We've had our second practice on the track and so far this is what we know for sure:
-the air conditioner in the building has not been running which means we are all sweating extraordinary amounts.
-the track is awesome to skate and is really fast.
-cab drivers are not afraid to drive on the wrong side of the road.
-moped drivers are 100% confident they won't be hit.
We haven't done any speed drills or anything yet because we just got here and while we all get acclimated to the time zone and changes doing speed drills would be stupid so instead we are skating a lot of laps to get use to the track. During this time it's good for people to figure out what wheels they are going to skate on. Our paces have been in the 17-18 second per lap range which is good for pacing and we have dipped into the 16's which is ridiculously fast because we are pacing and in Colorado that it a dead sprint. I think just about all of our guys will be in the 15 second range when sprinting and the girls will probably be in the 16 range. The track in at least my opinion, is a lot better then last years but that might just be because I kind of knew what to expect this year. Coming out of the turns here is ridiculously fast. Well that's just a quick update I thought I'd give about the track so far, we are about to go skate it again about two hours from when I am typing this.
Saturday, September 12, 2009
Friday, September 11, 2009
In China
Well we are in China. We left Wednesday at 4:30 from detroit and landed in Shanghai at 7:00 Thursday and finally got to our hotel at about 2:00AM local time (China). So now it is friday and we lost about an entire day but oh well. We woke up and ate our breakfast and after words some of us went exploring through a little bit of the town which is kind of cool I guess. There is a leather mall across the street from our hotel and we've been told to only offer about 30% of what they are asking. After walking for awhile one way, turning around walking past our hotel again and pretty far the other way we gave up on finding the track only to figure out it was a 25 minute walk one way and we walked further then that, just not in the same direction. When we were out exploring i forgot my camera but I am going to try and get a bunch of pictures anyway but I wont be able to post them until I get back into the states.
We are scheduled to skate for the first time at the track tonight between 8-10pm (for those of you wondering the time here is exactly 12 hours ahead of eastern time). From what I have heard the track is fast and skates a lot like Spain did last year. I've heard some times and the fastest seems to be a 14.7 for a flying 200 which is crazy fast but most times have been around 15.2 from what I've heard but to put that in perspective.. in Colorado the fastest ever is probably a 16.0 or 16.1 (because the track in Colorado is no where near as fast as most tracks).
It's a hot day today here but it wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't for the humidity. It stinks going from the dry air in Colorado to the sticky, humid air here but oh well. By the way, our hotel is really really nice especially for a international hotel. It is a four or five star hotel (I'm not exactly sure which one) but the rooms are actually somewhat roomie which makes it more comfortable and the bathrooms are really nice. The only real knock is the beds are rocks but that is traditional for Asian hotels from what I've heard from some of the more experienced/frequent travelers.
We are scheduled to skate for the first time at the track tonight between 8-10pm (for those of you wondering the time here is exactly 12 hours ahead of eastern time). From what I have heard the track is fast and skates a lot like Spain did last year. I've heard some times and the fastest seems to be a 14.7 for a flying 200 which is crazy fast but most times have been around 15.2 from what I've heard but to put that in perspective.. in Colorado the fastest ever is probably a 16.0 or 16.1 (because the track in Colorado is no where near as fast as most tracks).
It's a hot day today here but it wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't for the humidity. It stinks going from the dry air in Colorado to the sticky, humid air here but oh well. By the way, our hotel is really really nice especially for a international hotel. It is a four or five star hotel (I'm not exactly sure which one) but the rooms are actually somewhat roomie which makes it more comfortable and the bathrooms are really nice. The only real knock is the beds are rocks but that is traditional for Asian hotels from what I've heard from some of the more experienced/frequent travelers.
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Skating to Become Better
It's been awhile since I wrote a blog and I figured I should write one now that I am at residency. I have meant to do this but have gotten somewhat lazy when I am not skating and have spent most of my spare time laying on my bed. Well here it is:
Residency should be one of the most difficult times of the year for anyone. You should be tired and sore. That is the bottom line. You are meeting up with the top 24 athletes from their respective divisions and training to each others strengths and weaknesses. At no point should that come up as easy.
