David Hearn’s Olympic Journal

Olympic Team Trials

Ocoee River Olympic Course, TN

Wow, what an exciting and exhilarating weekend (now that it is all over, that is). The U.S. Olympic Team Trials weekend was an incredibly intense experience filled with both joy and heart break. Many of the whitewater slalom athletes train together all year round. We are friends, we work out together, and cheer for one another. Everyone knew that only eight people (seven boats) would make the Olympic Team, but knowing this truth did not make the harshness of the race day reality any easier.

Even though I woke up a lot Friday night I still felt refreshed and ready to race on Saturday. My class raced first, but the other reason we had to get up at 5:45 am was to avoid the potential road closure delays anticipated with Vice President Al Gore’s visit to the Ocoee River Olympic venue scheduled during the morning practice runs.

The morning was foggy and 50 degrees in the Cherokee National Forest. The weather forecast for the next three days called for sunny skies and 90 degree temperatures so I knew it was going to be a real scorcher. When I arrived at the course, I walked up the river banks, looked at the course, and talked to my coaches. During my practice run, the media and a few curious spectators and volunteers gathered at the top of the course for Gore’s opening remarks and dedication of the venue. The Secret Service were inspecting boats, credentials and anyone who was heading up to the starting area. Between gates 12 and 13, I heard Al Gore talking about how much fun he had rafting on the Ocoee River and on the rapids of the Grand Canyon with his family. I thought to myself, how apropos, and then focused on the rest of my run. My practice run was solid, but not perfect. I knew I could do the moves better and walked back up the course to talk to my coaches and look at each of their split stations times.

The C1s and K1Ws raced back to back in the morning with only 75 minutes between each of our runs. This gave me just enough time to change into dry paddling gear between runs, talk to the coaches, and get to the warm up pool before my next run. I was in second place after first runs behind Jon Lugbill. I had time errors and knew I could go a lot faster by improving a couple of moves. The bottom of the course worked well for me in practice, and I wanted to stick with my successful line in this section.

The second run was great, it went mostly according to plan and I was fortunate enough to be the first one to make the Whitewater Olympic Team on Saturday with a 171.50 +0 on the second run. Jennifer ran down to give me my splits and told me I had a great run. Then my brother Bill yelled down, “Congratulations...you made the Team!”. My family and friends then all began to congratulate me while I was still paddling around in my boat. I paddled to the spectator side of the river to greet and shake hands with my boat design partner David Knight and his family. It was an incredible moment for me to realize my Olympic dreams knowing I would be back on the Ocoee River in July to compete in the Olympic Games.

Although the races for the other three classes were still underway, it was really just a blur of excitement for me filled with media interviews, and the mandatory drug testing. I was finally able to change into dry clothes with my USOC escort still in tow. I learned that Dana Chladek smoked the K1W class placing 12 seconds ahead of Jana Freeburn. Dana’s victory also meant my sister Cathy was not on the Team yet.

I missed the K1 and C2 practice runs, but was able to relax a little and watch their exciting race runs. Rich Weiss won the race with a penalty, and finished 1.6 seconds ahead of Eric Giddens to earn the first K1 Olympic berth. So now we had a total of three happy people - out of a total of 94 athletes racing in the Team Trials!

The heartbreak came for me when my friends Fritz and Lecky Haller had penalties on both of their race runs (2 seconds out), and did not make the Olympic Team. I watched both runs and offered advice in between. Horace Holden and Wayne Dickert put down two clean runs and earned their first trip to the Olympic Games. Unlike the C1, K1W, and K1 classes, there was no second chance race day for the C2s. Only one C2 team would make the 1996 Olympic squad.

I had to shake the emotional ups and downs of Saturday’s race day and focus on the new course design for the second day of the trials. It was a super long and extremely hot day for everyone. I finally left the venue after the new course demo runs sometime after 8 pm. Ugh, that was one long harsh day. I was thankful to have made the Olympic Team on the first day.

Peaceful sleep did not come for me for the second night in a row. I was too keyed up from the race. I was filled with joy, relief and was thinking about all of the implications of both my performance and that of my friends and whitewater training partners.

Day two was another sunny ninety degree plus day. It was tough for me to get “up” for this race. I was tired physically but exhausted mentally. I wanted to have another good performance on the Ocoee Olympic course. I had a big mistake at gate 3 on first runs, but knew I could improve on the second run. Bob Robison was leading after first runs, Adam Clawson was second with a five, and Jon Lugbill was in third. It was agonizing to think four great athletes (including Joe Jacobi) were battling for the one remaining C1 place on the Olympic Team. I had a better second run at the top with one glitch above Humongous near the bottom. My run was solid and penalty free. Adam Clawson won by nearly 2 seconds on his second clean run and earned his second trip to the Olympic Games. I was second, Bob Robison third, Joe Jacobi fourth, and Jon Lugbill placed a disappointing fifth.

My sister Cathy had a remarkable recovery on her second run after spinning out above Humongous. She tapped into her extensive race experience and ran the slot backwards through the hydraulic. Cathy kept a cool head, stayed clean, and earned the remaining K1W Olympic berth. Dana Chladek won the race by nearly 5 seconds, Cathy was second, Renata Altman third, Kara Weld fourth, and Jana Freeburn was fifth.

That afternoon Scott Shipley blazed down the course nearly 5 seconds ahead of the competition. One after another, each Olympic K1 contender tried to crack Shipley’s awesome first run time. Shipley came the closest to beating his own time and nailed down the second K1 Olympic position with either run. Eric Jackson was second, Rich Weiss third, and Eric Giddens placed fourth.

Fritz and Lecky Haller had two clean runs, displaying their true champion form and finished 13 seconds ahead of the competition. Wayne Dickert and Horace Holden placed second. Matt Taylor and Steve Isenburg were third, and Barry Kennon and David Hepp placed fourth.

Congratulations to all of the competitors and the 1996 Olympic Whitewater Team members! David Hearn, Adam Clawson, Dana Chladek, Cathy Hearn, Rich Weiss, Scott Shipley, Horace Holden, and Wayne Dickert.

Check out these nerve-wracking races for yourself on ESPN2 at 10:30 pm EST on June 3, and on ESPN at 12:30 am on June 5.

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Last updated: January 18, 2006