Local News
Adam Buchwald Competes for Canada at the World Junior Speed Skating Championships
By MYRON LOVE Winnipeg-born speedskater Adam Buchwald has had a season to remember. At the start of the Long Track Speed Skating Season last fall, the 19-year-old second-year student at the University of Calgary had one goal: to qualify for the World Junior Speed Skating Championships.
Mission accomplished.
In December, at the Canadian Junior Championships in Fort St. John, BC, Buchwald won gold in the 5000m, becoming Canadian Junior Champion in that distance. This, combined with his performance in the 3 other distances in which he raced, resulted in Buchwald placing 3rd overall out of the field of the top 30 Junior athletes in Canada and was named to the Canadian National Junior Team.
Along with three other men and four women, Buchwald represented Canada at the World Junior Championships and the Junior World Cup, which were both held in Collalbo, Italy from January 31 – February 9, 2025. At the World Junior Championships – against the world’s best, Buchwald placed 14th overall out of the field of over 65 athletes.
Buchwald, the son of Richard Buchwald and Tracy Leipsic, began speedskating at the age of 4, when he insisted on doing the same activity as his older sisters, Rachael and Serena. His mother was his first coach. Leipsic, a decorated speedskater in her own right, represented Manitoba and was a medalist at the Canada Winter Games in 1987. Once her speedskating career ended, Leipsic turned to coaching and officiating, through which she has served as an inspiration for many Manitoba speedskaters over the years, including her son.
Buchwald says that as he has progressed to the high-performance level of the sport, his mother has always been able to strike the right balance between former coach and mentor. In a 2023 interview, Buchwald was quoted as saying, “My mom has always been a really good mentor. If she’s coaching, then she’s a coach before a parent, and if she’s not my coach, she’s always a parent before coach. I think that’s been really helpful and a really good influence on me.”
The competitive side of Adam started when he was 10 years old. In his younger years, Adam was a national level Short Track speedskater. Short Track is skated on a 111 metre oval while Long Track takes place on a 400 metre oval.
It wasn’t until high school that Buchwald decided to focus exclusively on Long Track speed skating, where he specializes in the longer distances. At the senior level, the longest distance raced is 10,000m. This is not a distance that is raced at the Junior level. Nevertheless, Buchwald has always wanted to try the 10,000. After repeatedly asking his coaches for the opportunity, he finally got his wish in January 2023, at the outdoor oval at the Cindy Klassen Rec, Centre in Winnipeg. Buchwald not only survived the gruelilng distance, he broke the track record set way back in 1992. Buchwald has only had two other opportunities to skate the 10,000m in competition since then, most recently placing 5th at the Senior National Canada Cup in Quebec at the beginning of March. Buchwald was the top Junior skater in 3 races – the 1500m (13th), 5000m (9th) and 10000m races, involving over 30 of Canada’s top skaters.
Buchwald trains six days per week, twice a day, at the Olympic Oval in Calgary, where he is coached by former Winnipegger and 4-time Olympian, Mike Ireland.
He recently had to take time off from his regular routine to have a minor heart procedure. However, Buchwald reports that he is now good to go and has resumed his training.
Buchwald has certainly had an exciting season, from being crowned National Champion to realizing a goal of representing Canada at the World Championships. One of Buchwald’s many goals is to pursue a career in speedskating and compete in the Olympic Games for Team Canada.
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First year medical student Tim Rozovsky founds new association for local Jewish medical students
By MYRON LOVE In the face of a concerning surge in antisemitism over the past nearly three years, I am happy to report a good news story in that regard. Tim Rozovsky, the founder of the new Jewish Medical Students’ Association of Manitoba, reports that he and his fellow Jewish students enrolled in the University of Manitoba’s Max Rady College of Medicine are not experiencing any significant issues involving antisemitism.
Hopefully, the matter of the notorious Med school Valedictorian who used his podium to attack Israel was a one-off.
“My goal in forming the Jewish Medical Students’ Association of Manitoba,” says the first year medical student, “was to create a safe, supportive environment for my fellow Jewish medical students.”
He reports that the current first year class at the school has eight Jewish students – an increase over more recent years – with maybe a dozen more in the other years.