When you get to residency, or even well before you get there (unless you have an ego issue) you normally are well aware of exactly how good you are. If you are that 5th or 6th person then you come here and you should have one goal: skate everything and skate like hell. If you get a blister you skate through it, if you fall down you get back up and keep going, if you are sore you shrug it off. But sometimes I don't see it, and I don't understand.
This year I am a senior man. I will not try to lie to anyone and tell you that I can skate with Joey because time in and time out he has destroyed me as long as we have been here, but that has not stopped me from skating with him. This is where I am getting with this: in my case, every time I skate with someone better then me I am chasing them. I am chasing and chasing and chasing. If they are going 80% i'm going to go 100% if that's what I have to do to keep up. If I go 80% when everyone else does, but do not stay with them because I am set on 80% what good does that do me? When am I getting better?
In 2007 I made my first world team. I was the 5th some cases 6th guy to make the team. When I got to residency I did not ask questions I just skated. I skated whatever and whenever because I was not the guy that knew he was going to race at worlds or the guy that new he could turn it on and be flat out better. I chased and I chased and I went all-out all the time.
This year I chase and I chase and I do it because I am not the best. If someone is better then you, then chasing them does nothing but help you.
I could write that everyone is giving 110% every single time they tie their skates but I would be lying. I don't get it, if you are not the best you chase the best because it makes you better. How can you ever expect to become the best, or get better when all you are doing is staying in your comfort zone?
If you are the best skater and you get a little injury or something you can sit out and by all means if it will help you be faster then you have nothing stopping you. BUT if you are not the best skater (FYI there can only be one skater that is the best) then you skate through pain and you skate through absolutely everything because not skating does not earn you respect, or races, or medals.
Residency should be one of the most difficult times of the year for anyone. You should be tired and sore. That is the bottom line. You are meeting up with the top 24 athletes from their respective divisions and training to each others strengths and weaknesses. At no point should that come up as easy.
When you get to residency, or even well before you get there (unless you have an ego issue) you normally are well aware of exactly how good you are. If you are that 5th or 6th person then you come here and you should have one goal: skate everything and skate like hell. If you get a blister you skate through it, if you fall down you get back up and keep going, if you are sore you shrug it off. But sometimes I don't see it, and I don't understand.
This year I am a senior man. I will not try to lie to anyone and tell you that I can skate with Joey because time in and time out he has destroyed me as long as we have been here, but that has not stopped me from skating with him. This is where I am getting with this: in my case, every time I skate with someone better then me I am chasing them. I am chasing and chasing and chasing. If they are going 80% i'm going to go 100% if that's what I have to do to keep up. If I go 80% when everyone else does, but do not stay with them because I am set on 80% what good does that do me? When am I getting better?
In 2007 I made my first world team. I was the 5th some cases 6th guy to make the team. When I got to residency I did not ask questions I just skated. I skated whatever and whenever because I was not the guy that knew he was going to race at worlds or the guy that new he could turn it on and be flat out better. I chased and I chased and I went all-out all the time.
This year I chase and I chase and I do it because I am not the best. If someone is better then you, then chasing them does nothing but help you.
I could write that everyone is giving 110% every single time they tie their skates but I would be lying. I don't get it, if you are not the best you chase the best because it makes you better. How can you ever expect to become the best, or get better when all you are doing is staying in your comfort zone?
If you are the best skater and you get a little injury or something you can sit out and by all means if it will help you be faster then you have nothing stopping you. BUT if you are not the best skater (FYI there can only be one skater that is the best) then you skate through pain and you skate through absolutely everything because not skating does not earn you respect, or races, or medals.
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Citius, Altius, Fortius
I figured I would post something about my thoughts on getting into the Olympics now that we are about to find out if we made the two sport cut. I think the decision is set to be posted tomorrow or Friday.
