
However, like a youngster falling during the first time on skates the happy-go-lucky Nelsonite is eager to get back on the blades in search for finding a spot on the National Team.
“It’s been up and down since we talked last,” Bickerton admittedly told The Nelson Daily during a recent summer holiday in his hometown.
“Last year I did a lot better than the year before so overall I was happy,” the ecstatic 22-year-old graduate of the Nelson Speed Skating Club added.
“I made it through three different World Cup races.
“I managed to deal with all the traveling that goes with competing on the World Cup circuit . . . eating in strange places and dealing with major jet lag. And that was good enough to put me on the National Development Team for this year which I started training with in May.”
It’s been a long climb to World Cup for an inaugural member of the Nelson Speed Skating club.
Timid and shy, Bickerton took a few years to get comfortable in the sport.
But in 2006 a switch from the rink to the long track proved to be just what the doctor ordered.
Thanks to the help of local Olympian Bob Boucher, Bickerton won a bronze medal at the 2007 Canada Games in Whitehorse in Team Pursuit.
In 2008-09, Bickerton made a big splash on the World stage, representing Canada at the Junior Worlds in Poland where he took seventh in the 3000- and 5000-meter races.
Bickerton qualified for the Junior Worlds after winning both races at the Canadian Junior Championships.
However, making the jump to the National Team has been a bit of a grind for the L.V. Rogers grad.
The 2009-10 campaign was a learning year.
Ditto for 2010-11 as Bickerton didn’t qualify for any World Cup races.
Last season was a breakout year as Bickerton qualified for a couple of World Cup races in Hamar, Norway, and Heerenveen, Netherlands.
“I’m over there (Heerenveen) racing my first World Cup (10,000 meters in December), and not somewhere where they don’t know speed skating . . . it’s the home of speed skating,” Bickerton explained. “That was an experience and (at the same time) was really cool. I was pretty nervous but it was a neat place to race my first World Cup so I was pretty happy.”
Bickerton finished 18th in the B division (14:08.98) in the race after finishing third in 10,000 meters at the National Team Trials in October.
In January, at the Canadian Single Distance Championships, Bickerton won the bronze medal in the 5000m (6:36.52) and the silver medal in the 10,000m (13:47.83) in a personal season-best race.
The results qualified him for the World Cup in Hamar, where he was 14th (6:45.38) in the 5000-meter division B.
But before traveling to Norway, there was the Continental regional qualifier a week after the Single Distance event.
“All these races build experience and the (Winter) Olympics is still a year and a half away,” said Bickerton, focusing on his biological science studies at the University of Calgary when he’s not training.
“I’m just trying to get as much experience as I can between now and a year and a half from now and hopefully when that time comes I’ll have enough experience to be ready to perform on that day and Olympic Trials will be my day.”
Since May Scott Bickerton has been rubbing elbows with Canada’s elite speed skaters and coaches.
In October the serious part of the sport picks up with National trials.
Good results once again qualify Bickerton for World Cup races.
The same challenge happens in January at single distance championships.
However, dollars and cents forced National Team brain trust to cut a few spots on the team.
So the challenge just got a little tougher for Bickerton.
“They’ve reduced the number of racers they’re selecting, and, of course, it makes it tougher, but racing on the National circuit is a good opportunity to get race time and to learn,” said Bickerton doing everything in his power to qualify for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.
“The more things I can learn before Olympic Trials which are a year-and-a-half from now, the better.”
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