For a new medical student, Rozovsky already has an impressive resume. He was born in Russia and grew up in Israel. After the completion of his army service in 2018, the then-22-year-old rejoined his parents, Dr. Katya and Alexander, who had moved to Winnipeg a few years before.
Prior to coming to Winnipeg, Rozovsky had completed a personal trainer program out of The Academic College at Wingate in Jerusalem. Some readers may know the young man from his work as a Master Personal Trainer at the Rady JCC.
Shortly after arriving here, he enrolled in a kinesiology program at the University of Winnipeg. He graduated with a BKin Honours in 2023 and did post graduate work at the University of Manitoba. Last fall, he received his MSc in Physiology and Pathophysiology – earning two gold medals, along with 32 awards and scholarships in the process.
Rozovsky says that it was his mother who inspired him to pursue a career in medicine. Dr. Katya Rozovsky is an associate professor at the University of Manitoba and an attending radiologist, specializing in pediatric diagnostic imaging.
(Tim also adds that his wife, Irina Gelzin, whom he married about a year ago, is training to be a nurse.)
Insofar as the Jewish Medical Students’ Association of Manitoba is concerned, Rozovky reports that the group gets together multiple times a year. One of its programs was a joint Chanukah celebration with the Jewish Physicians Association of Manitoba.
There was also a joint program with the Christian Medical and Dental Students’ Association of Manitoba.
“More recently, we have been helping prospective Jewish medical students with their applications,” he says. “Hopefully we will be able to get together over the summer with the incoming Jewish students.”
As to his own future plans, Rozovsky notes that it is too early for him to be deciding on a specialty. “My goal,” he says, “is to work hard and get good grades and become the best doctor that I can be.”
Local News
Gray Academy to Represent Manitoba at National Reach for the Top Competition
By NOAH STRAUSS Posted June 6) Gray Academy’s Reach for the Top team is headed to Moncton, New Brunswick, to represent Manitoba at the National Reach for the Top tournament.
Reach for the Top is a Canadian school league that quizzes teenagers on a variety of different topics, from science and history to pop culture. Reach started out in 1961 in Vancouver, where a local CBC station broadcasted the new show; it eventually became a national broadcast starting in 1966. Alex Trebek, who famously hosted Jeopardy!, started out by hosting Reach for the Top.
Gray Academy’s very own team, made up of Grade 7 and 8 students, will travel to Moncton, New Brunswick, to compete as Team Manitoba. By winning the provincial Reach tournament, they secured their spot in the national competition.
Faculty members at Gray Academy are very supportive of the program. The Jewish Post spoke with three different staff members at the school. Coach and high school teacher Danielle Miller says she is excited for the trip; although she will not be accompanying the team herself, shehas coached them all year.
“This year we had over 20 students come to the club to join us, they practice twice a cycle at lunch,” Miller said. Due to the large turnout this year, two teams had to be formed. At lunch practices, students split into two teams of four where each player has a buzzer. The two teams compete to see who can answer the most questions correctly.
One of the two teams did exceptionally well at various tournaments throughout the year and will be traveling to nationals as the sole team representing Manitoba.
Co-coach Micah Doerksen described Reach as a great academic competition where young minds are tested on various topics through quick,fast-paced questions.
High school guidance counselor Lindsey Leipsic said, “We have athletes, non-athletes, we have students who are really involved and students who are not as involved at school, and we have quiet leaders, and we’ve seen friendships be built in Reach.” Some of her favorite memories of Reach involve seeing students from across Winnipeg come to Gray Academy and bond with one another. Lev Chisick, who is competing at nationals, agreed, saying, “Moncton is going to strengthen our school spirit and make us a better team.”
As the junior team makes their way to Moncton, the senior team will head to provincials. Later this week, students from the senior team will travel to Virden, Manitoba, to compete at the provincial level. The team qualified after placing high enough at their most recent tournament, which took place at St. Paul’s.
Confidence is high as the school heads into these final tournaments. When Nath Goldenberg, who is also competing at nationals, was asked what he is most looking forward to, his answer was short and sweet:“Winning.”
