Benn Fraker Moves on to Semis; Parsons Out

Beijing, China- Mixed results came out of the first day of Olympic competition at the Shunyi Olympic Canoeing Park.

Benn Fraker (Peachtree City, Georgia) shook off an early penalty in his first run to come back with a faster and totally clean run to finish 10th in C-1 and continue his quest for an Olympic medal.

Fraker, after reviewing his performance with coach Cathy Hearn, maintained his composure with a nearly flawless performance in front of a great crowd including screaming Fraker family members.

Fraker finished with a combined time of 179.44 for the day. This time will not apply to tomorrow's competition for the field of 12.

Fraker will compete in the C-1 semifinal scheduled for tomorrow at 15:00.

Unfortunately, Scott Parsons (Bethesda, Maryland) missed a gate late in his second run and incurred a 50 second penalty which eliminated him from the semifinals. His combined time was 220.83 sec.

This was Parsons second Olympics, having also competed in Athens.