Since it's the Winter Olympics in Torino Italy, I thought I'd post a story about it. I was watching the CBC the other day, and I came across an interesting news story about Canada's secret weapon for the Winter Olympics. He's called "The Icemaker," and the claim is that he makes the world's fastest ice at the Calgary oval. Our Canadian athletes train there, and they credit their world class performance partially on this superior ice. When I first heard of The Icemaker, I thought it sounded a lot like a special character from the Matrix, ie The Architect, The Keymaker, etc.
The CBC has an article about this entitled, "
Torino Games call on world-class Canadian iceman."
When it came time to build the Olympic speed skating oval, Torino organizers beelined to Canada's Mark Messer to be their facilities' specialist. He makes the world's fastest ice. [...]
Shortly after TOROC – the Organizing Committee for the Torino Olympic Games – requested his guidance for the creation of the long track Oval Lingotto. Messer, 44, began commuting between Turin and Calgary almost monthly last May.
TOROC is not the first to tap his expertise, and likely not the last. He has been the go-to person for ovals in the United States, Norway and Japan. If he doesn't go to them, speed skaters flock to the Calgary oval to crack personal-best times and shatter world records.
Though he doesn't wear the clapskates himself, Messer was partly responsible for breaking world records when he helped make ice for the 1998 Nagano Olympics, the 2002 Salt Lake City Games, and numerous speed skating championships throughout Europe and North America.
He has perfected the recipe for Olympic-calibre ice. It's a combination of proper ice temperature, air temperature above the ice, low humidity and the composition of the ice itself – using pure, filtered water. Beyond the basics, Messer said his signature is in the finer points. Nothing is overlooked. Messer walks the ice on race mornings, looking for imperfections.
"If a little bit of oil spills on the ice, it has a big effect, or it can? Some people don't worry about that. Or if the Zamboni isn't working quite right, and a little bit of snow comes out, some people will say, 'That's fine'. Well, we here have instilled in the guys that you take care of every little detail."
Turin weather could pose some tough challenges. If the humidity in the Oval Lingotto is above 40 per cent, the ice surface becomes frosty and slower. So if the 8,500-seats are filled with spectators coming in from the rain, Messer and his Olympic crew must plan to counteract the unwanted moisture. It requires predicting crowd size, weather and lighting in preparation for every day's events.
Fortunately, Turin's high altitude lends itself to quicker times, because the thin air means less resistance between the skaters and the finish line.
Some icemakers are researching various chemical additives that are supposed to make ice surfaces smoother, and at one point Messer took an unorthodox route when he looked into the affect of lunar cycles, but nothing came of it, and nothing needed to. If it ain't broke, Messer leaves the tinkering to the competition because he hasn't felt the need to alter his ice.
