2026 Presidential Cup & NEST #4 a Full Success

2026 Presidential Cup and NEST #4

By Ethan Lin

The Potomac Speedskating Club hosted the sixth annual Presidential Cup over Presidents’ Day weekend February 14-15. A total of 130 skaters representing 19 clubs traveled from the East Coast to the West Coast to compete at the Prince William Ice Center, racing for trophies, Age Group National qualifying times, and personal bests.

This year’s event featured a record-breaking 58 NEST (NorthEast Short Track) competitors, 38 men and 20 women, creating a highly competitive field. To create more meaningful and balanced competition, NEST Director Todd Zaorski and race organizers introduced separate NEST Men A and B divisions, with a 1:40.000 cutoff time for the NEST MEN A for 1000 meters. Standard qualifying times remained 1:48.000 for men and 1:58.000 for women. The meet also debuted a 2000-meter SuperFinal, designed to encourage and reward endurance and race strategy. Potomac Speedskating Club coach Simon Cho and 2010 Olympian said the longer 2000m race gives “a good chance for skaters with stamina to strategize.” After fiercely battling through the 1500m, 500m, 1000m and the 2000m SuperFinal, Robert Tolliver of the Potomac Speedskating Club captured the NEST Men A title, while Vanessa Chan of PNIC ST won the NEST Women division.

The competition included skaters of all experience levels. The Novice division featured 16 first-year racers and was divided into A and B groups, with the B division including 11 first-time competitors. All novice skaters were awarded trophies to mark the beginning of their speedskating racing journey. Seven mixed-gender Ability divisions (including Anacostia, Chesapeake, Nanticoke, Occoquan and Pocomoke) filled the schedule between Novice and elite NEST racing. In addition to earning Personal Best time, skaters also achieved Age Group Nationals qualifying times, a major milestone in the sport. See the full result in the US Speedskating Result page https://www.usspeedskating.org/results.

Coinciding with the 2026 Winter Olympics, the awards ceremony featured presentations by local short-track Olympian Thomas Hong (2018) and Youth Olympian Julius Kazanecki (2024).

In addition to the great racing, off-ice volunteers raised a recording-breaking $1,700 through the raffle and cookie sale. Raffle items were generously donated by parents from the Potomac Speedskating Club. The additional funds will help offset facility and operational costs and support a healthy event budget.

Thanks to the Prince William Ice Center for providing high-quality ice and a reliable facility that makes this event possible each year; to the skaters for their outstanding performances and sportsmanship; to the dedicated volunteers who worked tirelessly behind the scenes to keep everything running smoothly; and to the parents whose support made the weekend possible.

Meet co-directors Victoria Groseclose and Ania Wacht thanked all the officials and volunteers for a fantastic job throughout the weekend and the months of preparation. They are already looking ahead to the 2027 competition over Presidents’ Day weekend, with preparations underway and plans to welcome athletes back next year!