A peek inside the impactful relationship between Canada’s dynamic long distance duo, Bloemen and Fish
Generally speaking, the more talented and trained an athlete is, the more effortless they can make their sport look.
Long track speed skating is one of those sports that, at the highest level, looks effortless, even beautiful. It’s a poetry-in-motion kind of sport.
But according to two of Team Canada’s top long distance speed skaters, Ted-Jan Bloemen and Graeme Fish, behind the hypnotic rhythm of swinging arms and striding legs is a high level of technical skill…and some good old-fashioned pain.
“What I try to tell my younger teammates is that it’s so important, especially in long distance, to stay calm, and keep making it effortless. Once you start panicking because you’re getting tired and you start working harder, then the efficiency just goes out the window. You’ve got to stay calm all the way through,” said Bloemen.
Fish had a more blunt answer to what drove him towards the long distance events of 5000m and 10,000m.
“I love pain,” he said with a laugh.
“A 500m [race] to me, doesn’t seem that appealing because I’m not hurting. I think you just learn to love it,” Fish added, “If there was a 20km race, I’d for sure do it, no question.”
Born and raised in the Netherlands—where speed skating can claim the revered status that hockey enjoys in Canda—Bloemen moved to his father’s birth country of Canada in 2014 after years of struggling to break out in the super competitive Dutch system. Upon joining the Canadian national team, he made an immediate impact, proving to himself that he was right when he believed his best skating was still ahead of him. He’s since become a two-time Olympian, competing at PyeongChang 2018 and Beijing 2022.
At PyeongChang 2018, Bloemen ended an 86-year Olympic medal drought for Canada in the men’s 5000m and 10,000m events. After winning silver in the former in a photo finish, he broke the Olympic record in the latter to capture the gold medal. At age 38, Bloemen has eight podiums to his name at the ISU World Single Distances Championships.
Hailing from Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, 27-year-old Fish made his Olympic debut at Beijing 2022. But his international breakout came even earlier, when he set a world record of 12:33.86 in the 10,000m at the 2020 World Singles Distances Championships. The result he bested by almost 2.5 seconds was set by none other than Bloemen himself in 2015. At those same world championships, Fish also won bronze to Bloemen’s gold in the 5000m.
Elevating each other
Even in individual sports, teams are still made of the sum of their parts. Fish had a front row seat to the impact that Bloemen’s arrival had on the Canadian national team.
“Before Ted came to Canada, I don’t think anyone had ever gone under 13 minutes in the 10,000m,” said Fish. “Ted started skating with Jordan Belchos, and you could see that Ted was getting better, but you could also see that Jordan was getting better. And then when Ted won gold at the Olympics, Jordan got fifth—that year, we probably had the strongest distance program at the Olympics for men.
“I joined the group the year after, and we just clicked, on and off the ice. I think we both wouldn’t be as good as we are if we weren’t training together,” Fish said.
Bloemen is in agreement that the two athletes have elevated each other’s athletic performance, and adds that skating with Fish has also changed his outlook towards being a teammate.
“When Graeme skated the world record in 2020, and he took it from me, I think that was the first time in my life that I could be truly happy for someone else performing well,” said Bloemen. “I was not jealous, or angry at myself for not being better. I was just proud that we did it together, and that he’s now beat me.”
Bloemen says that their ability to genuinely celebrate each other’s successes has been an eye-opening experience.
“It’s just a much happier way to approach sport, than being bitter if you’re not winning.”
Looking back to look forward
Despite their success throughout their careers, both Bloemen and Fish would love to go back and give their younger selves some advice.
With the hindsight that the realities of fatherhood have given him, Bloemen wishes he could tell his younger self to be a bit more disciplined.
“If I could go back to the early days of my career, I would just be like: For god’s sake, just focus on what you need to do! You’ve got so much time in the day!” Bloemen said with a laugh.
“It took me way too long to really commit, and to really understand what you need to do to become a champion—you need to live it, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. And man, could I have been doing that earlier!”
Fish would warn himself against the dangers of comparison to others, and give himself advice in the form of the attitude he tries to embody now—to be in the moment and work hard.
Heading to world championships
As Team Canada heads towards the ISU World Speed Skating Single Distances Championships taking place March 13-16 in Hamar, Norway, Bloemen and Fish are focused on being process-oriented, rather than outcome-oriented, and keeping their eyes trained towards Milano Cortina 2026.
“People always want to hear like, where do you want to finish? What time do you want to skate?” said Bloemen, “But to us, it’s not important—if you want to get the most out of yourself, the journey has to be the goal.”
