Swain Student Wins Speedskating Championship

sixth-grader Rachel Yoder took up the sport of speedskating little more than a year ago and has already earned some impressive wins.

Competing earlier this month in Hartford, Conn., Yoder took first place in the novice division for her age group in the Mid-Atlantic Short Track Speedskating Championships.

“I was really surprised because it was my first race ever,” says Rachel, 12. “I never thought I’d get the champion of the novice division. It was a happy day.”

Rachel placed first in four of her races at the championships. In two more races, she came in second and fourth, even after tripping. More than 1,000 people competed in all races at the event.

Yoder is a daughter of Annemarie and Samuel Yoder, both veterinarians who own and operate Silver Maple Veterinary Clinic in Kutztown. The family lives in Richland Township, Berks County.

“She’s a daredevil,” says Annemarie Yoder. “She loves roller coasters and skydiving.” Rachel also plays the violin, and at Swain plays lacrosse.

“I have a lot of good friends at Swain, and they were very excited for me, too,” Rachel adds.

Rachel and her twin sister, Emma, started learning to skate before they were 2 years old. Emma took up competitive figure skating, but Rachel was more interested in racing. When Body Zone sports center in Wyomissing, Berks County started offering speedskating classes, she began training with coach Shawn Walb, who coached Allison Baver, the Olympic speedskater from Reading.

Rachel is now a member of the East Penn Speedskating Club, which also practices at the Steel Ice Center in Bethlehem and has members from three states.

Annemarie Yoder worries that speedskating is a dangerous sport. “I don’t know how much farther we’ll go with it, but it makes her feel good about herself.”

Rachel plans to attend a speedskating summer camp this year. She says she’d like to be a speedskating coach one day, and a veterinarian like her parents. “It would be really fun,” she says.