They won’t be heading to the postponed BC Winter Games next month, but that hasn’t taken too much of the shine off an already stellar season so far for a bunch of Richmond speed skaters.
The quintet - Anki Then, Manuela Escobar-Ballen, Aaron Liu, Evan Yung and Tilman Astor – are all members of the Richmond Rockets, which trains out of the Richmond Olympic Oval.
Anki and Manuela made it onto the women’s team, while Aaron, Evan and Tilman were chosen for the men’s team.
Unfortunately, the organizers of the games – which were set for Vernon in late February – recently decided to postpone the event due to the pandemic.
According to the Rockets’ president, Alexander Teh, all of the aforementioned athletes set multiple personal bests in various distances at qualifying meets throughout 2021.
“We are particularly proud of the fact that every single Richmond Rockets skater who attempted to qualify for it was successful in obtaining a position on the Coastal Lower Mainland (Zone 5) Team,” The told the Richmond News.
Next up for the Rockets is the Sardis InterClub competition this weekend.
