Some of Australia’s best and brightest speed skaters will compete at the upcoming Oceania Speed Skating Championships, which are being held in Brisbane from 6-11 April.
Australia has announced a team of 37 athletes who will compete across the disciplines of Road and Marathon. Athletes were selected based on their results out of the recent Australian Championships that were held in Perth in January.
The team is stacked with junior and cadet athletes and boasts both youth and experience with 16 members of the team making their Oceania debut.
As well as achieving their personal goals, the Australian athletes will be aiming to retain the Harry Kingston trophy for best nation overall, an honour won by the team at the 2022 Oceania Championships.
With a number of national squad athletes competing, a good performance may lead to selection to the Australian Team for the upcoming Speed World Championships which are to be held from 26 August – 3 September in Vicenza, Italy.
No matter their reason for participating, Australia’s head Coach Daniel Thompson said athletes are to be proud of their selection.
“Representing your country is always an honour and something to be proud of and everyone who is on the team earned their positions,” Thompson said.
“My hope is that all of the skaters meet their personal goals and it would be nice to retain the Harry Kingston trophy.
“For those competing at the event for the first time I hope you enjoy the experience. Focus on doing the best races you can and if you get on the podium treat that as a bonus,” he said.
The 2022 Oceania Speed Skating Championships will be held at Albert Bishop Park, Nundah, QLD from 6-11 April.
Australian Team selected for 2023 Oceania Speed Skating Championships
NAME | OCEANIA CATEGORY |
Bowling, Bailey | Cadet Female |
Liu, Frances | Cadet Female |
Svistunov, Mia | Cadet Female |
Cumming, Elisha | Cadet Male |
Kupeckyj, Rowan | Cadet Male |
Brown, Jaxson | Cadet Male |
Randall, Benjamin | Cadet Male |
Forbes, Thomas | Cadet Male |
Vucur, Jack | Cadet Male |
Chen, Steven | Cadet Male |
Calpakos, Emmanuel | Cadet Male |
Samia, Alyvia | Junior Female |
Martin, Zoe | Junior Female |
Bleyenberg, Shakaya | Junior Female |
Hopmans, Danika | Junior Female |
Crisp, Leah | Junior Female |
Payne, Ashlee | Junior Female |
Meadows, Lahna | Junior Female |
Dolder, Raiden | Junior Male |
Oosthuizen, Wouter | Junior Male |
Geary, Harry | Junior Male |
Bondini, Drew | Junior Male |
Tyler Robertson | Junior Male |
Wong, Daniel | Junior Male |
Thorburn, Ashley | Senior Female |
Wilson, Nathan | Senior Male |
Nash, Brendan | Senior Male |
Bithell, Daniel | Senior Male |
Bennett, Joseph | Senior Male |
Isakka, Tyson | Senior Male |
Shumeyko, Irina | Masters Female |
Cowin, Stuart | Masters Male |
Kupeckyj, Peter | Masters Male |
Payne, Bradley | Masters Male |
Thompson, Daniel | Masters Male |
Salter, Jim | Veterans Male |
Taylor, Robert | Veterans Male |
Geary, Kevin | Veterans Male |