MILWAUKEE -- The Dutch are serious about their speedskating.
Several hundred Dutch fans traveled all the way across the pond to raise the roof of the Pettit Ice Center with painted faces, boisterous cheering, flag-waving and even a brass band during the World Allround Speedskating Championships this weekend.They're coming to an ice oval near you, when the under-construction Kearns Ice Oval hosts an international competition next year, not to mention the 2002 Winter Games.
"It's our only winter sport," said Netherlands resident Irene Postma, editor of the international magazine Speedskating World. "We have nothing else."
What with the Dutch, Norwegians, Germans and others, the 2,000-capacity Pettit was standing room only.
Forty-eight skaters (24 men and 24 women) from 15 countries qualified for and competed in the worlds, which many in speedskating circles consider even more prestigious than the Olympics.
While Olympic champions medal in single distances, the all-around world champion is judged by his or her performance in sprints (500 meters), medium distances (1,500 meters) and endurance (3,000 and 5,000 for women, 5,000 and 10,000 for men) -- the whole package, as it were.
The Dutch had a lot to cheer about. After Saturday's races (the competition ends today), three of their skaters stood atop the men's standings. The Netherlands' Gianni Romme, with his Fu Manchu moustache and broad smile, smashed a course record in the 5,000 meters, whipping it out in 6 minutes, 26.14 seconds, to take the top spot.
"I have a good chance (to end first), but first I need not to fall tomorrow," he said.
American Jennifer Rodriguez (Miami, Fla.) was 14th in overall standings, while KC Boutiette (Tacoma, Wash.) and Derek Parra (San Bernadino, Calif.) were ninth and 11th, respectively.
Parra skated personal bests in the 500 and 5,000 meters.
"Derek and KC did well," U.S. long-track coach Bart Schouten said. "Jennifer was a little bit slower than we had hoped."
It wasn't all her fault. Rodriguez was hindered in the 500-meter race by Anni Friesinger of Germany, who fell in front of her on the first turn.
"Wanted too much of myself in the curve," was the way Friesinger explained it. "The only thing I was afraid of was taking Jen with me."
Germans dominated the women's races Saturday, with Claudia Pechstein setting a course record of 4:06.44 in the 3,000 meters and Gunda Niemann-Stirnemann close behind. Niemann-Stirnemann couldn't match her world record-breaking performance in Calgary last month, where she skated the 3,000 meters in a blistering 4:00.51.
Setting records is difficult at the Petit Center, where air conditions and ice refrigeration make for generally slower times. It's no accident that almost all world long-track speedskating records have been set at Calgary's Olympic Oval.
Right now the Petit is the only enclosed ice oval in the United States, to be joined next fall by the Kearns facility. Many believe Kearns will house the fastest speedskating ice on the planet because of the high altitude and Salt Lake valley's low humidity.
World Speedskating Championships
WOMEN
1. Claudia Pechstein Germany
2. Gunda Niemann-Stirnemann Germany
3. Maki Tabata Japan
MEN
1. Gianni Romme Netherlands
2. Ids Postma Netherlands
3. Rintje Ritsma Netherlands
Sunday's races, which will finalize the standings, are the women's 1,500 and 5,000 meters and the men's 1,500 and 10,000 meters.