ARE (Sweden) – American Tigh Isaac has spent much of the last two weeks since the Valkenburg race in the Swedish resort town of Are training on the Ice Cross Downhill track and rookie along with his teammates feel confident the extra practice will help narrow the gap to the elite of the sport who have been racing down ice tracks for years.
“The more time you spend on the track, the more comfortable you’re going to be with the speed,” said Isaac from Salt Lake City Utah, where he has been training for the U.S. short track speed skating Olympic team. “We’ve been training pretty hard on the first 200 meters of the track here for a couple hours every day. It definitely helped. You’re going to need quick reflexes on this track.”
The 22-year-old Isaac was 28th in his first race in Saint Paul, Minnesota and moved up three pegs to 25th in Valkenburg. He hopes to end up in the top 16 in Are and in the top 8 in Quebec. He admits to harboring fears before his first race in Saint Paul but said quickly getting past that was the key to success.
“You have to get over your fear fast or you’re not going anywhere in this sport,” said Isaac, who also has a background skiing, racing mountain bikes and playing hockey. “Instead of coming to a race being afraid of the track, in Valkenburg I was able to focus on my racing line and going faster instead of being intimidated by the whole thing. There’s a steep learning curve in this sport.”
Isaac, who works in a bicycle shop in Salt Lake City, spent about a week training on the permanent section of the Are track together with American teammates Andrew and Daniel Bergeson. Andrew was 26th in Saint Paul while his brother Daniel was 69th. They’re both hoping the extra training will get them into Saturday’s 64-man finals. Other racers from Germany, Japan, Finland and Latvia also trained on the Are track.
Cameron Naasz, who won the MINI Rookie Award with his 24th place finish in Saint Paul, had to return to United States after getting 21st in Valkenburg for university classes, his part-time job, a promised Valentine’s Day date with his girlfriend and a Minnesota Wild hockey match. But Naasz is nevertheless full of confidence his ascent will continue in Sweden.
“I’d really like to see an American on the podium this year,” said Naasz, who is studying public relations at St. Cloud State University in Minnesota. “It’s definitely possible. We have the talent. It’s a mind-set thing. You’ve just got to know you’re going to win and be confident. Experience is important. But so is the mindset. I’ve got high expectations. I’d like to make it to the round of eight at least.” Naasz, 23, came to Ice Cross Downhill after years of playing hockey and racing inline skates. He believes it is only a matter of time before Americans can catch up to the elites of the sport, such as championship leader Kyle Croxall. “He’s been doing this for years. We just walked into last month. It’s so new to all of us.” Naasz said that no one should be surprised when the Americans start breaking into the top 10. “In Saint Paul you looked at the track and it was like ‘What have we got ourselves into?’ but in Valkenburg it was like ‘I can wait to get on that thing’,” said Naasz. “You still have a few jitters but it’s nothing like the first time in saint Paul. Now I’m just concentrated on getting the right lines and getting speed. With a little experience it’s not quite as frightening anymore.”
ARE (Sweden) – American Tigh Isaac has spent much of the last two weeks since the Valkenburg race in the Swedish resort town of Are training on the Ice Cross Downhill track and rookie along with his teammates feel confident the extra practice will help narrow the gap to the elite of the sport who have been racing down ice tracks for years.
“The more time you spend on the track, the more comfortable you’re going to be with the speed,” said Isaac from Salt Lake City Utah, where he has been training for the U.S. short track speed skating Olympic team. “We’ve been training pretty hard on the first 200 meters of the track here for a couple hours every day. It definitely helped. You’re going to need quick reflexes on this track.”
The 22-year-old Isaac was 28th in his first race in Saint Paul, Minnesota and moved up three pegs to 25th in Valkenburg. He hopes to end up in the top 16 in Are and in the top 8 in Quebec. He admits to harboring fears before his first race in Saint Paul but said quickly getting past that was the key to success.
“You have to get over your fear fast or you’re not going anywhere in this sport,” said Isaac, who also has a background skiing, racing mountain bikes and playing hockey. “Instead of coming to a race being afraid of the track, in Valkenburg I was able to focus on my racing line and going faster instead of being intimidated by the whole thing. There’s a steep learning curve in this sport.”
Isaac, who works in a bicycle shop in Salt Lake City, spent about a week training on the permanent section of the Are track together with American teammates Andrew and Daniel Bergeson. Andrew was 26th in Saint Paul while his brother Daniel was 69th. They’re both hoping the extra training will get them into Saturday’s 64-man finals. Other racers from Germany, Japan, Finland and Latvia also trained on the Are track.
Cameron Naasz, who won the MINI Rookie Award with his 24th place finish in Saint Paul, had to return to United States after getting 21st in Valkenburg for university classes, his part-time job, a promised Valentine’s Day date with his girlfriend and a Minnesota Wild hockey match. But Naasz is nevertheless full of confidence his ascent will continue in Sweden.
“I’d really like to see an American on the podium this year,” said Naasz, who is studying public relations at St. Cloud State University in Minnesota. “It’s definitely possible. We have the talent. It’s a mind-set thing. You’ve just got to know you’re going to win and be confident. Experience is important. But so is the mindset. I’ve got high expectations. I’d like to make it to the round of eight at least.”
Naasz, 23, came to Ice Cross Downhill after years of playing hockey and racing inline skates. He believes it is only a matter of time before Americans can catch up to the elites of the sport, such as championship leader Kyle Croxall. “He’s been doing this for years. We just walked into last month. It’s so new to all of us.”
Naasz said that no one should be surprised when the Americans start breaking into the top 10. “In Saint Paul you looked at the track and it was like ‘What have we got ourselves into?’ but in Valkenburg it was like ‘I can wait to get on that thing’,” said Naasz. “You still have a few jitters but it’s nothing like the first time in saint Paul. Now I’m just concentrated on getting the right lines and getting speed. With a little experience it’s not quite as frightening anymore.”
