David Hearn’s Olympic Journal

Olympic Team Trials Training

Ocoee River Olympic Course, TN

Today we flew to Atlanta on the United non-stop from Washington Dulles for our 6th consecutive whitewater training trip to the Ocoee River Olympic course this year. Both airports have been a total “zoo” during all of these training trips caused by heavy construction complemented by a lot of passengers. My wife, Jennifer and I made record time on this trip by racing from the very end of the jet way (always the case) with carry-on bags (computer, snacks, water, and reading supplies) in each hand “slaloming” in between the slower moving and dazed commuters. We enjoy high-tailing our way through the crowds to help wake up our bodies before we have to sit still again for the two hour drive up to the Olympic course. Today we sat in the front of the Atlanta terminal transfer train so we could be one of the first people off the train to run up the empty escalator to the baggage claim area. I enjoy taking the steps two at a time and feeling the burn of my quads as the quick tempo becomes hard to maintain three quarters of the way up to the top. We are partial to the forward-lean walking technique, always with one foot on the ground, never breaking into a run, but moving at an extreme rate of speed down the carpeted terminal. We grabbed our big duffel bags stuffed with paddling gear and canoe & kayak paddles, and raced to the rental bus to go get the car. We have the trip wired from Atlanta...Camp Creek Parkway to I-285 North to 75 North to route 575 and 5 North into the towns of McCaysville, GA and Copperhill, TN. The Ocoee River Olympic course is about a 15 minute drive from here, off route 64 in the Cherokee National Forest.

We are here for the U.S. Olympic Team Trials May 18 and 19. This will be a great opportunity to watch the best American whitewater athletes on the Olympic course if you did not get tickets to the sold-out Olympic whitewater slalom events July 26-28. U.S. Olympic Team Trials tickets and information are available at “800 OCOEE96”.

May 15th...I just got back from an awesome training session on the wild whitewater of the Ocoee River. The venue as always is a buzz of activity. Today new chain link fences and tents were going up everywhere, while the sounds of roaring water, generators and jack hammering filled the air. Word is that Vice President Al Gore will be here Saturday to watch the whitewater slalom Olympic trials.

The water felt fast, familiar and friendly today. I had a good workout, running the course in sections while Jennifer ran down and timed me from shore. All of the days of training here seem to be paying off. I can jump back on the course after being away for a week and feel as if I never left it. Of course, I paddle every day while at home on the Potomac River in Bethesda as well. Many of the athletes working out this afternoon were making their maiden voyages down the course, having just recently qualified to compete in the trials. It is interesting to watch these fine athletes discover the wonders of the new course for the first time.

Tomorrow they will release the course map for Saturday’s Trials after the training session finishes at noon. This will be everyone’s first look at the how the actual whitewater gates will be hung for the race. Course maps are used as a guide until the real course is pulled into position on Friday afternoon. There will be an open session of whitewater training with the course map (but no gates) on Friday morning. Athletes will try to visualize the gates as they make a run or two during this time slot down the river on this “imaginary course”.

Friday afternoon we have boat inspection and demo runs. Boat inspection requires all athletes to have their equipment inspected for safety requirements and minimum standards prior to race participation. The decked canoes and kayaks are checked for floatation, grab loops, and minimum length, width, and weight. Each athlete’s personal floatation device (PFD) must float a minimum of 6 kg of lead. Often boat inspection is a frenzied activity with people seeking bondo or other messy stuff to add length or diameter to the ends of their boats. Our boats take a lot of abuse from hitting or scraping over rocks (of which there are many on the Ocoee course) tending to wear down the ends.

Demo runs are made by athletes who are not competing in the trials. Luckily, we will have an opportunity to see some good boats run the actual race course for the first time, because many of the visiting foreign athletes stayed here to train after the World Cup race three weeks ago. It is best to see a minimum of two boats in each of the four classes (C1, K1W, C2, and K1) run the course for fairness, safety and general “do-ability”. For the C1 and C2 classes it is also important to watch to see if a course is equally balanced for left sided moves versus right sided moves.

The course approval meeting will open debate to regional team leaders to accept each gate or amend the course (i.e., all the demo boats miss gate 8 to the left: Move it one meter to the left) followed by course acceptance. Any changes are made immediately while water is still flowing down the course, so that the athletes can continue to study the whitewater gates, water features, and plan each of their strokes and moves. I will go home with the course firmly planted in my head so that I may visualize my whitewater run (many more times than physically possible) from that moment forward, as often as I like, until I take my one practice run on the slalom course Saturday morning. Two race runs are allowed, with the best of the two counting for the results. Winners in each class each day make the Olympic Team, except in C2, where only the winning boat Saturday makes the squad.

Morale is high.

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Last updated: January 18, 2006