At Oconomowoc

Last week at pastoral Oconomowoc, 33 miles west of Milwaukee, 42 of the fastest skaters in the U. S. whizzed around Fowler Lake. The first day 50 Oconomowocians watched them. The second day only 25 showed up. The rest of the week, even though it was free and only a stone's throw from the centre of town, the spectacle attracted fewer and fewer onlookers.

But the fastest skaters in the U. S. were not disgruntled over lack of gallery as long as a handful of ear-muffed gentlemen, seated in a little wooden coop, remained on the scene. For they were officials of the American Olympic Committee and they were selecting a team of eight to represent the U. S. in the Winter Olympic Games at St. Moritz next February.

Like U. S. figure skaters, U. S. speed skaters do not show up well in European competition. At the 1936 Olympics, Norway made a clean sweep of the four speed-skating events. American skaters attribute this to lack of experience in the European (and Olympic) method of racing. In U. S., skaters race in a pack; the first man over the line wins. In Europe, there is no jockeying for position, no jamming at the turns. Skaters race individually; the man who covers the distance in the fastest time wins.

So eager is the Amateur Skating Union to make an impressive showing in international competition that they sent a half-dozen U. S. topnotchers abroad last winter to pick up experience. At the European-style Olympic tryouts last week the investment paid its first dividends. Although the No. 1 speed-skating event of the year had left the Oconomowocians cold, the American Olympic Committee announced that next year's team will be the best ever sent to the Olympics. During the week three new records were etched into U. S. skating history.

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