DiNardo World Cup #1
Tom DiNardo’s high quality work got him one of the coveted photography passes, so he can watch the world cup through the lens of a camera.
He sent me a number of fantastic images-
Men’s 500m
This is Tucker Fredricks ripping thought the last turn of his 3rd place finish in the 500m.
I notice 2 things in this photo, Tucker is exhaling forcefully at this moment, that helps in power & relaxation, and also you can see the lane markers reflected in his glasses.
Women’s 1000m
Here is US national Sprint Champion Heather Richardson ripping it hard through a turn in the 1000.
There is an aesthetic moment in the speed skating stroke, when the leg is extended like this, that is completely distinctive and says “SPEED SKATING” even in the barest outline.
Full extension is not an absolute necessity for going fast on a clap blade. I could point out numerous world records set without full extension, but it sure is pretty.
The US Speedskating Logo is this moment. Heather does it tremendously well here. I have heard a long standing rumor that the skater on the US speedskating logo is actually from a photo of a Canadian woman. Someone should replace that with an outline of Heather here.
Not that there is anything wrong with superfast Canadian women, they do rock. But speaking of fast Canadian women, here is Kristina Groves, ripping it up on her way to a fine 6th place finish in the 1k.
Men’s 1500m
In all the years of sports I have done, NOTHING hurts like the last lap of a 1500m. Not a 3 hour bike race over mountains or playing 3 hockey games in one day. A 1500 is truly uniquely awful when you really go for it right from the gun.
Here is Trevor Marsicano, I bet he is in the last turn here. Ouch.
And these Next two images are of Shani, unlike Trevor, his expression tells me this is in the first half of his race.
Shani is a consummate technician, I called him a true Jedi in an earlier post, and I stand by that. His style is specific to his long limbs, but there is much to be learned here from how his shoulders & hips are set.
Jedi example: look how close his left boot is to the ice in the first image, it’s a paper thin margin. But I bet he never boots out (that is when your boots touch the ice during extreme lean angles, and you crash or stumble because of it).
Thanks Tom for these wonderful images!
Filed under: RACE DAY
wow some really nice images. I simply love them.
[…] Cup- Utah- Shared By Andrew Love Posted on March 11, 2009 by Peter Doucet In his entry DiNardo World Cup #1, Andrew Love shared some of Tom DiNardo’s pictures from the recent long track speed skating […]
wow, if you just looked at shani’s upper body position, you wouldnt be able to tell how tall he is. what a flattened out, aero technique!
and boy, does the ice look nice!
Nice pics Tom, thanks for posting Andrew. BTW, Tucker’s last name is spelled Fredricks, we discussed this a few years ago :o)
Also, the old USS Logo with the skater is of former US Skater Moira D’Andrea.
Thanks for the spelling correction Ryan,
For some reason, I have always been able to spell your name right, even on my first try, and I consistently mess up Tucker’s.
Wierd…
and thanks for the truth on that “urban legend” of the source of the US speedskating logo. Moira is a really nice person, and was very kind to me when I started skating. I’d love to track that original down.
hmmmmmm…
Oh, and Mel, when they make the ice “world cup quality” it is absolutely unreal. It’s scary fast.
Andrew, you misspelled weird.
i love your spelling remark jessica - you are getting back your witz - eksxcuse my spelling
What strikes me more than anything about Shani’s pictures is that he keeps his elbow bent. Tucker’s is also bent slightly, but not that much.
I think that being able to keep your elbow bent at this stage of the race means that you are still able to keep your upper body relaxed.
That, I guess is the secret of a JEDI. To stay relaxed in the most adverse situation.
thanks for posting these great pictures. Does Tom post all of his pictures somewhere on the net…?