Spalding one step from Athens

Article courtesy The Maui News
Saturday, April 17, 2004 — Time: 10:16:51 PM EST

OAKLAND, Calif. - Kula's Lauren Spalding is one race away from a trip to Athens, Greece, this summer to compete in the Olympic Games.

Spalding and Kailua's Kathy Colin combined to win the K2 500-meter race at the U.S. kayak Olympic trials at Merritt Lake on Friday. The victory earned the pair a berth in the Olympic qualifying races in Brazil on April 28. The winner of the race in Brazil qualifies for the Olympic Games.

"It was a little nerve-racking,'' Spalding said. "Kathy and I had never done a 500-meter race before. We had done a lot of 250-meter races. We felt good during warmups.''

Spalding and Colin finished in 1 minutes, 52.86 seconds, 96 hundredths of a second faster than Carrie Johnson and Marie Mijalis. All four will be in the same boat on Sunday to compete in the K4 500-meter race. Again, the winner qualifies for the races in Brazil.

"We had a really good start,'' Spalding said. "We both felt really good at the finish. This was icing on the cake for us because our primary focus has been K4.''

The victory was especially sweet with both paddlers coming from Hawaii.

"That was pretty cool,'' Spalding said. "We had Hawaiian flags on the boat and it was nice to have all Hawaii sponsors.''

Spalding, who has been one of the top outrigger canoe paddlers in Hawaii for several years, is a newcomer to kayak racing. She participated in her first-ever kayak race last July in New York.

"I did not envision myself at the Olympic trials a year ago,'' Spalding said. "I didn't expect this.''

Source: http://www.mauinews.com/sports/story/0417202004_spt02Spalding0417.asp

Posted by keizo on Sat, 04/17/2004 - 11:30pm