Seven sports are vying for the two spots: Roller Sports, Rugby Sevens, Squash, Baseball, Softball, Golf, and Karate. For the record I do not know too much about any of these sports besides our own. Baseball and Softball have just been kicked out of the Olympics and nothing has changed with them. The MLB has not decided to allow it's players to play in the Olympics so the IOC has virtually no reason to vote them back in after just voting them out. So now it's a five sport race in my opinion. I do not know much about Squash or Karate. I have heard that squash is somewhat similar to Hockey and that there are already two forms of Martial Arts in the Olympics so why add a third of the same? I cannot tell you what the Olympic Committee is looking for in the sports but if it's a larger fan base or new fans they probably wouldn't get there with a third martial arts sport.
So now I've brought it down to Roller Sports, Rugby Sevens, Golf, and Squash. Like I already said, the say Squash is a lot like hockey, but that doesn't warrant me to dismiss them considering that roller sports is a lot like short track speed skating.
Now a couple days ago I was watching ESPN when Tiger Woods was talking about Golf and the possibility of getting into the Olympics. Now I will be the first to tell you that I believe Tiger Woods is incredible in his sport but watching his press conference I was chuckling to myself with the things he was saying. If Golf makes the Olympics it will be the top 50 rated players. But Tiger mentioned that Golf would give countries the chance to win a medal that don't normally win medals. Really? They said the numbers would be something ridiculous like 50% of the participants would probably be American, maybe more. How many other countries have prominent golf players? 3? There would be 16 represented countries but how many stand a chance at winning a medal? I don't know but I don't think the number is outstanding.
Now lets for instance just look at the countries that earned medals in the races at worlds that would be put in the Olympics: from what I heard I think the races would be 500, 1000, 10k elimination, 15k points race and a marathon. It is not specified whether or not it would be on track or road.. it is said to be whatever the IOC decides is better. Road would certainly be much easier.
Korea, New Zealand, France, Spain, Colombia, Argentina, Italy, USA, Germany all won medals in senior at the world championships last year in the proposed races ( I used track for the 500, 1000, 10k, and 15k.... Venezuela, China, Chinese Taipei would be added to the list of countries if you included the 10k on the road from worlds)
That's twelve different countries winning medals in the proposed list and you could also add Belgium to the list because they definitely have skaters capable of winning medals. That is a true testament of countries winning medals that are not normal medal winners at the Olympics. The number of competitors would be 50 men and 50 women. Approximately, 13 from the Americas, 13 from Europe, 13 from Asia, 6 from Africa, and 5 from Oceania is what I read from www.rollersports.org
That's just a little information I put into it. Not to mention adding Roller Sports would add a completely different fan base.
-------------------------
My take is a little more personal I guess. I believe out of those seven sports Roller Sports should definitely be one, but of course that is a biased opinion. There are six sports vying for the spots (baseball and softball are the same just different sex) in order for me to be a typical Baseball, Rugby, and maybe even Squash player I would have to grow and probably add a good chunk of muscle to my body frame. Is that an equal opportunity? I don't think so, does that make them more of an athlete then me? No I don't think so. In Roller Sports we are very unique, you see a small person (ME) can compete on the same level as a very large person (Tall would be Cheeks and muscular would be someone like Joey) how many other sports is that possible in? I've heard ideas that it's possible because of the amount of power versus your size really produces your speed.. in honesty I don't care how it is possible but i like that it is. In other words how do you describe a typical inline speed skater? What is their age? height? body type? ethnicity? You can't and that's what makes our sport even more unique.
What is our sport missing compared to some of these other sports? Golf has Tiger which is the star power, we are lacking that but only because we are not highly televised.. for those of us in our sport we know (especially if you've ever been to worlds) that there is no bigger star then Joey. What else are we missing? We would bring in a different fan base, attract a younger audience, cost little money compared to most sports, and we are an exciting sport. You can tune in for 10 minutes and see exciting things. If you tune into to Golf for 10 minutes you could potentially see nothing really exciting unless you know the sport inside and out.
This again is all an opinion just for clarification.
I would also like throw out there that ESPN stated today that Golf is expected to make the cut. How they would know this I do not know. I hope they are wrong but that is just me.
