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in si d eh al to n .c o m O ak vi lle B ea ve r | T h u rs da y, M ay 1 0 ,2 0 1 8 | S 3 careerDuffy retires after successful speed skating One of Ontario's best-ever short trackers won nine World Cup medals Nikki Wesley / Metroland Patrick Duffy, competing in 2015 at a World Cup race in Toronto where he helped Canada win the relay gold, announced his retirement from speed skating. Duffy, who got his start at the Oakville Speed Skating Club, won nine World Cup medals during his career. HERB GARBUTT hgarbutt@metroland.com With two laps left in the men's 500-metre quarter-fi­ nal at a World Cup in Minsk, Belarus, Patrick Duffy needed to gain some positions. When Poland's Michal Domanski took a wide turn, Duffy spotted an opening and made his move. It was going to be a tight pass, but really, in short track speedskating, space is luxury that is rare­ ly afforded. As they reached the apex of the turn, Duffy's trailing arm brushed Do­ manski. He could feel his legs slipping out from un­ der him. In the split second as he slid toward the padded boards, he tried to protect himself. "I tried to save my legs, so I kicked them up," he said, "but I didn't know I had a big Polish guy com­ ing in right behind me." Duffy slid into the boards on his back, feet in the air. The impact wouldn't have been bad, nothing he hadn't experi­ enced before, but Doman­ ski slid into Duffy's head, driving it into the boards. Duffy didn't grow up dreaming of being speed- skater. He found the sport almost by accident. He had gone to the Onta­ rio Winter Games to watch his brother play hockey. In­ stead, he was drawn to the speedskating taking place on a neighbouring rink. He joined the Oakville Speed Skating Club, but initially with no bigger ambitions than winning his next race. Mark O'Donnell, the president of the Oakville club, said Duffy didn't ar­ rive with any more natural skating ability than you'd find in any other 11-year- old house-league hockey player. But he said the young skater was always willing to put in the work off the ice in order to have success on it. "Every time he put his toe on the line, he was the strongest skater in the race," O'Donnell said. "By 16 or 17, he was the most dominant skater in the province. He was virtually unbeatable." Racing in a tight pack is what attracted Duffy to speedskating. He loved the excitement of trying to ma­ noeuvre past an opponent while skating at full speed. "In short track you have to be strategic. You have to be nimble and be able to think on your feet," O'Don­ nell said. "You have to en­ joy the close quarters. You have to be fearless and Pat­ rick feared no competitor." There were fears off the ice, but Duffy was willing to meet them head on if it meant improving his skat­ ing. So when he was 17 and ready to start university, he accepted an invitation to train in Quebec, Canada's short track hot bed. It was a big leap for someone who had strug­ gled in Grade 9 French class. "I'm not ashamed to say I cried a lot that first year," he said. But Duffy knew to im­ prove, it was the best place for him. He saw that being the best in Ontario would only take him so far with the depth of the Quebec program. It wasn't just the Quebec skaters on the na­ tional team he would have to beat for a spot, "there was another 10 or 20 skat­ ers right behind them." Both his skating and his French, with the help of girlfriend Vanessa Belan- ger-Marceau, would im­ prove greatly. When Duffy made his first national team he was the only skater from Onta­ rio and one of only three on the 16-member team not from Quebec. "He really set a path for a lot of dreams," O'Donnell said. "A lot of kids looked at him and said, 'Yeah, I can do it'." By the time Duffy ar­ rived in Minsk last Febru­ ary, he had been competing internationally for six years. He had represented Canada at the World Junior World Championships (winning a relay bronze), the Winter Universiade (winning two silver med- • See ONE, page 59 a Y O U TH SO CCER SUM M ER 2 0 1 8OUTDOOR HOUSE LEAGUES AT APPLEBV COLLEGE & ST. TH O M A S AQUINAS2002-2014 LEAGUES: $207.96 2015/16 SOCCER PROGRAM: $97.35 F O R B O Y S & G I R L S B O R N 2 0 0 2 - 2 0 1 6 LEAGUES AVAILABLE TUES-SAT 4* 12 weeks of games, starts June 3-9 4* Soccer Tots program for players bom 2015/2016 includes parents & kids in fun 30min sessions 4* Teammate requests accommodated 4» Paid, certified coaches 4* Team uniform included 4* Each player receives a ball 4» Team photograph included & End of Season Awards mailto:hgarbutt@metroland.com