New Blog Posts at JoeJacobi.com

New posts about the Whitewater World Cup in Prague at:

http://www.joejacobi.com/

Looking Good in Beijing from this Platform

The countdown to the Olympic Games in Beijing reads "60 Days" today and with a new role in the Olympic Games as the Canoe/Kayak color analyst for NBC, I couldn't be more excited. Fellow kayakers, friends, and family have been picking up the pace on questions like, "When will kayaking air on televison?" or "What are the U.S. prospects for a medal?"

The "new and different" elements to this Olympic Games are far-reaching and compelling. At the centerpoint, we have China, a huge and diversified host-country enthusiastically pulling together to put on an event of extreme national pride. No matter where your positions with China lie, if you tune into the Olympic Games this summer, your feelings and ideas about China are likely to be different than they are now.

And tuning into the Games will be a new and different experience too. With 1,400 hours of coverage on the various NBC networks, there will be plenty of action to catch at any time of day but the real progress driving the coverage of the Games is on the internet. At NBCOlympics.com, you'll be producing your own Olympic broadcast with live feeds of events and various options for watching them, customized highlight reels, and re-broadcasts of anything and everything that appeared on the network broadcast meaning if you don't want to watch kayaking at 2:30 in the morning, don't worry - wake up and watch us in the morning.

With 2,200 hours of internet coverage at NBCOlympics.com, updates and alerts on your cell phone on top of the traditional broadcast channels, these Olympic Games will be shared in a more personal way than ever before and I'm honored to help tell the stories behind the sport of Canoe/Kayak and its athletes.

Much more coming about the Games here at the "Gold Medal Living" blog and the Canoe/Kayak page at NBCOlympics.com but with 60 days to go, it seemed like a nice time to step back and enjoy the Olympic view, particularly from this platform.

Turning to Quick Thinking

Tune into any of the 24 hour news networks and given the state the state of the economy, you’d think people are not going anywhere this summer, not doing anything fun, or not learning something new. Here at the Ocoee River in Tennessee, the recent surge of visitors on and off the water suggests an evolving trend – people are in fact prioritizing the idea of getting out of town and putting themselves in different surroundings. In other words, they’re seeking live.

The compelling difference right now compared to past years is the advanced planning that goes into such travel – virtually none at all. Getting away is becoming “last-minute” in nature and people are simply showing up at the front door at our raft company and kayak school unannounced ready for adventure. Jackson Kayaks Founder and President, Eric Jackson, suggested as much in a recent interview saying, “Even in these times, Americans don’t want to compromise on lifestyle.”

The upside of a down economy is that people re-adjust and look for improved solutions. They change past patterns that haven’t produced good results. They stretch themselves into trying new and better things. And they find creative and effective ways to grow, learn, and do better.

These attributes parallel some of the fundamental skills and benefits of navigating rapids on the river and there’s much more to be learned on whitewater that translates to our lives away from the river. Maybe that’s why the river is a good match for the way people want to spend time away from home at the moment. To that end, similar as how we approach the current world and challenges around us, kayaks and rafts are always doing one of two things on the river – working with it or fighting against it. Which one are you doing?

A Better Way to Live

A few years ago while teaching a kayak clinic in Alaska, I passed a beautiful lake with a signage board and rack full of personal flotation devices (PFDs) just beside the boat ramp. I figured this was a summer camp but our host told me it was a public lake and the PFDs were available for kids to borrow whenever they play near or in the water. “Do people every walk away with the PFDs?” I asked. “Never, kids just put the PFDs back on the rack when they’re finished,” our host replied.

I often speak about the many positive attributes I’ve seen and observed in kayaking and around the water in Alaska but none more than “Kids Don’t Float,” an active water safety awareness campaign that reaches out to young people and promotes a healthy respect of the water. Two years since I learned about the program and thanks to a partnership with Safe Kids, “Kids Don’t Float” is growing nationwide with 38 new PFD loaner stations constructed at 19 locations across the country. Additionally, I am honored to join the campaign as a spokesperson and ambassador.

With the unofficial start of summer this Memorial Day Weekend, the team at Safe Kids launched the evolving “Kids Don’t Float” program in Savannah, Georgia alongside the Intracoastal Waterway. We had a great turn-out of students, media, and volunteers including my seven year-old daughter who launched her television career in good style with a great message: (Click "Video)

http://www.wsav.com/midatlantic/sav/news.apx.-content-articles-SAV-2008-05-23-0019.html

At its core, “Gold Medal Living” celebrates living better through enjoyment of outdoor and adventure sport activities. Supporting the efforts of and ideals behind “Kids Don’t Float” is simply one of the most effective ways I know to sustain a better way to live:

http://www.usa.safekids.org/tier3_cd.cfm?content_item_id=25871&folder_id=300

Joe's Baseballism - The Sequel: A Little More Baseball Talk... & Starbucks too...

