Speedskating-online

Tyler Goff: destined to become a speed skater

With a mother who was an Olympian in speed skating, US speed skater Tyler Goff seemed destined to end up as a speed skater too. Moreover, his grandmother competed at the Olympics as well, so it seemed just a matter of time before Goff would find his own way as an athlete. However, due to an unexpected reason, he quit speed skating for almost eight years before he gave it another try. Here’s his story so far and a brief look into his plans and goals for the future.

By Jolanda Abbes

Tyler Goff (22) started speed skating when he was only two years old. His mother was an Olympian in speed skating in the 1976 Olympics and was coaching Olympic gold medalist Casey FitzRandolph for ten years during the time Goff got started: “But then I was scared of the gun at the starting line and didn't want to skate anymore. In Wisconsin, where I come from, all the kids start out playing hockey, so I switched from speed skating to hockey until I was ten.” When he was ten, his dad tried to convince young Tyler to try speed skating again, but his mom was not particularly thrilled about the idea: “She knew the dedication and time commitment it took. I eventually tried it and have loved doing it ever since. I guess I have been skating my whole life!”

But only at age ten things started to get really serious for Goff, and he soon learned that his mother had been right about the dedication and time commitment speed skating would take: “At age 13-17 my mom drove me down to the ice rink in Milwaukee about five days a week, which is 1.5 hours from my hometown Madison, to go to practice. I would go to school at 7am and wouldn't get home until 9 or 10 at night. This was a big commitment, so as soon as I turned 17 I moved out to Salt Lake City to train with a better team and be closer to the rink, and I could still go to school.” But already before moving to Salt Lake City, his commitment to the sport started to pay off: “At age 15 I made my first Junior World Team and I made four of those teams total. Last year, I made my first World Cup Team in the fall and this year I will skate in both fall and winter World Cups, but no World Sprint Championships this year. I set a few junior national records when I was a junior and am trying to get better every day as a World Cup skater now.”

After having skated practically all his life, Goff can already look back on several highlights and good races. But besides racing, Goff sees other advantages to being a speed skater as well: “In general, I would have to say traveling and getting to see the world at such a young age is the biggest highlight of my speed skating career. All of us skaters are very lucky to get the ‘world experience’, and even though we miss school to travel, this experience is more than we can learn about in a classroom back in the States.” Still, despite these advantages and the good races, Goff was also forced to deal with some big disappointments during his career, and one in particular comes to mind when being asked: “The greatest disappointment of my career would have to be not making the World Sprint Championships this year. I try to take this in stride, and look at the positives that come from this, though. I can now get some school done, and train hard for next year because I am very hungry for some results next season. I skate and train better when I am the ‘underdog’, so this will be a good motivator going into the rest of the season and into summer training.”

Despite the fact he did not manage to qualify for the World Sprint Championships in Heerenveen, Goff does look back on one of the best starts of a season he has ever had. He reflects: “Usually it takes me until later in the year to set personal bests, but already I have improved my 500m personal best by .3 and my 1000m personal best by .7 of a second. I put in good training this summer and have been focused this whole year. I expected to be better right off the start, but my coach Ryan (Shimabukuro) is always telling me to stay patient, and we are making some good improvements every day.”

When Goff is asked to reflect in more detail on his World Cup performances so far this season, he elaborates: “So far this season the World Cup in Salt Lake City was a good competition for me. I got a personal best and skated solid both races. I just realized I needed to work on technique more. The World Cup in Calgary wasn't what I had hoped, we all had been training hard and I felt tired the whole weekend. Heerenveen was the same as last year. The first race my klap didn't open and I almost fell in the first corner, after which I skated a horrible time. Then the next day I was rushing and not skating to my potential. Finally in Germany I had a good race, not in the 500m, but in the 1000m. I am starting to think this is my better race. The first day was good, Ryan and I were happy with it, and the next day I beat the first day's time by almost a full second.”

When talking about Ryan Shimabukuro, it becomes clear that his coach plays an important role in Goff’s speed skating career: “My coach Ryan is a big example for me, because he is so dedicated to his job. He loves what he does, and works hard at it, and is very good at it. That is how I want to be in skating.” Obviously, the two of them are working very closely together, so whom better to ask about Goff’s strengths in terms of speed skating than his coach? Shimabukuro: “Tyler is very coachable and likes to race, which is really important. Some skaters are good in training and tend to fall way short in races, but Tyler always seems to step up and race to his abilities when it counts.” Still, also few other people will be able to pinpoint better what things Goff might still need to work on some more: “Tyler needs to work on keeping focus and making correct choices when balancing skating versus personal life. Also, he has to work on not getting distracted by what others are doing and instead concentrate on the important things that will make his skating the best.”

So now, after his satisfactory results during the first half of the season and failing to qualify for the World Sprints, Goff’s goals for the rest of the season are clear: “I want to skate to my potential at the next two World Cups in Hamar and Inzell. I get too nervous for races, so I need to relax and let the speed come to me. I am also going to school full-time, so my main goal is to do well in school so I can set up a good life for myself and maybe a family someday through a good education. Also on a fun note, Bart Veldkamp and I are doing a fun race at the end of the year in the 5000m. We talk trash to each other about it, and we will have to see who wins, but I obviously want to beat him, so that’s my biggest goal for this season, haha!”

When this season is over, it will only be two more years before the Olympic Games will take place in Vancouver in 2010. Even though he realizes it will be tough, Goff feels he will have a good shot at qualifying for what may well be the most important competition in an athlete’s career. Moreover, being an Olympian sort of runs in his family, making it all the more important for him to qualify: “With so many good skaters in the US right now, I have to stay focused up until 2010. I think I have a very good shot at qualifying though, because I am going to do everything from now until then to become the best I can be. The goal I set for myself when I was young was to make an Olympic team. My mother and grandmother were both on Olympic teams, so it's kind of a family thing. My parents have been very supportive with skating, and I want to make the Olympics not only for myself, but for everyone else who has helped me in the journey.”

Nevertheless, up until then Goff realizes he will have to face some tough competition, both nationally and internationally: “I think every skater is a competitor in the World Cup circuit. I am at the bottom of the circuit right now, so everyone I skate against, both B and A group, are great competitors. However, hopefully someday in the future skaters will look at me as their biggest competition... That’s another goal I have...”

Goff will be competing at the World Cup in Hamar this weekend.

Personal best times:

500m: 35.73

1000m: 1:10.46