



The best long track speed skaters in the Netherlands competed in the Dutch single distances championships in Heerenveen last weekend.





By Jackob Savard

Photo: Jaap Ho p (JH Sportfotografie)





Adding to the conveted Dutch champion titles on every distances, spots for the World single distances championships and European championships were on the table this weekend in Thialf.





Mulder and Nuis, best sprinters in the Netherlands

Ronald Mulder won the 500m title in 34.60, one of the fastest time of the season on the distance. Dai Dai Ntab and Jan Smeekens joined him on the podium. Kjeld Nuis was crowned Dutch champion on 1000m and 1500m and also finished fourth on 500m. Thomas Krol also had good results collecting a silver medal on 1000m and a bronze medal on 1500m.





Roest solid on the long distances, Bergsma impressive

Reigning allround champion Patrick Roest was strong during the weekend winning the 5000m and collecting silver medals on both the 1500m and the 10 000m. Even though it was expected that Jorrit Bergsma would have good results on 10 000m, not a lot of fans could’ve predicted that he would end up winning the distance with a seven seconds margin on his closest rival, establishing a new track record of 12:43.70. Young Marcel Bosker, who some were hoping to see on a podium this weekend, was bothered by a cold. He finished 5th on 5000m and didn’t skate the 10 000m. Sven Kramer, who has been fighting with back pain for quite a while, didn’t took part in the 10 000m but still managed to took third place in the 5000m.



The men’s mass start had a bizarre ending with a big fall including some of the favorites. The situation helped 36-year-old Douwe de Vries win the distance. A lot of people speculated that Simon Schouten caused the fall to help Arjan Stroetinga win. The two men train together and have the same coach. In the end, Stroetinga finished third. You can judge by yourself in this clip.









Smit, Wust, de Jong and Visser are the 2018 women's champions

In the ladies’ championships, Janine Smit raced a personal best time of 38.22 to win the 500m title in front of Letitia de Jong and Jutta Leerdam. Young Jutta Leerdam, who’s at her first season as a senior, had a good competition collecting two bronze medals, one on 500m and one on 1000m. Multiple Olympic champion Ireen Wust won the 1000m and the 1500m and also finished second on 3000m. Antoinette de Jong won the 3000m, finished second on 1000m and 1500m and took the fourth place on 5000m. With such consistent results, de Jong will be one of the skaters to watch at the allround championships. Long distances specialist Esmee Visser won the 5000m with a personal best time of 6:49.49. Olympic medalist Irene Schouten was crowned Dutch champion in the mass start. Suzanne Schulting, who has been dominant so far this season on the short track World Cup circuit, skated in these long track Dutch championships. She finished 13th, 15th and 16th on 1000m, 500m and in the mass start respectively.





To see which Dutch skaters will skate at the European championships and at the World single distances championships, click HERE