Thank you, thank you, thank you, Baseballisms.com! You have provided me with a special broadcasting experience that could very well prove to be as useful as any other to do date while on assignment at the Olympics in Beijing this summer. The only question that remains is will you be there to comfort and support me with Starbucks coffee?

For the "rest of the story" on my first Baseballism, click here:

http://baseballisms.com/the-day-everything-changed-for-baseballisms.html

My Turn on Baseballisms.com

My friend Tony Kornheiser says video blogging -"yapping" non-stop in front of a camera - is a lot harder than it looks. Actually, I haven't found that to be the case yet in my broadcasting pursuits and my latest here at Baseballisms.com is no exception. No prompts, questions, or leads - just straight-talking about baseball:

http://baseballisms.com/olympic-gold-medalist-joe-jacobi-on-dc-baseball.html

Of course this posting, following my wife's Baseballism, inevitably sets up a round of "Baseballism Crossfire."

Olympic Whitewater Trials this weekend on MSNBC

We've just finished production work on the Olympic Whitewater Trials. Please tune into the broadcast airing this Sunday, May 11th on MSNBC at 12 noon eastern time. We had a great time calling this race and working with play-by-play broadcaster Craig Hummer was fabulous. Not only is he excited to be a part of the whitewater events in Beijing this summer, but Craig joined me for a kayak lesson on the Kern River today in Kernville, California. More about our kayak outing coming next week.

Also, please check out some excellent photo galleries from the Olympic Trials in Charlotte shot by our good friend, Bob Hollifield:

http://colemanroadproductions.smugmug.com/

The Last Word On Trials....

Although the Olympic Whitewater Slalom Trials concluded a week ago, I've been slow to recover from an emotionally draining weekend in Charlotte. Back at home in Tennessee, a few runs down the Ocoee River and a few mountain bike rides with friends have helped to re-energize me but I hadn't quite found the right way to resolve my own participation at the Trials - as a coach, spectator, and as part of the media.

For me, when it comes to the last word about anything whitewater paddling, it begins and ends with Jamie McEwan. Known in whitewater cirlces as the "living legend," Jamie won America's first-ever Olympic medal in whitewater slalom at the 1972 Olympics in Munich. Equally impressive, he competed and competed well at the 2008 Olympic Trials in Charlotte at the age of 55.

In a weekend of huge emotional ups and down, nobody offered more stability and good in the world of whitewater racing than Jamie. Competing with vigor, passion, and respect, his participation continues to set the standard of what it means to be an Olympian in Whitewater Slalom racing. Check out Jamie's essay about his Olympic Trials experience.

http://jamiemcewan.com/unpublished.html

Well done, Jamie.

Quick Update from Trials....

After an intense first two days of racing here at the Olympic Trials at the U.S. National Whitewater Center, all categories are up for grabs heading into the third and final day. A few things we do know:

- By virtue of good results on Saturday, the U.S. will field a full whitewater team at the Olympic Games in Beijing.

- The event has turned out large crowds each day - estimated Saturday crowd was 5,000 spectators.

- As the photo suggests, EJ is having a lot of fun.

Full results are available at:

http://animastiming.com/2008-olympic-slalom-results

Stay tuned....

Scott and Brett

As the Olympic Whitewater Trials gets ready to start tomorrow here in Charlotte, much of the athlete media coverage has focused upon men’s kayak frontrunners, Scott Parsons and Brett Heyl. Both were my Olympic teammates during my final Olympic Games four years ago in Athens and I came to know them both in a different light on and off the water.

The test of friendship and competition is the featured element of recent stories on NPR and in the Washington Post. But for me, a fascinating part of their pursuits is how vastly different two competitors can structure such different athletic quests for our one Olympic spot and come out so close in the end. It’s the essence of marching to the beat of your own drum yet kindly acknowledging that your beat might not work for everyone else.

Scott brings an introverted, grounded, and powerful resolve to his paddling. Brett is an extrovert who draws incredible energy from engaging people of all kinds into the sport of kayaking. One’s source of energy wouldn’t work well for the other and vice versa. Ultimately, it’s not so much which way is the right way but believing in your own way to achieve excellence in kayaking at this level. There’s no problem there – all systems are ready to go.

Spending time with both Scott and Brett this week during on-river practice sessions, I can only simplify their racing and values like this – their representations of themselves and outreach to each other have not only been first-class but their pursuits have honored kayaking and the Olympic Movement at their respective cores in a way that anyone would be proud.

