SM Megamall revives skating rink

MANILA, Philippines - The country’s first ice skating rink is back in operations at the newest wing of SM Megamall, now the Philippines’ largest shopping mall.

The opening of the skating rink last week also marks the birth of speed skating in the country, said mall operator and developer SM Prime Holdings Inc.

“SM has stepped up in developing its leisure product offerings by providing state-of-the-art facilities especially in support of the Filipino athlete,” said Raymund Retumban, division manager for the ice skating rink operations of SM.

SM introduced the short-track speed skating, a popular version of ice skating that can be enjoyed on an Olympic-sized rink measuring 30x60 meters. In contrast, the traditional long-track speed skating is set on an Olympic track oval as big as a football field.

Short-track speed skating, popular in Asian countries like Singapore, Korea and Japan, is the newest offering in SM’s winter sports roster that currently includes figure skating and ice hockey.

“Similar to [Henry Sy Sr.’s] vision, we want to introduce a unique sport done through an Olympic size rink in a tropical country,” said Manuelito Resultay, operations manager at the ice skating rink.

Short-track speed skating requires no special skills as it is similar to figure skating, only with longer skates and uses a race format with 50-, 1,000- or 1,500-meter events, Resultay said.

Retumban said the new ice skating rink, located on the fifth floor of SM Megamall Building D, features a breakthrough in terms of ceiling design in the world.

Designed by New York-based CAZA, the Olympic- sized rink features an intricate, grill-type Louver ceiling to facilitate better air flow and will use modern technology and strategically located facilities and function areas.

The new skating rink, which can accommodate up to 900 people on the ice, opened in 1992 as the first of its kind in the Philippines. In 2006, the ice skating operations were consolidated in SM Mall of Asia.

Retumban said  the new ice skating rink, which is the second Olympic size skating rink of the SM Group after the facility at the SM Mall of Asia, features an intelligent cooling system designed to consume less electricity.

“This is the first rink to have its own building management system with a cost effective system of refrigeration. For example, if there are less people on ice, the system will automatically adjust to consume less electricity,” Retumban said.

As SM continues to develop more innovative ice skating rinks in the country, ice experts expect growing interest from the Filipino youth in winter sports.

To further develop speed skating in the Philippines, the Philippine Skating Union (PhSU) will be bringing in coaches from South Korea and Japan where the sport is quite advanced, said PhSU president Manuel Veguillas III.

“Part of our jurisdiction at the PhSU is to develop skating in the Philippines, not only through figure skating but speed skating as well,” Veguillas said.