Midtown To Host Book Signing Event Featuring Kildeer Speedskater April 23

In 1976, Bruce Conner was just two spots away from making the U.S. Olympic speed skating team that competed in Innsbruck, Austria. Missing by just seconds made the difference of a lifetime for the then 19-year-old.

Heartbroken, Conner -- brother of Olympic gymnast Bart Conner and brother-in-law to Romanian gymnast Nadia Comaneci -- gave up the sport for more than two decades. He became a commercial airline airline pilot and rarely laced up a pair of skates.

Today, when he's not working out or playing Cardio Tennis at Midtown Athletic Club in Palatine, Bruce Conner is a United Airlines captain, piloting 747s between the U.S. and Asia.

Conner fell back in love with speed skating during a trip to the Calgary Winter Games in 1988 and has since qualified three more times for the Olympic Time Trials, most recently in December of 2013.

He is the oldest American to ever qualify for the speed skating time trials and, amazingly, is faster now at age 57 than he was at 19.

Bruce Conner tells his story about breaking down barriers of self-limiting beliefs in his book, "Faster as a Master," and will be the featured guest at a Faster as a Master Book Signing Event at Midtown Palatine on Thursday, April 23, from 6:30-8 p.m.

The event is free for members and the general public. For more information on Bruce Conner and his book, visit www.brucewconner.com. For more information on the April 23 book signing, call Midtown Athletic Club at (847) 991-4646.