Seven sports are vying for the two spots: Roller Sports, Rugby Sevens, Squash, Baseball, Softball, Golf, and Karate. For the record I do not know too much about any of these sports besides our own. Baseball and Softball have just been kicked out of the Olympics and nothing has changed with them. The MLB has not decided to allow it's players to play in the Olympics so the IOC has virtually no reason to vote them back in after just voting them out. So now it's a five sport race in my opinion. I do not know much about Squash or Karate. I have heard that squash is somewhat similar to Hockey and that there are already two forms of Martial Arts in the Olympics so why add a third of the same? I cannot tell you what the Olympic Committee is looking for in the sports but if it's a larger fan base or new fans they probably wouldn't get there with a third martial arts sport.
So now I've brought it down to Roller Sports, Rugby Sevens, Golf, and Squash. Like I already said, the say Squash is a lot like hockey, but that doesn't warrant me to dismiss them considering that roller sports is a lot like short track speed skating.
Now a couple days ago I was watching ESPN when Tiger Woods was talking about Golf and the possibility of getting into the Olympics. Now I will be the first to tell you that I believe Tiger Woods is incredible in his sport but watching his press conference I was chuckling to myself with the things he was saying. If Golf makes the Olympics it will be the top 50 rated players. But Tiger mentioned that Golf would give countries the chance to win a medal that don't normally win medals. Really? They said the numbers would be something ridiculous like 50% of the participants would probably be American, maybe more. How many other countries have prominent golf players? 3? There would be 16 represented countries but how many stand a chance at winning a medal? I don't know but I don't think the number is outstanding.
Now lets for instance just look at the countries that earned medals in the races at worlds that would be put in the Olympics: from what I heard I think the races would be 500, 1000, 10k elimination, 15k points race and a marathon. It is not specified whether or not it would be on track or road.. it is said to be whatever the IOC decides is better. Road would certainly be much easier.
Korea, New Zealand, France, Spain, Colombia, Argentina, Italy, USA, Germany all won medals in senior at the world championships last year in the proposed races ( I used track for the 500, 1000, 10k, and 15k.... Venezuela, China, Chinese Taipei would be added to the list of countries if you included the 10k on the road from worlds)
That's twelve different countries winning medals in the proposed list and you could also add Belgium to the list because they definitely have skaters capable of winning medals. That is a true testament of countries winning medals that are not normal medal winners at the Olympics. The number of competitors would be 50 men and 50 women. Approximately, 13 from the Americas, 13 from Europe, 13 from Asia, 6 from Africa, and 5 from Oceania is what I read from www.rollersports.org
That's just a little information I put into it. Not to mention adding Roller Sports would add a completely different fan base.
-------------------------
My take is a little more personal I guess. I believe out of those seven sports Roller Sports should definitely be one, but of course that is a biased opinion. There are six sports vying for the spots (baseball and softball are the same just different sex) in order for me to be a typical Baseball, Rugby, and maybe even Squash player I would have to grow and probably add a good chunk of muscle to my body frame. Is that an equal opportunity? I don't think so, does that make them more of an athlete then me? No I don't think so. In Roller Sports we are very unique, you see a small person (ME) can compete on the same level as a very large person (Tall would be Cheeks and muscular would be someone like Joey) how many other sports is that possible in? I've heard ideas that it's possible because of the amount of power versus your size really produces your speed.. in honesty I don't care how it is possible but i like that it is. In other words how do you describe a typical inline speed skater? What is their age? height? body type? ethnicity? You can't and that's what makes our sport even more unique.
What is our sport missing compared to some of these other sports? Golf has Tiger which is the star power, we are lacking that but only because we are not highly televised.. for those of us in our sport we know (especially if you've ever been to worlds) that there is no bigger star then Joey. What else are we missing? We would bring in a different fan base, attract a younger audience, cost little money compared to most sports, and we are an exciting sport. You can tune in for 10 minutes and see exciting things. If you tune into to Golf for 10 minutes you could potentially see nothing really exciting unless you know the sport inside and out.
This again is all an opinion just for clarification.
