‘I have strength, I can still go on. I have strength, I can still go on.” During her last laps on the 5,000 meters, Joy Beune (25) repeats the phrase like a mantra in her head, while her lead over Merel Conijn shrinks on the lap board. At the finish she still has 0.7 seconds left in the rankings for the surprise of the tournament. After last year’s world championship, Beune now wins her first national all-round title.
Conijn (23) is now sitting in the center of Thialf with a broad smile on her face. Coach Jillert Anema affectionately pats her on the legs with which she achieved her third personal record of the weekend in the penultimate stage of the 5,000 meters on Sunday in 6.48.96. The fact that Beune is ahead of her is taken into account. “Although when I crossed the finish line I had the thought: it could really be possible,” says Conijn a little later.
Before the tournament, it was expected that defending champion Antoinette Rijpma-De Jong and Beune would decide who would become Dutch champion, but on day one Conijn surprisingly entered the fray. While the competition spoke of tough conditions, they seemed to have no problem with that. She was the only one to dive under 4 minutes in the 3,000 meters on Saturday, firmly establishing herself in third place in the rankings.
The 1,500 meters was won on Sunday by Beune, who had to defend 7.5 seconds in the final distance. She tackled her 5,000 meters clinically, riding with Conijn’s schedule from the previous stage in the back of her mind. Yet she only dared to cheer after she saw a ‘1’ behind her name on the round board. “I am happy to have this title. It gives a boost, I feel like I can take on the world,” said Beune, who attracted attention earlier this month with a shoot in the Playboy. Now she can compete for her first European title in two weeks.
Bone decalcification
For Conijn, her performance once again confirms that she is back at the Dutch top. Three years ago she surprised by becoming Dutch champion as a great promise, but then her development came to a standstill. She signed with Jac Orie’s team and started a new lactose-free diet, which in retrospect meant she didn’t get enough calcium. Due to the bone loss that subsequently developed, she was not allowed to skate for months. “If it takes that long, you start to doubt whether you can get back to your old level.”
This summer, Conijn joined Team Zaanlander. “I was a bit shocked by my backlog. For example, I had barely cycled for a year. After ten minutes I said to my teammates: ‘Joe, I’ll see you on top of the mountain’.” She also had to get used to the amount of skating with her new team: “I was off after ten minutes.”
Her trainer Arjan Samplonius sees strong growth in Conijn: “We are not afraid to put in a lot of work as a team. The advantage with Merel is that she also likes it, you can see that she does very well with it. If you see the training, the end of her development is not yet in sight.”
Even before the season, Conijn noticed that she was getting fitter. After a second place in the 3,000 meters at the World Cup qualifying tournament at the beginning of November, the last bit of doubt was thrown away. In Thialf this weekend she was told by Samplonius that gold had been in it. There was particular dissatisfaction within the Zaanlander staff about her lap in 33 seconds on the 5,000 meters, because she was still able to push hard at the end of the race. “It definitely could have been better,” she agreed. Does she see herself as a title candidate for the European Championship? “Then I have to ride a harder 500 meters, which would make the rest of the tournament a lot more relaxed.”
The denouement of the all-round tournament for the men was just as exciting as for the women. Chris Huizinga seemed to be on his way to title prolongation after day one, but after a botched 1,500 meters, his deficit to Beau Snellink in the 10,000 meters turned out to be too great.
Looking for form at Roest
The disappointing Patrick Roest had already left the tournament at that time. “The body is exhausted,” he said with some frustration after the 1,500 meters. Due to an infected wisdom tooth, he fell behind in training in the preseason, but his form has deteriorated since then. “I will now focus on the National Distance Championships. World Cups? I have no business there now.”
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After some trouble, Patrick Roest and Femke Kok are back at the National Skating Championships
Femke Kok, Roest’s teammate at Reggeborgh, decided to skip the second day of the sprint tournament altogether. Although she had set the fastest time of the season on the 500 meters on day one (37.39) and was second in the rankings, she had to be careful with her body after a viral infection. Trainer Gerard van Velde argued in front of the NOS camera for a designation for the European Championships in mid-January. “We were able to clearly see how good she was and is.”
Without Kok, Jutta Leerdam easily defended her lead in the rankings. She won both the 500 and 1,000 meters on Sunday. Suzanne Schulting, who is missing out on this short track season after her ankle fracture last March, came second. Jenning de Boo (20) was supreme among the men.