Eric Jackson's Chattanooga Olympic Zone Profile

Back home in Tennessee, I'm fortunate to work with WRCB TV, the NBC affiliate in Chattanooga. I host the "Chattanooga Olympic Zone" in which we profile Chattanooga-related Olympic stories for the evening news broadcast. Since my 1992 Olympic teammate, Eric Jackson, is competing here in Charlotte and houses his fabulous kayaking manufacturing company, Jackson Kayaks, just up the road in Sparta, we figured Eric was an obvious choice for our feature segment. Working in television shouldn't be this much fun and I couldn't be more thrilled that Eric and his daughter Emily will be competing here in Charlotte at the Olympic Trials. Click the link below to see Eric's Chattanooga Olympic Zone profile:

http://www.wrcbtv.com/global/video/popup/pop_player.asp?ClipID1=2409907&h1=The%20Olympic%20Zone%3A%20E.J.%20Sparta&vt1=v&at1=News&d1=183900&LaunchPageAdTag=Olympics&activePane=info&playerVersion=1&hostPageUrl=http%3A//www.wrcbtv.com/Global/story.asp%3FS%3D8210608&rnd=84621745

The Big Mirror

This being the first Olympic Trials of the previous four in which I am not competing, I’ve been wondering what it is about these Olympic Trials that would appeal to spectators, internet users, or viewers of the MSNBC broadcast coming next month. Of course there’s the pure nature of a race, particularly a race of the magnitude where Olympic dreams either continue on or come to a close. There’s also the natural attraction to whitewater and the venue hosting this event, the U.S. National Whitewater Center.

But watching from the side of the river as opposed to being in it, I’ve come to see the Olympic Trials as that of a reflection of ourselves and our own lives. How do we identify with athletes and their competitive values? How do their athletic characteristics parallel our own life pursuits?

Watching a paddler like Benn Fraker gets you thinking about such things. More than any other single athlete in our program, Benn does not blink an eye at taking on challenges that are beyond him. Whether it’s the difficulty of his practice courses or the level of competitor he is chasing, his bar is set at the top. It is people like Benn who take on such challenges that put themselves in uncomfortable situations every day. They also know it is a special path to raising standards and performing better.

Maybe it has been a while since you’ve evaluated how effectively you throw yourself into your own “beyond reach” situations but watching Benn paddle makes you think about it. He and roughly 130 other athletes will be testing their competitive style here in Charlotte this weekend – against the river, themselves, and each other. For those of us watching, it’s like standing in front of a big mirror. Which reflection will you see?

The Source of a River

It’s not uncommon for kayakers to ponder about the source of the river they’re paddling on a given day. Such thinking contributes to the humility and appreciation of an activity like kayaking. Here at the U.S. National Whitewater Center in Charlotte, North Carolina, site of this year’s U.S. Olympic Trials for Whitewater Slalom, the venue is more of a symbol of where the sport is heading more than where it’s been. Having said that, the concept of powerful whitewater rapids in Charlotte where a river never existed before is increasingly becoming a more important part of kayaking’s evolving history.

Back in 2000, two visionaries from Charlotte, Vic Howie and Chet Rabon, attended the Olympic Whitewater Trials on Tennessee’s Ocoee River, site of the 1996 Olympic Whitewater events. Watching the competition on this modified natural river, Vic and Chet kept asking themselves, “Why can’t we do this in Charlotte?” Back in my living room that evening, a bottle of wine, a drawing on a cocktail napkin, and some spirited conversation and brainstorming lifted the concept of the “Charlotte Whitewater Park” up off the ground.

Of course it went further than that. Upon returning to Charlotte, they knocked on doors, introduced themselves and their idea, and shared their vision with anyone who would listen – they knew that openly and honestly engaging people and building alliances would be the only way to gain the public trust needed to complete such a project in Charlotte.

Much has transpired over the past eight years but one of Vic and Chet’s major milestones is about to happen this weekend. The Olympic Trials will be contested here in Charlotte on this venue – a venue that was conceived at one of the great American institutions of sport for “dreaming big,” the Olympic Trials. So with that, U.S. Whitewater athletes take their next step towards Beijing this weekend. And if any of the paddlers here stop for a moment to acknowledge the source of this river, they won’t have to wonder where the source starts – they can just hop out of their boats, shake hands with them and say thanks. I know I will.

Thank you, Oklahoma City

The racing between the start and finish lines at the Flatwater Olympic Trials this past weekend could have taken place just about anywhere and a good, capable group of athletes would have taken a step closer to paddling at the Olympic Games this summer in Beijing. But for the elements that make a canoe/kayak event special, memorable and world-class, Oklahoma City and its Chesapeake Boathouse set a new benchmark for paddlesports and on a personal note, I just wanted to say thank you to the amazing people who made the Olympic Trials in Oklahoma City a reality.

Organizers, volunteers, coaches, athletes, media, and sponsors worked together seamlessly and the result went far beyond fabulous kayak racing. The inclusion and influence of paddlesports on the way Oklahoma City lives, works, and plays by far exceeds the impact of what I thought was possible in a city of this size.

As I turn my attention to Whitewater Olympic Trials this week in Charlotte, thank you Oklahoma City for sharing your community’s spirit with us – the sport is already better for it.

