Teams are sent to international competitions and World Championships every year. Olympic Teams are selected every fourth year. All these organizations sound complicated for the small number of competitors in speed skating. However, there is an advantage to having only a few participants, because beginning skaters are able to quickly identify with elite athletes. Cooperation and common bonds of friendship obscure organizational boundaries and proliferation of acronyms.
Healthy competition tends to make skaters go a little faster.
This is very good, because it diminishes, without eliminating, the importance of winning and emphasizes improvement of technique and physical preparation. Many local ASU club and association competitions provide times for every skater at their meets. Of course one of the attractions of metric-style skating for skaters is that it is based on individual times. Speed skating racing is traditionally an individual sport with competition for several distances. Cumulative results of all the races determine the order of finish.