Firstly, I should tell you that despite this NOT being an official FISS website, the records published on this site are the OFFICIAL records as recognised by FISS and their current Records Officer who I work closely with in ensuring all is above board and tickety-boo.

 

The records here are generally the most up to date and accurate that you will find anywhere on the web and I shall give you a little insight into why that might be.

 

Right up until 1969 the British Records were published annually in an NSA (National Skating Association) handbook, distributed to all of it's members at that time.  In addition the handbook also published lists of World and European Champions at all disciplines.  When you consider that the NSA was the umbrella body for both ice and roller disciplines (figure, dance and speed) you can see that year on year the book was getting considerably thicker.  From 1970 onwards, the NSA published a much abridged version of the handbook with little or no information on results from major competitions...or indeed BRITISH RECORDS.

 

Between 1970 and 1994 any formal recognition of the setting of British speed records had fallen by the wayside, and as such no times or major results were formally recorded.  Noting this I made it my mission to correct this travesty and spent the next 18 months collecting data and information to put together a definitive list of times that I considered to be BRITISH RECORDS.  I could not vouch for its accuracy - but I presented it to the then governing body of British roller speed skating (BFRS) as a starting point to resurrect this important piece of information.  They accepted this and asked, in return, that I be the "Official Records Officer" for the sport - a role I gladly undertook formally until 2007.

 

In 2007 I handed over a full set of now accurate BRITISH RECORDS to a new administration in order that they might continue where I left off.  Unfortunately, this was not the case and once again the acknowledgment of British Records fell into disarray.  More recently I again offered to resume my position as that of "Records Officer" in order that (a) I could be satisfied that the records were being maintained properly and (b) the sport in this country could once again have recognised and accepted targets for its skaters.  Relinquishing the role once more in 2019 it is my hope that the records are administered by the governing body more professionally this time than they were when I first stepped away.  To date I have not been disappointed and this has been helped by the appointment of Adrian Wordsworth as the FISS Records Officer.  Adrian's history and passion for the sport certainly means that, for now at least, the acknowledgement of records are in safe hands.

 

To summarise then, due to the limited resources for FISS their website is not always as up to date as one might hope or expect.  It is therefore not always possible to have the most up to date records published OFFICIALLY in a timely manner, but you should be safe to assume that the records published here are the ones you should all be striving to better!