Resolving to Resolve Later

Selecting a kayaker to represent the U.S. at the Olympic Games is not a straightforward process. One USA Canoe/Kayak official told me today that their Olympic Team selection criteria is more than 30 type-written pages, which only appears a little strange to a spectator when you see how straightforward flatwater kayaking is. The mano-a-mano, first-to-the-finish nature of the race is pure, rich, and the dominant intensity factor in this beautiful sport. And no race demonstrated this essence on Friday more than the men’s 500 meter single kayak (K1) race.

With a win in this event, two-time Olympian, Rami Zur, would qualify directly to his third Olympic Games this summer in Beijing. Confident, strong, and always looking for a big challenge, I got to know Rami five years ago during a “team-building” outing hosted by the U.S. Olympic Committee (USOC) for Athens Olympic hopefuls. Our group of about 100 athletes went to the Naval Special Warfare Center in San Diego where we would tackle the training/obstacle course used to train and prepare Navy Seals. As our bus pulled closer to the obstacle course, our eyes fixated on a 55-foot wooden frame of ropes dropping out of the sky. I nervously said, “Climbing harnesses to go over those, don’t you think?” To which Rami replied, “No way, my friend.”

As we filed off the bus, the USOC officials, who had not seen the obstacle course in person before this moment, were quickly dissuading athletes from climbing the wall of ropes. But it was too late. Athletes were sprinting towards the wall like kids running to an ice cream truck on a summer afternoon. Leading the pack and smiling ear to ear was Rami. He scaled up the wall like Spiderman, hurled himself over the huge cross-log at the top, and flew down the other side giggling while the most of the other athletes were still sizing up the challenge from the ground on the other side.

It is this kind of can-do spirit that defines an athlete who would likely take the men’s 500 meter K1 Olympic slot on the U.S. Olympic Team. However, that spirit was provided by someone else on Friday.

Morgan House of Gainesville, GA played the role of “challenger” in this event. At 20 years-old, Morgan’s racing conveys wisdom beyond his years and a competitive fire that burns from “inside.” Calm, cool, and confident, Morgan brings something new to the race which is what made his strong surge in the last 100 meters to win here at the Olympic Trials much more interesting. Between Morgan and Rami, we’re treated to two very different styles trying to win the same race.

Which leads us to our un-resolution of this Olympic spot here at the Olympic Trials. By virtue of winning on Friday, Morgan doesn’t take the Olympic spot but he does prolong the Olympic selection until early June when he and Rami will compete in Europe for the start position in Beijing. It’s a “winner take all” situation and over the next six weeks, the emotion of two very different kayakers raising their standards, pushing harder, and going faster will be exciting to watch. But take away the emotion from that process and one element strikingly stands out. The U.S. will field a better kayak racer in Beijing by resolving to resolve later.

Kayaking on TV

One of the best parts of the Olympic season for canoeing and kayaking is the media attention on the sport. Of course our hope is that more people will want to try kayaking as a result of having seen the sport and how easy it is to learn.

Oklahoma City's KFOR Channel 4 correspondent Ali Meyer supports our efforts and joined me for short kayak lesson on the Oklahoma River just before the start of the Flatwater Olympic Trials. Check out the story at:

http://www.kfor.com/global/video/popup/pop_player.asp?ClipID1=2400341&h1=Learning%20how%20to%20Kayak%20with%20Ali%20Meyer&vt1=v&at1=Community&d1=181766&LaunchPageAdTag=Search

Google, Starbucks, & Kayaking

America is fascinated by a good system that works. We love Google – type in a word or phrase and thousands of related links are instantly returned to you. We’re enamored with Starbucks for its ability to replicate unique coffee-house experiences anywhere in the world. In flatwater kayaking, the great system belongs to Hungary and its women’s kayak program. A huge pool of talented paddlers producing fabulous results, consistent leadership from a coach who has overseen a program for decades and an incredible tradition of performace that has built an unmatched legacy of women’s kayaking. It’s a system that works better than any other kayaking.

Here in the U.S., our kayaking program has seen some bright people and moments over the past 16 years (the last time we medaled in flatwater,) but “the system” hasn’t been a part of that program. Until yesterday.

At a press conference yesterday here in Oklahoma City, USA Canoe/Kayak marched out seven of its female athletes and two coaches to speak with the media about kayaking and kayak racing. We heard words and phrases like, “Team,” Believe,” “100% behind each other,” and “Dream big.” Such terminology might not be uncommon for a lot of sports teams but these seven women are competing against each other. For positions on the Olympic Team. At the Olympic Trials. Less than 24 hours before the races begin.

This is a new and different look and feel for the program but one that is working. For the past few years, these athletes have been based at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, California where they live, train, and race together. They’ve learned, grown, become inspired, and raised standards together too. In short, they’re building a system – a system built on a love for the game of kayaking. It is a system that is positioning one of its athletes, Carrie Johnson, with a serious opportunity to disrupt Hungary’s mission to sweep all of the women’s kayaking events in Beijing this summer.

