Teen-Ager Shows Off His Wheels : 16-Year-Old Brandon Tallman of Newbury Park Excels in Roller Speedskating, a Potential Olympic Sport

The average Southern California teen-ager may roller-skate, but only as a hobby. Brandon Tallman is not the average Southern California teen-ager.

Tallman, 16, a junior at Newbury Park High, is one of the area’s rising stars in a relatively obscure sport--roller speedskating. And, as in any other sport, he has gained his prominence through hard work.

What, exactly, is roller speedskating?

“It’s basically the same thing as ice speedskating, but it’s on roller-skates,” Tallman said.

Tallman is a member of the Southern California Speed League, which features teams from Lancaster, Riverside, Santa Ana and Ventura. Tallman is accustomed to “hopping around from rink to rink,” but has found a home with the Ventura Speed Club, which practices at Skating Plus in Ventura.

He also has found success. Tallman was selected to attend a weeklong speedskating camp at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo., after qualifying for the amateur nationals in the Junior Olympics last July.

“There are 200 slots for 10,000 skaters,” said Don Lovato, Tallman’s coach.

The emphasis at the training camp was on the word training.

“You have to wake up at 5:30 every morning and then you have to walk about a half-mile to the track, “ Tallman said. “You have to do land exercises, which is practicing on form and balance for when you get onto your skates. You do that for two hours. Then you to go practice for two hours. Then you get a little break. Then you have to go practice for another two hours. Then you’ve got to go slideboard for an hour.”

The training center has a 200-meter outdoor track with banked turns. This is in contrast to the tracks that Tallman is used to, which are measured out with pylons. Distances on these tracks, which have either wood or cement surfaces, vary between 100 and 500 meters.

For Tallman, the camp was not much of a change from his usual hectic life style. Tallman cycles 100 miles a week, trains with weights twice a week and works for one hour every day on the slideboard, a polished linoleum surface with two adjustable two by fours on either side. The skater, wearing wool socks, simulates skating on the board, shortening or lengthening the distance between the boards to shorten or lengthen his stroke. Longer strokes are better for longer distances, and shorter strokes for shorter races.

All this in addition to school and team practices.

“I go to school from 7:30 to 2:10 and then I have practices Monday from 5 until 7 and then 9 to 11,” Tallman said. “Thursdays I have practice from 4:30 to 6:30 and on Saturday mornings I have practice from 7 to 9.”

Understandably, the training has paid off.

“He’s shown a lot of improvement,” Lovato said. “He’s a hard worker, he pays attention and does those extra things that are necessary.”

Tallman also provides his own equipment, which costs a bit more than an average pair of skates. The speed skates average $700 and differ from recreational skates in more than price. Roller-skates have one single-action cushion; speed skates have two cushions for double action, giving the skater better performance.

Tallman, who moved to Newbury Park from Oregon a year ago, initially became interested in roller-skating as a pastime.

“I started roller-skating (when I was) about 9 years old. I started training for speedskating when I was 11 or 12, and I started competition when I was nearly 15,” Tallman said. “I was just hanging out with my friends at school and then they tell me they’re going to go roller-skating, so I go. I just kind of got hooked on it from there.”

Hooked is an apt description for Tallman’s enthusiasm for the sport.

“In competition you get really psyched out at first when you get up to the starting line,” Tallman said. “When they say, ‘Skaters, take your mark,’ you get down there and your heart’s going a million miles an hour. Then they blow the whistle and you go.

“Then, if you’ve got all the mental (aspect) down, you’re doing pretty good, because it’s about 75 percent mental. You’ve got to be a smart skater as much as a physically fit skater. You’ve got to know how to draft, how to make your passes, when to take the lead and when not to take the lead, how to balance into a corner.”

There is a possibility that roller speedskating will be included in the 1992 Games. If that comes to pass, Tallman’s chance at winning an Olympic medal might not be far behind.