I would also like throw out there that ESPN stated today that Golf is expected to make the cut. How they would know this I do not know. I hope they are wrong but that is just me.
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Piggy-backing a few other ideas
Still on Indoor Nationals there are a few things I can't believe I almost left out!
First I hate to say it because I know how difficult it is to be an official but something needs to be said. I know most of the officials but regardless of that as a spectator it seemed very inconsistent for lack of a better word. At some points it seemed as if we were having the sissy nationals in which people were being disqualified for being too close or for having one finger on some one's back.. for those all I can say is give me a break. Other times it seemed as if a little more was being let go. If you consider both it is completely unacceptable in my opinion. Every race needs to be officiated on the same exact level and that's the bottom line.
One route to this evil may be caused by the number of rules that lie in our rule book that come down the discretion of the referee. When you have too many calls fall under the discretion category you will find more times then not that there are many unhappy people with the calls.
Another topic I would love to see be addressed is the elimination or at least the minimizing of the number of reactionary calls (for lack of a better term). I have two examples so that I can explain my definition of the term reactionary. Example #1: Two skaters enter a turn, and a foul is committed. Only the referee (at his own discretion) decides to call both skaters.. one for riding in and one for riding out. (Seems like an easy solution for someone that doesn't truly know what happened in my opinion.) Now if someone can explain to me how a ride in or a ride out can occur in the same turn simultaneously and not be a cause and effect then feel free to do so. In my opinion, a ride in could be a cause to a ride out. But a ride out cannot have anything to do with a ride in. If a skater rides another in then the skaters are still close enough that by continuing around a turn the skater that rode in could be rode out only because they impeded on the other skaters space! But if a skater is rode out then they are no longer near another skater to ride in, correct? Example #2: You have a pack of skaters and a skater makes a late pass into (lets say) third place but because the pack is not at a sprint he is forced to place his hand on the back of the skater in front of them and basically push them up a little to give himself room which in return causes the second place skater to push on the leader a little so he doesn't run into him. Well then the official calls pushing on the second and third place skaters 'simultaneously'. Didn't the third place skater cause the second place skater to push? Would they rather of had them run the leader over? I do not understand how that is not a reactionary.
One more thing to point out: after the 2007 nationals a lot of people questioned the amount of injuries we had.. well 2009 rolled around and on the same floor we witnessed quite a few serious injuries. The number of people that needed to go to the hospital hit double digits i believe. This is a topic that should almost certainly be revisited.
First I hate to say it because I know how difficult it is to be an official but something needs to be said. I know most of the officials but regardless of that as a spectator it seemed very inconsistent for lack of a better word. At some points it seemed as if we were having the sissy nationals in which people were being disqualified for being too close or for having one finger on some one's back.. for those all I can say is give me a break. Other times it seemed as if a little more was being let go. If you consider both it is completely unacceptable in my opinion. Every race needs to be officiated on the same exact level and that's the bottom line.
One route to this evil may be caused by the number of rules that lie in our rule book that come down the discretion of the referee. When you have too many calls fall under the discretion category you will find more times then not that there are many unhappy people with the calls.
Another topic I would love to see be addressed is the elimination or at least the minimizing of the number of reactionary calls (for lack of a better term). I have two examples so that I can explain my definition of the term reactionary. Example #1: Two skaters enter a turn, and a foul is committed. Only the referee (at his own discretion) decides to call both skaters.. one for riding in and one for riding out. (Seems like an easy solution for someone that doesn't truly know what happened in my opinion.) Now if someone can explain to me how a ride in or a ride out can occur in the same turn simultaneously and not be a cause and effect then feel free to do so. In my opinion, a ride in could be a cause to a ride out. But a ride out cannot have anything to do with a ride in. If a skater rides another in then the skaters are still close enough that by continuing around a turn the skater that rode in could be rode out only because they impeded on the other skaters space! But if a skater is rode out then they are no longer near another skater to ride in, correct? Example #2: You have a pack of skaters and a skater makes a late pass into (lets say) third place but because the pack is not at a sprint he is forced to place his hand on the back of the skater in front of them and basically push them up a little to give himself room which in return causes the second place skater to push on the leader a little so he doesn't run into him. Well then the official calls pushing on the second and third place skaters 'simultaneously'. Didn't the third place skater cause the second place skater to push? Would they rather of had them run the leader over? I do not understand how that is not a reactionary.