Both Carrie and Head Coach, Nathan Druce both know that a system like this can’t be built around one person. It’s take a team. But buying into such a system is an irrational choice for an athlete to make. There are certainly better ways to make a living and advance your career than choosing to work hard at kayaking. However, the skills and lessons you take away from such an experience become a permanent part of your life pursuits moving forward in and out of the boat. And you can feel pretty good about contributing to the creation of a kayak program that is on its way to making an entire paddlesports community proud – this summer and beyond.

A First Step towards Beijing

“So, what do you know about the Chesapeake Boathouse?” I ask my Oklahoma City-based cousin on a recent phone call.

“A good friend of ours has become an avid rower and some big names in the sport are relocating here. I hear nothing but rave reviews,” my cousin replies.

“Oklahoma City – new paddlesports capital of the world?

“That’s the plan. Who would have thought?”

My late aunt and uncle who lived in Oklahoma City for all of their adult lives never would have believed what Oklahoma City is getting ready to do. No, not preparing to welcome an NBA franchise although that would have surprised them too. Better yet, the city is getting ready host the premier Flatwater Canoe/Kayak race of the quadrennium – the Olympic Trials. Elevating the status of this prestigious event is the stunning Chesapeake Boathouse, a $3.5 million river-front facility that has positioned kayaking and rowing as core residents in and mainstream activities of Oklahoma City’s revitalized downtown.

This weekend is about more than athletes competing for the coveted positions on the United States Olympic Team. It’s about celebrating an emergence of an evolving outdoor lifestyle. That prominently features paddlesports. At an unlikely destination that is more commonly associated with cowboys and cattle than kayaking.

Making local water ways more accessible by human-powered boats is innovative “Gold Medal Thinking” at its best. Bringing such lifestyle attributes and amenities found in outdoorsy places like Portland, Oregon and Chattanooga, Tennessee uniquely brands Oklahoma City and helps it stand out from other big cities doing the same old big cities things. Resources like the Chesapeake Boathouse and its easy access to the Oklahoma River shout a loud and clear message not just about how your community works, but how it lives and plays.

A few athletes will leave Oklahoma City at the end of the weekend a step closer to the Olympics in Beijing and will take with them the “can-do” spirit and initiative of this community. These same athletes will leave behind a powerful legacy fueling an opportunity to continue building a healthy and vibrant affinity with the outdoors long after the Olympic Trials are complete.

Moving the Gridiron

The Olympic Trials season is upon us and over the next few weeks I will stretch far to make a case why top-contending U.S. kayakers such as whitewater competitor Scott Parsons and flatwater competitor Carrie Johnson ought to be as relevant to you as some of our well-known, mainstream sports stars such as Brett Favre or Mia Hamm. But before sharing the touchdown-throwing and goal-scoring qualities found in our country’s best kayakers, here’s a rare glimpse of the opposite – the effect of kayaking-centric qualities on a small-town quarterback-in-the-making.

On a recent trip to California’s Kern River, I paddled with a talented young kayaker, Evan Moore. At 12 years-old, Evan is a Kern River veteran – his family owns and operates Sierra South, a fabulous raft and kayak company. Even at such a young age, kayaking is a big influence on Evan and he has some impressive results to show for it including winning a medal at last year’s Junior Olympics in Colorado. Evan’s kayaking pursuits do not make the front of the local paper’s sports section (yet) but as the quarterback of his school football team, his mainstream sports pursuits do.

The culture of sport in America reserves a special place for the quarterback on a football team. We typically associate such a position with leadership, status, and success. There’s also a natural tendency to examine the qualities of the people who take on these jobs and compare them with our own choices, work ethic, and abilities. So from where do these traits come?

Not often does the answer involve kayaking. But, in Evan’s case, a clear sense of humility, personal responsibility, and willingness to take risk comes straight out his life-lessons on the river. Kayaking is a sport where with each paddle-stroke through the water, you’re constantly reminded that you’ll never be bigger or stronger than the river but working with its strengths and power can get you places that you never thought possible.

It’s a different twist for the type of person whom the rest of us would typically label as “Everyone’s All-American” but this 12 year-old with a great head on his shoulders does an outstanding job of positioning the attributes of kayaking in his life and the game of football is better for it.

Kayaking's Infectious Smile

For a few weeks every four years, Olympic-level whitewater slalom racing enjoys the bright lights and world-wide attention that only the power of the Olympic stage can deliver. From the athletes to media to sponsors to mainstream sports fans alike, it’s a short window in which a niche sport like kayaking enjoys pure sunlight and then tries to sustain that energy for another Olympic cycle.

So, as the 2008 Olympic selection gets set to start in the coming weeks, I begin to wonder what are the pieces from this Olympic run that will fuel this sport for another few years following the Beijing Games? Of course the U.S. program has a few bona fide medal contenders and genuine people like Scotty Parsons, who set an impeccable standard of performance and character. But, while observing “seriously good” racer after racer nimbly blitzing their 11-foot carbon boats through the slalom course at the U.S. Open Whitewater Championships this past weekend, I couldn’t help to feel that the already wide gap between kayak racing and kayaking had just widened out some more.

