USA Slalom Athletes Take the Plunge in Beijing
Bronze Medal for Scott Parsons
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By Chris Hipgrave // USA Canoe/Kayak // Sunday, August 19, 2007
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BEIJING, China -- USA Canoe/Kayak Slalom National Team athletes competed in the "Good Luck Beijing" Slalom Test Event which concluded on August 19 in Beijing, China. The competition, which is serving as the test event for the 2008 Olympic venue, concluded just one year before the start of the Games.
The Shunyi Olympic Rowing-Canoeing Aquatic Park is the world's newest water sports venue for both rowing, canoe/kayak slalom and flatwater competitions. Shunyi Aquatic Park has a water surface area of 640,000 square meters, 580,000 square meters of forest, and a 2,272 meter artificial flatwater course in addition to the worlds newest artificial whitewater channel dropping 5.5 meters overs its entire length. Powered by 5 submerged pumps, the venue produces exceptionally challenging and impressive whitewater. The expansive venue will serve as a lasting legacy to the ingenuity of the Chinese people long after the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games have closed.
Parsons, Heyl, Wade, Fraker, Larimer, Dennis, Queen, Nee, Crane and McCluskey all competed against a deep field of international talent in this inaugural event.
Following a string of excellent finishes during the 2007 World Cup's including a Silver Medal in Tacen, SLO, Scott Parsons (Bethesda, MD) laid down consistently fast runs thru out the heats, and semis to emerge with a Bronze Medal at the end of the day. Parsons success at this maiden event was supported by strong performances by his K1 teammates, Brett Heyl (Charlotte, NC) in 8th and Jim Wade (Atlanta, GA) in 30th.
Since graduating into the senior National Team, Benn Fraker (Peachtree City, GA) has made steady progress towards the podium and further demonstrated this by finishing 7th in a competitive field that saw Olympic champions struggling with the whitewater. Right behind his was Jeff Larimer (Atlanta, GA) in 14th and Tad Dennis (Charlotte, NC) in 19th.
The C2 of Austin Crane (Atlanta, GA) and Scott McCluskey (Sylva, NC) struggled to find their form due to Crane's ruptured ear drum, but finished on a high note with one of the best C2 runs of the competition. The finished in 11th.
The powerfully challenging whitewater of this new course really took its toll on the women even resulting in a hospitalization of an Austrian competitor. The two young women representing the USA team did well in adapting to the challenges this course represented. Ashley Nee (Washington DC) and Caroline Queen (Washington DC) paddler at a level beyond their years, but where ultimately out gunned by the more experienced European's finishing in 18th and 21st respectively.
Complete results, photo gallery and video available at http://www.canoe2007.org.cn/en/slalom/index.html
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