One more thing to point out: after the 2007 nationals a lot of people questioned the amount of injuries we had.. well 2009 rolled around and on the same floor we witnessed quite a few serious injuries. The number of people that needed to go to the hospital hit double digits i believe. This is a topic that should almost certainly be revisited.
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Indoor Nationals is Done
Well, it's finally over. The main event for the majority of us here in the states. For some reason it didn't have that feeling to me. It might be because I'm getting older.. and faster and with that your goals tend to change some. This year there was some pretty good racing like usual the sophomore through pro men I thought was pretty exciting which is good. I ended up on the wrong side of some of the excitement and was apart of a four person fall in the 1000m that ended in three disqualifications which must have been a decent thing to watch but it's not much fun being involved in it. By the way, that was the first time I was ever DQ'ed at Nationals! Anyway, I ended up getting 2nd overall in junior men which is pretty good, Jake beat me and if I had to pick someone to beat me it probably would have been him anyway. Still I don't feel that Indoor Nationals had that flare it usually does but hopefully it'll be back next year and stronger then ever.
One thing that I don't necessarily like about indoor nationals is that some people train all year and their goal is to do good in a relay. Or the first day that are looking forward to doing this or that in a relay. I've never been there with that and I don't grasp that idea very well. I have always been a division first kind of person and I think that is the only way it should be. For me it was always that you train so you skate good.. you train to win in division and relays are just for fun. That's honestly how I approach indoor racing and I just think too many people are getting away from that and more focused on the relay aspect.
I saw a lot of the world team members skate good at indoor nationals and I just hope they realize their goals should be much higher then anything they can accomplish on a 100m indoor track. Four weeks is a long time and residency is only like 11 days so I don't want to deal with people being out of shape to be honest.
For most people have fun relaxing and travel safe.. but for 24 of us train harder and realize what your goals should be if you haven't already.
One thing that I don't necessarily like about indoor nationals is that some people train all year and their goal is to do good in a relay. Or the first day that are looking forward to doing this or that in a relay. I've never been there with that and I don't grasp that idea very well. I have always been a division first kind of person and I think that is the only way it should be. For me it was always that you train so you skate good.. you train to win in division and relays are just for fun. That's honestly how I approach indoor racing and I just think too many people are getting away from that and more focused on the relay aspect.
I saw a lot of the world team members skate good at indoor nationals and I just hope they realize their goals should be much higher then anything they can accomplish on a 100m indoor track. Four weeks is a long time and residency is only like 11 days so I don't want to deal with people being out of shape to be honest.
For most people have fun relaxing and travel safe.. but for 24 of us train harder and realize what your goals should be if you haven't already.
Monday, July 6, 2009
Outdoor Nationals Is Over
Outdoor Nationals is over. Well it came and went. Congratulations to everyone that made the US World Team. Like last year I must stress that making the world team should not be the end of it, it's simply a formality the goal should have been and be the entire time the World Championships. What that means is after Indoor Nationals, almost everyone in the skating community will be taking it easier maybe going on vacation or returning to technical work with their skating but there should still be 24 skaters working harder then they did prior to Outdoor and Indoor Nationals! If you normally practice with one or more of these skaters after Indoor Nationals skate some extra practice to give them motivation and make sure they are training harder then before! This year more then others we have six people for every team but after watching ODN every division was dominated by 2-4 skaters which means there are a few world team members that need to work even harder.
Here's a quick run-down of some good thing/ bad thing for each division at ODN:
Junior Ladies:
Good Thing: Erin Jackson may be one of the best competitors in a long time. She'll skate any distance or race with the intent set on winning which should rub off on some of the other girls and definitely the team as a whole. The team members from last year look to be in great shape this year and if they keep training then that could spell great things for them. Just about all six of the girls are capable of skating every distance and there are no true specialist which allows six women to push each other during every aspect of racing.