And then, something changed. First, Emily Jackson barrels down the course exuding happiness from ear to ear. A few minutes later, her father and my ’92 Olympic teammate, Eric, flexes his grin while making the tricky course look too easy. Finally, Dane, the youngest of the family, is happiest when changing the challenge of navigating whitewater and gates into a blissful learning on-they-fly pursuit. Together, these three are the heart and soul of kayaking’s infectious smile, the brand logo of the family’s world-class kayak company, Jackson Kayaks. The smiling symbol represents an attitude that has changed kayaking and redefined what fun is on the river. For a few minutes at one of the most intense slalom races of the spring, the three Jacksons have made me forget that whitewater slalom is an elite endeavor that is extremely hard in which to break in and belong. For a few minutes, the nervous anticipation of family and friends watching from the shore has turned into a simple and fun spectator experience.

The one brand that has profoundly impacted kayaking more than any other in the past decade is the one brand that whitewater slalom needs more than ever. The Jacksons acutely understand what their paddling stands for and they share it with others in connective ways that go far beyond what kayaking people thought was possible in this sport. Quite simply, nobody sells “smiles on the river” better than the Jacksons.

More than any other segment of kayaking, whitewater slalom racing could really use a few smiles right now and that’s about to happen.

While racing at the U.S. Open last weekend, Eric and Emily qualified for the U.S. Olympic Trials next month in Charlotte, NC where their energy and approach will be a welcome addition to the biggest whitewater slalom event held in the U.S. since the 1996 Olympic Games on Tennessee's Ocoee River. Their approach and style will stand out and resonate with every touch-point of the event. While infectious smiles alone will not get the Jacksons to Beijing this summer, it’s reassuring to know their spirit will be a part of the “Olympic journey.” And maybe for the first time in a long while, the gap between kayak racing and kayaking becomes a little smaller.

(photo courtesy: Bob Hollifield of www.ColemanRoadProductions.com)

PaddleStrong

In the mid 1990s, a junior kayaker named Brad Ludden from Montana would regularly travel with his family to Idaho’s Payette River during the summer time. On one such occasion, I had the opportunity to coach Brad during a national-level competition. The Olympic side of kayaking tends to quickly “size up” young athletes for their potential to be top performers on an international stage. From that standpoint, Brad had all skills you look for in a blue-chip competitor and the potential to go as far as he wanted to go in the world of Whitewater Slalom racing – World Cups, World Championships, even the Olympic Games. But Brad did better – he did none of the above.

From a very young age, Brad was one those people who was “wise beyond his years” and no matter how well he could paddle, you knew he was headed for bigger and better things. Polite, grounded, humble, and connective – the words that fit Brad then still fit him now. Using these qualities, he started “First Descents” in 2001 as a way to promote healing through kayaking for young adults with cancer. Seven years, later, Brad and a passionate group of friends and family have grown First Descents into one of the most significant and impacting kayak programs in the world. In each of this year's nine sessions in four states, First Descents participants will immerse themselves in the outdoors and gain new perspective on life.

Christian Knight was fortunate enough to accompany a First Descents outing and writes a fabulous article about his experience in the latest issue of Paddler Magazine – take a look at:

http://www.paddlermagazine.com/issues/2008-2/article_.shtml

The work Lance Armstrong has achieved for cancer patients and research is nothing short of amazing. Better yet, the platform for getting this work done was built upon Lance’s success on a bicycle. You can’t do much better than that – applying your world-class talent and passion for doing favorite activity into your life’s most important work for the benefit of others. Nicely done, Brad.

For more information about First Descents, please visit their web site:

http://www.firstdescents.org/

A Very Thin Line

I love thin lines. Thin lines in politics. Thin lines in business. Thin lines on the river and on a bike. But, the thinnest line I’ve come to know between man and dog starts and ends with Jeff King. Jeff King is professional musher and as I head to bed on Tuesday night, still a four-time winner of the most famous dog sled race in the world, the Iditarod. But, if you call Jeff an athlete, he’ll be the first to correct you – “I’m a coach!” he says proudly.

He’ll tell you that his real “athletic” work during the race starts as soon as the team arrives at rest areas – getting the dogs fed quickly so they can get some sleep is critical in 1,000 plus mile trek across Alaskan tundra. As for the “work” that gets done while the sled in his motion, Jeff is paying attention to the team – how they’re “getting along,” working together, and ultimately determining the best combination that will allow his team to finish strong.

But for Jeff and his family, the Iditarod is hardly a race. It’s way of life. And one that doesn’t stop. Nearly every touch point in this man’s life connects with his passion for living and this is where that thin line gets thinner. In fact, one of the coolest things we did on one of our Alaska trips was to visit his kennels, which thousands of people do each year. While many would view this as one great business operation, Jeff sees it as a way to acclimate the pups to large crowds - another opportunity to gain an edge, do better, and simply keep learning.

