Inline skating, commonly known as rollerblading, is essentially the summer equivalent of speed ice skating. A broad variety of speed records illustrates that there are a number of different types of speed skating. Not only are there various long-distance records along with several sprint-distance high-speed records, but the records cover human-powered high-speed marks as well as mind-blowing engine-assisted speed records.
Inline Skates for Speed Skating
The high-tech shoes used for speed skating today have little to do with your parents' old roller skates. The wheels of inline skates are arranged in a row to form the so-called "blade." While most other types of inline skating use four wheels per shoe, speed inline skaters most commonly choose an elongated blade with five wheels of 84mm in diameter. Some speed skaters prefer four wheels with an even larger diameter of up to 110mm, though. The large wheels used in speed inline skating are less maneuverable than smaller wheels, but they cause less friction, which allows for higher speeds. In comparison, the wheels skaters use for aggressive skating range from 44 to 59 mm in diameter.
International Road Racing
The world governing body for speed skating, the International Federation of Roller Sports or FIRS, keeps track of road race records as well as track race high marks. To conform with FIRS rules, road races require smooth paved areas of 400 to 1,000 in length for closed-circuit races. Women and men compete in 15 different race distances, the distances ranging from 200 meters to 84 kilometers. Naturally, the fastest speeds occur over the shortest distances. Italian speed skater Greory Duggento has clocked the fastest times recorded in short-distance road racing. In July 2006 Duggento set the 200-meter-record at 16.209 seconds. In August 2000 the Italian raced the 300-meters distance in 23.68 seconds. The fastest woman on wheels is Yersi Puello from Colombia; she finished her 200-meters race in September 2009 in 18.101 seconds. Andrea Gonzalez from Argentina has held the 300-meter world record since July 1999, when she finished the distance in just 26.791 seconds.
International Track Racing
Oval race courses for track racing have a standardized size of 200 meters in length and 6 meters in width. Two straightaways of equal length are connected by symmetrical curves of identical diameter. The FIRS also requires the surface to be perfectly smooth. The shortest distance in track racing is 300 meters. An American is the fastest man on the track as of February 2011: Joey Mantia from Colorado Springs finished the distance in 24.25 seconds in September 2009. The fastest woman over 300 meters is Se Yeong Chin from Korea; she clocked 26.426 seconds in 2009.
Long-Distance Records
Some skaters have set remarkable records over rather long distances. It took Russell Moncrief 69 days, 8 hours and 45 minutes to skate across America in early 2002. Moncrief started in Crescent Beach, Florida and ended his 2,595-mile-long journey in Soltana Beaach, California, according to Guinness World Records. Not exactly going "full speed ahead" was Werner Fischer: The German needed 1 hour, 45 minutes and 56 seconds to finish the 2006 Berlin Marathon skating backwards, setting a world record.
Engine-Assisted Speed Records
When it comes to engine-assisted inline skating, Dirk Auer from Germany is always looking for yet another daredevilish speed adventure on skates. In 1997 a Porsche GT2 pulled Auer to a world record-setting speed of 307 kilometers per hour (approximately 190 mph) on the car race track in Nardo, Italy. Twelve years later, Auer recorded speeds of up to 56 mph when riding the track of a rollercoaster at the Tripsdrill theme park near Stuttgart, Germany. "While my speed skating stunts may sound crazy to bystanders, I am actually preparing meticulously for every single event to minimize injury risks," Auer told Livestrong. "The rollercoaster ride took years to prepare," said Auer, who has also set speed skating records getting pulled by a helicopter and by a motorcycle.
References
- International Federation of Roller Sports: Speed Records
- International Federation of Roller Sports: 2009 International Speed Skating Committee C. I. C. Sport Regulations
- Drive - WAtoday: Next Inline: Skating at 300km per Auer
- Guinness World Records: Fastest Crossing of America on Inline Skates
- Guinness World Records: Fastest Marathon Backwards on Inline Skates
- "Daily Mail:" What a Scream! Adrenaline Junkie Skates Down 860 Metre Roller Coaster ... in Just 60 Seconds
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