"With Catherine, we're going back to asking what made her tick," he said. "She was consistently right there contending for podiums. We need to get her back to that and then get her to focus in. She was right there, so we can regain that and see what happens."

One veteran speedskater also trying to recapture some of the magic that carried her to Olympic podiums in the past is Jennifer Rodriguez. As one of Parra's former teammates, she expects him to have a good influence on the team over the next few months.

"It's hard to know. His program will either work or it won't," Rodriguez said. "His skaters just need to believe in it. There's no time for anything else."

Parra said he is not interested in the drama and lack of communication that existed to a degree between Veldcamp, the skaters and their coaches. Rather, the three-time Olympic medalist and former world-record holder wants to manage and integrate the differing styles, techniques and methods that work best with each individual athlete.

"My goal is to bring unity back to this team," Parra said. "I can't really speak for any of the past coaches, but I'm not going to have a problem letting people train with their own coaches and do the things that work best for them. If they want to train with me, great. If there's something else that works better, I'm not going to stand in the way of that."

What that means is skaters such as Davis and Marsicano will probably spend little time training on the world's fastest ice. They are already at the top of their game and world champions.

Those who do train under Parra's watchful eye will be in for some hard work, though.

"My belief is that you should always make your practice harder than your races," he said. "If you're not willing to suffer, you shouldn't be on this team."

e-mail: jeborn@desnews.com