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Wallin bullish on Crashed Ice

The youngest competitor at the Red Bull Crashed Ice exceeded his expectations in the fastest sport on skates.

The youngest competitor at the Red Bull Crashed Ice exceeded his expectations in the fastest sport on skates.

“I really did, that’s for sure,” said Garth Wallin, who finished 40th out of 128 adrenaline junkies at the March 20 extravaganza in Quebec City. “Coming into it I didn’t talk to one person that said this was their first time. People were saying this was their fifth or sixth year and I beat out a couple of them. Plus I was the only one who was under age. No one else there was 17.”

The graduating midget AAA left-winger with the St. Albert Raiders was awestruck by the spectacle of the sport when he saw it for the first time.

“It was on TV and my dad [Trevor] and I just both looked at each other and we were like, ‘Yeah, we’ve got to try that,’” he said.

In the event qualifier the Grade 12 Paul Kane High School student placed third out of a horde of Edmonton hopefuls in mid-February at Clareview Arena. The top five finishers in the time trial obstacle course advanced to the world championship. Jumping over a two-foot-high barrier, a series of skating drills and a 360 pirouette at the end were some of the more difficult manoeuvres the skaters had to conquer.

“I was really nervous actually. I just didn’t know what was going to happen so I just let everything flow,” Wallin said. “Obviously, It was a lot different than the actual race.”

The course at worlds was an intimidating 565-metre ice track of thrills and spills.

“When it gets really fast the heart starts pumping. It’s pretty wild,” Wallin said.

“It’s like snowblading. It’s definitely not like hockey on ice. It’s a rough texture, really bumpy. When you’re skating down it at 60 kilometres an hour, your legs start jiggling, like you’re Alpine skiing.

“It goes by fast but at the same time you’re so exhausted. It really takes a lot from your body.”

Jaw-dropping jumps gave the daredevils some anxious moments.

“I’m used to the air. I wakeboard so the jumps didn’t scare me that much,” said Wallin, who enjoys life on the wild side.

The racers wear standard hockey equipment, but Wallin threw caution to the wind by refusing to wear a can.

“It’s not like I was going to be blocking shots.”

His roommate at worlds, former St. Albert Steel captain Ben Lindemulder, gave the rookie some pointers prior to testing out the course.

“He told me to come into turns wide and just strategize when you’re going down the course, like picking your lanes and how you take the turns and when you should stop or not.”

At worlds the racers were allowed practice runs to get a feel for the course before the real deal started. In the time trials, each racer got two cracks at the course and their fastest time determined if they were ranked in the top 64 or not. Wallin made the cut-off and was poised to advance into the round of 32 when he took a tumble early in his race and was forced to play catch up.

“The jump that I fell on was the first one actually. I didn’t fall on it the whole time in my qualifying and practice runs but I caught air and when I landed I caught a two inch rut in the ice and my skate just flew out from under me,” he said. “I was down and out. I was in the worst spot too because I lost all of my speed and then I had to try and get it back. I ended up catching the third guy actually but I couldn’t pass him because it’s hard to pass people on that track.”

Wallin’s buddies on the Raiders were looking forward to seeing their teammate on TV.

“The top 64 didn’t get to make it on TV but the top 32 did so my friends were kind of disappointed that I didn’t get on TV but they were happy I was just there. I know they were cheering me on, that’s for sure.”

The Alberta Junior Hockey League prospect with the Sherwood Park Crusaders plans to give the potential Olympic sport another shot.

“Once hockey is done I’m definitely going to set my sights on that.”

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