Cold reception at hot canoe and kayak qualifier
By Boo Turner
When dozens of the best canoe and kayak sprinters in the Americas arrived at the Lake Lanier Olympic venue in Georgia recently, the first challenge was to get out of the rain, and then into the water.
Due to some miscue, the warm and dry boathouse was locked tight for the Hemispheric Olympic Qualifier held May 4 and 5, the last chance for these paddlers to grab one of 24 starting positions at the Summer Games.
But the U.S. team, hosts of the event, were not deterred by the chilly reception. They rolled their boats out from their enclosed trailer, found a place to hide out and change their wet clothes, and then set about getting the job done: earning the right to go to the Games.
Over the course of the weekend--competing against Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, Cuba, Canada, Puerto Rico, and Antigua-Barbuda--the paddlers did just that, winning slots in eight events at the Olympics to go along with the position Mike Harbold--the 1,000-meter kayak specialist--won last year at the World Championships.
Perhaps the toughest competition came for U.S. kayaker Mike Herbert in Sunday's 500-meter kayak race. He was up against the 1991 World Champion in this event, Canada's Renn Crichlow, as well as Javier Correa, an Argentinean who has proven a tough match.
"It was a piece of paper between the three of them," says U.S. Canoe and Kayak Team Coach Reg Hatch, describing the bow-to-bow finish.
When officials confirmed by video that it was Correa, not Herbert, in second, most observers concluded that Herbert would be packing his bags and heading home to Arkansas. The rules seemed clear: a top-two finish was required to go to the Olympics.
But it turned there are a few loopholes in the rules, giving the U.S. team hope that they'll be able to get Herbert in the Olympics. His power and skills would surely be welcome, whether he races the 500 meters (at the '88 Games, he missed the bronze medal by a sliver), or takes a seat in the men's two- or four-person kayaks (K-2 and K-4).
Also leading the U.S. chase is a pair of relative newcomers to the sport: John Mooney and Stein Jorgensen. They pulled double duty this weekend--each racing two events--and with their teammates, successfully laid claim to three U.S. positions at the Olympics: in K-2 500-meter (Jorgensen/Mooney), K-2 1000-meter (Mooney/Peter Newton) and K-4 (Jorgensen/Phillipe Boccara/Curt
Bader/Mark Hamilton).
Unlike the uncertainty surrounding Herbert's Olympic plans, Mooney and Jorgensen will definitely be on their first Olympic team, one more illustration that in the thin ranks of sprint kayaking, speedy talent rises quickly to the top. Last year, the unknown duo surprised the world when they won the 200-meter race at the World Championships.
Three women will join Jorgensen and Mooney as first-time Olympians, including 18-year-old Lia Rousset. Clearly young blood--the average age of team members is over 30, and Rousset is still in high school--Rousset has earned a seat in the team kayaks, paddling tandem with DeAnne Hemmens and in the K-4 with Dru van Hengel, both new to the team. Filling out the fourth seat in
the women's K-4 will be Alexandra Harbold, a returning Olympian.
The women's single boat is the domain of Traci Phillips, a veteran of two Olympics, where she'll hope to improve upon her sixth-place finish at the '88 Games in Seoul. All the women won easily this weekend against light competition.
But it was Jim Terrell, the undisputed American master of the tippy Olympic racing canoe, who had the most impressive results of the weekend. In his weak suit--the 1,000-meter event--Terrell powered from behind in the last 250 meters, passing rivals that usually beat him, posting a fast 4:01 time in a gentle headwind to finish second.
He came to the dock exhausted and fell into the water. Once on land, they realized that Terrell was completely spent and took him in for medical observation. In this case, he quite literally "raced his guts out."
He came back the next day to win the 500-meter boat race by two seconds--or a boat length--and earned the right to tackle both events at the Olympics if he so chooses.
"He's taken the steps towards a winning medal," says Hatch, who describes three-time Olympian Terrell's progress as "quiet achievement."
Based upon solid results at the Hemispheric, Hatch says he's confident the U.S. squad can compete for medals this summer, and that they'll put "the best possible crew in front of the home crowd."
Olympic Archive: U.S. sprint canoe and kayak trials
May 2-5, Chula Vista, California
U.S. Olympic team: sprint canoe and kayak
Men's canoe (C-1)
Jim Terrell, Milford, Ohio
Qualified events: 500 and 1,000 meters
Joe Harper, 1000-meters
Men's kayak
Mike Harbold, Honolulu; Mike Herbert; Cliff Meidel; Peter Newton, Bellevue, Washington; John Mooney, Eugene, Oregon; Stein Jorgensen, San Diego, California; Curt Bader, Bloomfield, Iowa; Phillipe Boccara, San Diego, California; Mark Hamilton, Louisville, Kentucky
Qualified events: K-1, K-2, and K-4 in 1,000 meters, and K-2 in 500 meters
Women's kayak
Traci Phillips, Honolulu; Alexandra Harbold, Rockaway Beach, New York; DeAnne Hemmens, Costa Mesa, California; Lia Rousset, Newport Beach, California; Dru van Hengel, Tarrytown, New York
Qualified events: K-1 and K-2 in 1,000 meters and K-4 in 500 meters
What's ahead for U.S. sprint paddlers
May 12: Final U.S. Olympic team named
May 31-June 6: World Cup, Szeged, Hungary
June 7-9: International Regatta, Poznan, Poland
July 30-August 4: 1996 Olympic Games
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