When we visited his kennels just outside of Denali in 2006, Jeff couldn’t wait to start talking “performance” – every aspect of performance you could imagine – physical training, mental preparation, nutrition, alternative training methods, and equipment technology to name a few. The conversation weaved back and forth between humans and canine so many times, it just eventually blurred into one. Which is where I believe Jeff is most comfortable and at his best too.

People ought to have more thin lines in their lives – they are good for your perspective and good for your soul. Thin lines are places where “passion for living” happens.

Sometime between when most Americans went to bed on Tuesday night and when they woke up on Wednesday morning, the 2008 Iditarod’s first and second place positions on the podium will be known. Jeff will have finished in one of those two spots and of course, the margin between first and second will have been, by all Iditarod standards, a very thin line. Where else would you find Jeff King?

Beyond Judgment and Perspective

Kayaking is a sport that is naturally associated with risk. In fact, for many, accessing and taking risk is a part of the sport’s appeal. To me, the opportunities and challenges associated with kayaking are far more about judgment and perspective than they are about risk. This is as true when I’m driving a car or walking in a city as it is about paddling on rivers 200 days each year.

One of the truly great people with whom I shared the river is a major contributor to my own judgment and perspective on the river and the larger society around us. John Mullen, who tragically lost his life on the river in 2005, is the subject of a touching article written by his brother, Kurt, in the latest issue of Paddler Magazine:

http://www.paddlermagazine.com/issues/2008-2/article_319.shtml

My family and I came to know John, a writer and editor for the Washington Post, when he traveled to the Ocoee River in 2002 to cover my training for the Olympic Games in Athens. John was an aspiring and enthusiastic whitewater kayaker himself at the time but while in Ducktown, he wanted to “live and learn” my daily pursuits as an Olympic hopeful. While living in our home with us for four days, he paddled, ran, lifted weights, and mountain biked with me never missing a workout or an opportunity to engage further into the subject at hand. He just naturally “fit in” with the people with whom he wrote about and valued them, often better than they valued themselves. The great “students of life” seem to have a unique way of doing this.

John was much more than a great writer although his “Outside Line” columns every Sunday were among the best written pieces in a top-flight newspaper. His passion for living and willingness to keep asking himself, “can I do better?” became the fuel that brought him to the 2004 Whitewater Olympic Trials in South Bend, Indiana – not as a journalist covering the race but as a competitor racing in the event.

It’s been said that great writers often possess great conflict. In my opinion, here was John’s - in a world where so many are living a pursuit of “understanding” themselves and the world around them, John understood others and their world around them in a deep, personal, connective, and profound manner much better than he understood himself.

The ironic part of this is that while his path of self exploration may not have resolved all of his own questions, his process of getting there brought purposeful clarity to many others in his circle. And coming up on three years since losing John, not only is the spirit of John’s pursuits alive and well, I believe his circle of influence upon others is growing and stronger than ever.

Thank you, Kurt, for the great article and reminding us of the good for which John stood – John would be proud.

An Experience Worth Repeating

Ask a few kayakers what they enjoy about their sport and you’re sure to hear more than a few times, “Getting away it from all.” Certainly compared to the busy work-driven lives of many, rivers can deliver on removing you from the masses and bringing you solitude. Here in southeastern Tennessee, that experience is a little different. Sure we have a great river running through the heart of a National Forest and the nearest town is small even by small-town standards with just two traffic lights and a few stop signs. Removed it is, but a wide open river it isn’t.

Within a three and half hour drive of more than 20 million people, the Ocoee River is one of the primary centers of whitewater culture and rarely a place you’ll find yourself alone on the river. My river friends in Chicago routinely drive 20 plus hours roundtrip for a weekend on the Ocoee and that’s not as uncommon as you might think. And in addition to the many kayakers, you’re paddling among rafters too. Not just a few rafters either, lots of them – more than 300,000 last year.

So I started thinking about it, “Why do paddlers keep coming back to the Ocoee?” After all, more remote rivers are flowing not too far away and for that matter, other activities and people are competing for your time, attention, and resources.

For kayakers, as much as people like getting away from it all, paddlers enjoy sharing their river pursuits with other like-minded paddlers. It is an intensely personal sport but one that’s very easy to share with friends on the river, particularly one that attracts so many different styles of paddlers from so many different places. The Ocoee is a special river that does cut across those lines.

But after living here for 15 years, I’ve observed something else too. If the Ocoee was a river where people just enjoyed the activity of kayaking, then the numbers of paddlers would have dried up years ago. After all, the rapids, rocks, and water flow on this river remain unchanged. But, more people kayaked this river last year than ever before and many of them were the same people I see paddling this river every year. Why? In a sport that loves its unpredictability and not exactly knowing what’s around the next bend, there’s something pleasant about something familiar – whether it’s the river itself or another a paddler you’ve been seeing on the same river for many years.