Bad Thing: Watching ODN the junior ladies division (and senior ladies division for that matter) did not seem like the competitors really needed to be aggressive but at worlds everyone needs to be capable of being aggressive so it will be interesting to see which girls can be when the appropriate time comes.
Junior Men:
Good Thing: four men showed up in phenomenal shape capable of winning every single race.. if they keep the training up it will only make everyone stronger and allow them to have the absolute strongest two competitors in every race. If they keep the training intensity up then they will make life way easier for each other. The other two competitors have a little extra work to do because they are more of specialist but if they keep training harder then they are capable of it.
Bad Thing: It seems like everyone likes about one person on the team and is content with not getting along with the others. There is not one person on the team that will not need the help of the other five. If they learn to work together they can be very dangerous when paired but getting to that point could give the coaches some work.
Senior Ladies:
Good Thing: They have strong competitors on their team and two medalist in Sara and Bri they not only went to Outdoor Nationals with the idea of making the world team but did not settle for anything less then breaking records which shows they want to be the very best.
Bad Thing: Ten competitors as a field for a world team is so poor. 80% of the participants get to say they are part of the World Team.. the senior ladies division needs more competitors plain and simple. Even if we have the top six (eight with alternates) senior ladies they still need to be used to racing against a pack or a field instead of a group of 2-3 skaters.
Senior Men:
Good Thing: Any time you have the best athlete on your world team, it's a good thing. You have five out of six skaters have won a world medal and 3 of them have been individually which allows you to be confident everyone knows exactly what it takes to be the best.
Bad Thing: Three of the six athletes will be competing in their first senior world championship which makes the team as a whole a bit younger. Again, not quite the numbers you would wish for, in the cream of the crop division (world class).
Here's a quick run-down of some good thing/ bad thing for each division at ODN:
Junior Ladies:
Good Thing: Erin Jackson may be one of the best competitors in a long time. She'll skate any distance or race with the intent set on winning which should rub off on some of the other girls and definitely the team as a whole. The team members from last year look to be in great shape this year and if they keep training then that could spell great things for them. Just about all six of the girls are capable of skating every distance and there are no true specialist which allows six women to push each other during every aspect of racing.
Bad Thing: Watching ODN the junior ladies division (and senior ladies division for that matter) did not seem like the competitors really needed to be aggressive but at worlds everyone needs to be capable of being aggressive so it will be interesting to see which girls can be when the appropriate time comes.
Junior Men:
Good Thing: four men showed up in phenomenal shape capable of winning every single race.. if they keep the training up it will only make everyone stronger and allow them to have the absolute strongest two competitors in every race. If they keep the training intensity up then they will make life way easier for each other. The other two competitors have a little extra work to do because they are more of specialist but if they keep training harder then they are capable of it.
Bad Thing: It seems like everyone likes about one person on the team and is content with not getting along with the others. There is not one person on the team that will not need the help of the other five. If they learn to work together they can be very dangerous when paired but getting to that point could give the coaches some work.
Senior Ladies:
Good Thing: They have strong competitors on their team and two medalist in Sara and Bri they not only went to Outdoor Nationals with the idea of making the world team but did not settle for anything less then breaking records which shows they want to be the very best.
Bad Thing: Ten competitors as a field for a world team is so poor. 80% of the participants get to say they are part of the World Team.. the senior ladies division needs more competitors plain and simple. Even if we have the top six (eight with alternates) senior ladies they still need to be used to racing against a pack or a field instead of a group of 2-3 skaters.
Senior Men:
Good Thing: Any time you have the best athlete on your world team, it's a good thing. You have five out of six skaters have won a world medal and 3 of them have been individually which allows you to be confident everyone knows exactly what it takes to be the best.
Bad Thing: Three of the six athletes will be competing in their first senior world championship which makes the team as a whole a bit younger. Again, not quite the numbers you would wish for, in the cream of the crop division (world class).
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