Awesome article! Kevin's a skater that we've known very little about over the years - it's nice to see this in-depth article that features him!
Midland's Geminder, 31, is oldest racer in American Cup III By Dan Chalk / Midland Daily News / February 9, 2011
Midland short track speed skater Kevin Geminder is making up for lost time -- and maybe defying time in the process.
Geminder, 31, who will be the oldest competitor in American Cup III this weekend at the Midland Civic Arena, races against many skaters who are at least 10 years younger than himself.
Not that they necessarily realize it.
"They don't always know," the 5-foot-11 Geminder said of his younger competitors, noting the surprise of some of them when he tells them his age. "They'll say, 'No way. I thought you were 25 or 26.'"
Midland's Barry Winslow, 21, who will also compete in American Cup III, enjoys skating against and being pushed by Geminder, whom he views as a peer.
"Kevin and I go way back," said Winslow. " ... It's a friendly rivalry between Kevin and me."
Another competitor this weekend, Midland's Brett Perry, 18, feels the same way.
"Kevin is a great guy. He's still very good competition for me even though he's 10 years older," Perry said. "Ever since I started skating (nine years ago), I've been chasing him. I'm still chasing him."
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www.ourmidland.com/sports/article_cd1f7b23-ab47-5c2b-a6e5-612dda0d64e7.htmlIn a sport which sees some competitors retire in their mid 20s, Geminder marches to the beat of his own drum.
And that's nothing new for him.
In junior high and high school, Geminder competed in football, track, soccer and baseball -- in addition to speed skating.
But about the time he graduated from Midland High in 1997, Geminder was ready to take a break from sports, including competitive speed skating, which he had done for nine years.
"I graduated and said, 'OK, that's enough, I don't want to do anything (in sports) right now,'" said Geminder.
His hiatus from speed skating lasted from when he was 17 until he was 22 -- "the years I really needed to be training," he said with a laugh.
Geminder admits that he wonders how far he could have gone, had he not taken those five years off from skating.
"The farther along I've gone through (competitive speed skating), (the more I wonder) where I could have ended up had I not quit," he said. "A lot of the people I was beating (in my teens) ended up making World Teams. That got me thinking, 'Why did I do that?' Those (years that I missed) are really kind of your peak years for your development in the sport."
Indeed, Geminder's coach for the past eight years, Joe Rohraff, emphasized how tough it was for Geminder to catch up with the competition after missing those five years.
"When he stopped skating, that was just the age when everyone else was starting to ramp up the training and get more serious," Rohraff said. "He missed out on all the important training years. So when he came back, he was definitely way behind."
But Rohraff said Geminder possesses a valuable quality that helped him work his way back into shape -- drive.
"The number one quality that gets him to where he's at is that he's very self-motivated," said Rohraff, who was on the U.S. Short Track National Team from 1994-2000. "If he didn't have such a high level of self-motivation, he definitely wouldn't be where he's at."
Geminder said his impetus for getting back into competitive skating came when the National Short Track Championships were held in Bay City about nine years ago.
"I had completely walked away from the sport," he said. "I thought, I'll just go watch."
While attending the championships, Geminder came across some friends he had competed against in the past, and they encouraged him to get back into speed skating.
But it was the way they said it that really motivated him.
"They said, 'You could be competitive locally.' It was a real motivator," recalled Geminder, who felt he could be competitive more than just locally. "I thought, 'I'm going to up that ante a little bit.'"
So in late 2001, at the age of 22, he set out to get back into skating shape -- something he admits was much easier said than done.
"It was pretty rough," he said. "There's a big difference between being in shape and being in skating shape. After being off for five years, it was pretty much brutal trying to get back to that point. The first year was pretty miserable, trying to relearn a lot of technique."
But Geminder persisted, and by 2003 he qualified for the U.S. Short Track Championships, which is part of the American Cup series.
"Before that, I hadn't done any American Cups. From then on, from the next season until now, I don't think I've missed an American Cup," he said.
Geminder's best finish in an American Cup final was two years ago, when he placed 16th when the event was held in Midland.
He said he recently realized that it's been nine years since he returned to skating -- the same length of time that he first competed in the sport before taking a break from it.
"I found that kind of amusing when it dawned on me the other day: 'Wow, my comeback has been as long as my first time skating,'" Geminder said.
Geminder admitted that he has struggled in the 2010-11 season and it will be difficult for him to advance to the American Cup Final next month in Wausau, Wis.
"I'm going to have to have a really good weekend (at American Cup III in order to advance)," he said.
When his season is over, whether it's after this weekend or after the American Cup Final, Geminder says he's considering a switch to long track skating.
"Short track is definitely dominated by younger skaters," he said.
Down the road, Geminder, who works at Bicycle Headquarters in Midland, sees himself doing more coaching, which he has already done to some degree within the Midland Speed Skating Club. He also hopes to go back to college and finish a degree in computer science.[/img]
Tags: Kevin Geminder / Barry Winslow / Brett Perry / Short Track Speedskating
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