Growing up as a figure skater and later getting into hockey, I’ve been skating for pretty much my entire life. I also raced a figure skater when I was in grade 12. At the time I was playing on the high school hockey team and I was really fast. I ended up beating him to the other end although he tripped on the goal line and slammed head first into the boards. The figure skating coach was not impressed!
Based on that, I’ve always believed that hockey skates are faster than figure skates. That belief has been put to the test this year watching Jill and Jennie train for their record attempts – Jill wearing hockey skates and Jennie wearing figure skates. I think the hockey skates are faster but once Jennie has a chance to accelerate, I think she might move faster. But I don’t have any proof to support that.
I did find this video on Youtube talking about the science behind skating and specifically comparing figure, hockey and speed skates. However, they don’t talk about the speed difference. Obviously speed skates are the fastest over longer distances, but over short distances, specifically for our record attempts, I think hockey skates are the superior choice.
But with our attempts, there are many factors. So although I believe that Jill is faster with her hockey skates, I think that Jennie can throw the disc farther. I do know that it will be an exciting competition to see which lady will come out on top and become a Guinness World Records holder!