It’s a powerful perspective on change – not necessarily change in the sport, equipment, or the river but how a lifestyle pursuit becomes the lens for how we see the changing world around us.

Dancing vs Fighting

Whitewater kayakers learn and re-learn this lesson every time they head to the water – if you’re not working with the river, you’re working against it. No matter how proficient you are paddling through rapids, one fundamental rule of whitewater kayaking never changes – you’re never stronger than the river.

Life mirrors the river too in that the field on which we play also has energy to give and take – and in navigating its challenges, we either dance with that energy or fight against it.

In the world of politics, when candidates shout at me how much they will “fight” to win, the red flags go up. In the world of business, when CEOs use analogies of war, I tune out. In the world of sports, when coaches speak about the struggles of achieving success, I instantly wonder if there isn’t a better way.

For seven consecutive years, bicycle racing television commentator, Phil Liggett, has often used the phrase, “Dancing on the Pedals” when describing the way Lance Armstrong “glided” UP the sides of French mountains the way most of us could hope to “glide” down. Sure, there’s an output of serious work there but before that, there’s taking whatever you can get out the mountain first. Surfers use the same principle with the wave, mountain bikers with the trail, and kayakers with the river.

Of course there’s going to be challenge on the road to living better and perseverance plays a big part in overcoming obstacles. But knowing yourself and the field on which you’re playing are key “game-changing” dynamics throughout the journey of getting there.

As kayakers know, there’s plenty of energy out on the river and most of them will tell you, “It’s never too late to dance.”

Escaping What?

In starting a blog, I started to read a lot more blogs. It’s astonishing how many posts there are about escaping your job, your office, your company, your cubicle, your co-workers, your commute, your home, your neighbors, your friends, and even your family. In other words, “escaping” your life.

As someone living the outdoor/adventure lifestyle, this strikes me as fairly drastic thinking. Sure we want to do better in all facets of our lives, raise standards, be happier and more enlightened. But what is realistic and most likely to put us on such a road?

Too often I see people trade out their current lives to “start over” again here in the mountains. Drawn by the appeal of anything that is the antithesis of their current existence, a new home, a new culture, and a new environment make for a huge change. But too often, it doesn’t work out so well. It was too much change too quickly and people were never well situated to gain a decent "outside looking in" perspective of themselves and successfully evaluate such a change in the first place. They never quite knew or understood what it was that they were escaping.

Over the years, the happiest people I’ve seen (and continue to see) on the trails and rivers seem to achieve great balance in their lives with a deep understanding of how the activities they love doing integrate into their “bigger picture.” In other words, they are intentional about what they “live for” as opposed to what they are “escaping from.”

I enjoy encouraging and supporting friends to follow paths toward happier pursuits. I’d be the first to admit that changing “realities” is one exciting journey. But on such an important journey, getting the “big result” requires a lot of bite-sized change. “Wholesale Change” thinking is powerful, but implementing small, attainable, and tangible goals into your current lifestyle starts moving you in a better direction.

Where do you make your "tough decisions?"

The daily mountain bike ride or paddle on the river is a routine part of my life. Sure, it's good, healthy, and a little out-of-the ordinary exercise but there's more in it for me than that. It's become the glue that holds my life together. I count on this time in the outdoors to help me evaluate how I take risk, build trust in relationships, be comfortable in my own skin, and evolve my perspective on the world. It's a place to form innovative ideas and make the tough decisions that need to be made in life.

Which got me thinking, where are people when they are dwelling on life's critical decisions? I fear that for many, such places too often include the "parade of taillights," the slow procession of red lights each morning or evening winding down a road four lanes wide and as far into the distance as the eye can see. While this environment may be helpful in deciding what you don't want and where you don't want to be, it is pretty limiting in deciding what you do want in life and where you really want to go.

So what's one to do? While mountain biking and kayaking may not be directly out your door, the "outdoor lifestyle" is. People are increasing using parks, lakes, trails, and paths for their daily "Time-Out"and increasingly letting such amenities contribute to living well. And even better, people are creating their own personal or shared outdoor space - a deck, patio, or garden.

On a recent trip to Dallas/Fort Worth, I was visiting a kayaking friend in his busy surburban neighborhood. Living outside of a town of about 300 people myself, I'm always a little overwhelmed at first by the volume and density of metro areas like Dallas/Fort Worth. But once at my friend's house, we stepped out on to his patio and were instantly "removed." This friend has embraced and incorporated such space and the outdoors in general into the lifestyle that he and his family enjoy. Moreover, it played a critical part in deciding to move forward with his dream of bringing whitewater park to the Dallas/Fort Worth area in hopes that many more people might derive similar benefits for themselves, their families and friends.

In the simplest form, that is what "Gold Medal Living" is all about. Thoughtfully and purposefully using the outdoors to progress your best lifestyle and positively influence your relationships with others.

Look for more thoughts, ideas, and life lesson from the outdoors right here on the "Gold Medal Living" blog.