CALGARY – Bolting down the ice at 55 km/h, in a split second Connor Howe nearly fell flat on his face on the ice at the Olympic Oval in Calgary.
In full stride, the Canmore speed skating star lost balance on the back stretch of the second lap in the men’s 1,500-metre at the 2023 Canadian Long Track Championships Saturday (Oct. 7), when Howe’s left leg awkwardly shot backwards during the shaky stumble before he caught himself just in time.
“I was a bit worried there for a second I was going down, but managed to get back into it,” said Howe, 23. “But it takes you a bit out of the rhythm and a bit out of the legs to get the speed back up.”
Losing momentum, the 2022 Olympian burned a lot of energy to get himself back into his top race. But despite the stumble, Howe proved once again to be Canada’s bar for the 1,500m, winning the national race for a third consecutive year at a time of 1:43. 17.
It was a huge three-podium championship for the world cup gold medallist, who also was crowned the 1,000m champion, with a time of 1:07.79, at the event from Oct. 5-8.
Nationals kicks off the season and leads into international competition in November.
“I think it’s a good, promising start to the season,” said Howe. “I’m just feeling really fit this time of year and skating well, but yeah, I’m hoping that it’ll progress onwards and I’ll even be a bit better later on.”
As Howe piles up national titles, the 23-year-old is still on the hunt for a national record in the 1,500m, which he nearly broke a few weeks ago when he snagged a personal best time of 1:42.34 in Calgary.
The record is held by Denny Morrison and his significant time of 1:42.01, which the four-time Olympic medallist from British Columbia set 15 years ago in 2008 at the Olympic Oval in Calgary.
“I got pretty close, which is a bit of a surprise,” said Howe. “I kind of went for it [Saturday], but I could kind of feel I was not quite on the same smooth and easy speed that I had, but yeah, the stumble didn't help either.
“I’m still hoping for that later this year at the world cup in Salt Lake [City] or even the world championships in Calgary [in February 2024]. It would be a great time, I think, for that.”
Impressed year after year by his pupil, Canada’s long track team coach Bart Schouten said it was a sure bet that Howe would win the 1,500m. However, the quick Canmorite performed better than expected in the 1,000m, when the six-foot-four athlete powered down the final stretch to defeat stiff competition in Laurent Dubreuil, the 2022 Beijing silver medallist, in their head-to-head pairing.
“To me, it’s more impressive to win the 1,000m over the silver medallist. It means quite a bit to me,” said Schouten.
Houten added that Howe, a high-level athlete and university student, has always been a professional in his approach.
Howe also took silver in the 5,000m race, an improvement from fourth place last year. In the mass start, Howe, who was last year’s champion, finished fourth in 2023.
Although, that was a bit by design.
For this upcoming season, Howe will focus on individual races the 1,500m and 1,000m and three-man Team Pursuit.
The 5,000m race will be sprinkled in, as well, as Howe prepares for his two main goals, the ISU World Speed Skating Championships, and the World Allround Speed Skating Championships in March 2024 in Germany.
At the world championships in Calgary, which is Howe’s top priority, Schouten said the projection for Howe is the podium, with a secondary goal to break the national record in the 1,500m.
“We definitely would like him to be top three … that’s just what he can do,” said Schouten. “I think it is possible and those are the things we really have in mind for Connor.”
The ISU World Cup Speed Skating starts Nov. 10-12 in Japan.
