Class of 2010: Builder
From 1966 to 1999, Wilf Langevin was the voice of Skate Canada at events across the country. But his contribution to the sport of figure skating went far beyond his role as an announcer. He combined his interest in music, technology and announcing to create a lasting legacy for the association and raised the level of professionalism to world-class standards.
Originally Wilf played the music and announced at the same time. He saw the sport evolve from using records to reel-to-reel tape to cassette tapes and on to the digital age in music and sound production. He also began editing music for skaters and shared his expertise by teaching others to do the same. The first to script and announce competitions bilingually, he set the standard for many who followed in his footsteps, and took a keen interest in training new music technicians and announcers.
In collaboration with Bill Dowding, he worked to meet the emerging television requirements for direct music and voice feeds. The two also identified the technological needs to produce excellent sound quality and playback systems for music in the venues. They truly broke ground in this emerging field, adjusting and adapting technology to ensure the timing was consistent for the skaters every time their music played.
Also active at the club, section and national level, Wilf served on the committee that introduced the national Skating Test Programme. His longevity in announcing saw him take part in 32 Canadian Championships, 23 Skate Canada Internationals, six ISU World Figure Skating Championships, and the highlight of his career at the 1988 Olympic Winter Games in Calgary.
Inducted into the Skate Canada Hall of Fame 2010.
