Michael and Taylor (Wentz) Burdekin have spent most of their lives as competitive speedskaters, and now, they’re looking to pass that skill on to aspiring local skaters.
The couple relocated to Columbus this spring from Salt Lake City, Utah, where they had been training for the past several years. Taylor, who grew up in Columbus, taught Learn to Skate and other programs at Olympic Oval and is hoping to do the same at Hamilton Community Center and Ice Arena.
“I’m hoping to really make skating a prominent community activity,” she said. “I’m working to help grow all their skating programs, not just speedskating.”
One of the new outfits is the Full Throttle Speed Skating Team. Michael, 27, a Rochester, New York, native, was a 2005 Juvenile national champion and competed in the 2014 Olympic Trials. Taylor, 25, was a 2013 Intermediate national champion and skated in the 2018 Olympic Trials.
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Michael said probably their biggest goal is to develop a bigger community speedskating team.
“It’s very uncommon to have very large 50-, 60-member speedskating teams kind of dotted throughout the country, and that’s what we want here in Columbus,” he said. “People love this ice rink. People like being involved in the community. The second part is to be competitive and develop kids. We got to live that Olympic training dream, and we want to give that to the next generation, as well.”
The club has been working together with Indy Speed out of Fishers. Taylor said the Speed are little bit more recreational, and she’s hoping Full Throttle can be a little more competitive.
“Being the only team in Indiana, they’ve done a good job of keeping it alive in the state,” Michael said. “We’re just ready to kind of bring it to the next level.”
Full Throttle currently has about nine skaters, four or five of which will compete. Two or three of the nine come from the local Learn to Skate, program, while four or five come the from Fishers area and the other two are from the Columbus, Ohio, area.
“Summertime was hard to build because kids are doing soccer and outdoor activities,” Taylor said. “So we’re hoping that now that it’s coming into the fall season, the classes will grow and we’ll get some more kids.”
The club will compete in meets in places such as Buffalo, Cleveland, Milwaukee and St. Louis. The first competition is Oct. 28 in Milwaukee.
Full Throttle will not host a meet this season, but hopes to be able to next year.
“Part of building a team is getting the people to be able to host these competitions,” Michael said. “Then, we need a little bit better safety equipment at the rink to be able to host a competition.”
The Burdekins are hosting a Speed Skating Academy on Saturdays. The program began Aug. 11 and continues through Oct. 27. This week’s class will feature at Try Speed Skating for Free lesson from 5:30 to 6:45 p.m. Saturday.
On Sept. 22, the Burdekins will host a free Skating Extravaganza. People of all ages can try to skate for hockey, figure skating and speedskating.
Taylor also teaches Learn to Figure Skate classes and coaches the Figure Skating Club.
“Figure skating will always be my first love because that’s what I grew up doing,” she said. “But speedskating obviously is special to me, as well.”
Saturday’s Try Speed Skating for Free even will focus on the basics of speed skating. If participants like it, they can move on to an eight-week Learn to Speed Skate session.
The next Learn to Speed Skate session will be Tuesdays and Saturdays from Oct. 16 to Dec. 15. No experience is needed.
“The nice thing about speedskating is that’s it’s really open for all ages and all body types and ability levels,” Taylor said. “It doesn’t favor a specific age or body type. So what we’re hoping for that free day is to get some kids, adults or anyone to come and try it and see what it’s all about and then hopefully sign up for Learn to Speedskate or look into joining the club.”
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Speedskating veterans Michael and Taylor Burdekin will host a Try Speed Skating for Free session from 5:30 to 6:45 p.m. Saturday at Hamilton Community Center and Ice Arena.
Participants should wear long sleeves and long pants and bring gloves and a helmet. For more information, call 812-376-2686 or visit columbusparksandrec.com.
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