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A SPECIAL SECTION DEVOTED TO
LIVING ON LAKE LANIER
LLOV News
Lake Lanier Olympic Venue
Calendar
Lanier Canoe & Kayak Club
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May 5 Fun
Race, Richardson Youth Racing League
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May 12 Lanier
Racing Event #2, Time Trial
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May 18 Heats
for Spring Richardson Youth Racing League Spring Fungatta
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May 19 Finals
for Spring Fungatta, Boys and Girls? Club Rubber Duck Derby
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May 26
Recreation Program #1 Learn to Kayak, Stroke Development
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May 28, June
4, June 11, June 18, July 9, July 16 Summer Day Camp
- June 16
Recreation Program #2, Learn to Kayak Georgia Rivers, Lanier
Racing Series Event #3
Lake Lanier Rowing Club
Stories:
Lanier athletes
named to World Cup Tour
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Paddlers to dash and splash in racing series event |
LLRC
staff carries the oars
Lanier athletes
named to World Cup Tour
House breaks personal records
By Jane Harrison
Lake Lanier Canoe & Kayak Club
athletes Morgan House, Emily Mickle and Tim Hornsby were named to
the U.S. World Cup Tour team after paddling against tough
competition April 21-22 in the Senior National Team Trials.
House stroked a personal record
on his birthday to win the K1 1,000-meter event.
Held at the Olympic Training
Center in Chula Vista, Calif., the trials specified time standards
to qualify for the National Team. Although the three Lanier
paddlers’ times were close to the qualifying standards, none was
fast enough to make the cut for the National Team. Only one U.S.
athlete, Carrie Johnson, from the Hawaii Canoe and Kayak Team, made
the time standard at trials. Seven other LCKC athletes departed
Chula Vista without team berths but with new goals.
The Lanier paddlers, and others
whose finishes were close to the time standard, were to travel two
Europe April 30 to compete in World Cup events in Zagreb, Croatia
and Szeged, Hungary. Canoeist Robert Finlayson was named to the Pan
American Games team.
In the Senior National Team
Trials, House posted personal best times in the K1 500- and
1,000-meter events. He won the K1 1,000-meter race against
California rival Rami Zur, edging out Zur by three-tenths of a
second.
“This was a huge win for me, and
it made it even better because of the fact that it was on my 20th
birthday,” Morgan wrote in his online journal. His time of 3
minutes, 34.36 seconds was three seconds faster than his 2006 finish
and is two seconds from the National team standard of 3 minutes, 32
seconds.
House achieved second place in
the K1 500-meter event, finishing less than three-tenths of a second
behind Zur.
The Lanier athlete, whose
ultimate goal is to win an Olympic gold medal, said that although
the National Team Trials “do not really have anything to do with the
Olympic team selection” he is optimistic about his potential.
“Knowing that I am currently ranked the fastest K1 1,000 meter
paddler in the USA and am a close second in the K1 500-meter fuels
that optimism, he said. “I feel that my chances of qualifying for
the Olympics are very good. I feel like the Olympics are a future
part of my life’s journey and it is something that I am destined to
be a part of. That goes the same for an Olympic goad medal,” he
wrote in an e-mail interview.
Olympic canoe/kayak hopefuls can
expect fierce competition to make the Olympic team with the 2008
Beijing Games a little more than a year away. House said after the
World Cup Tour his next goal is to compete at the World
Championships in Duisburg, Germany in August. This will be the first
opportunity for paddlers to qualify for the 2008 Olympics. The next
will be the Americas qualifier in May 2008 in Montreal.
LCKC executive director Connie
Hagler, who watched LCKC athletes paddle in the National Team
trials, observed how the imminence of the Olympics has stiffened the
competition. “Morgan, Emily and Tim did very good the rest of the (LCKC)
crew was surprised about how other clubs had improved,” Hagler said.
“They just wish they could have done a little better,” she said of
LCKC members who now are focusing on the Pan American Games or
Junior World competition.
Josh Brandsma, Katie Hagler,
Brady Bragg, John DePalma and Ann Blanchard hope to compete in the
Pan American Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil July 24-29. Two others,
Emily Vinson and Mary Taylor, are training for the Junior World
Championship trials in Lake Placid July 1.
Hagler explained that paddlers
are striving for the 330 positions allotted by the International
Olympic Committee for the 2008 Olympics. Athletes from 140 countries
are vying for those Olympic slots. The time standards initiated for
Olympic qualifying will narrow the field. All of House’s
performances at the National Team trials were “very close to the
time standard required to qualify for the 2007 United States World
Championships team that will be attempting to qualify spots for the
2008 Olympics,” Hagler said in a press release after the trials.
Mickle will be training for a spot on the women’s K4 team. Hornsby
will try to qualify for a men’s team boat position.
House said he is thankful for
the emails and encouragement from people in Gainesville. “I love to
hear from everyone and anyone because without supporters and
believers, I am sure I would not be on my way to the Olympics,” he
said.
House’s website,
www.morganhouse.us, has journal entries, photos and an email
link. Complete results from the National Team trials are posted at
www.usack.org.
Paddlers to dash and splash in racing series event
By Jane Harrison
Paddlers will test their speed
and endurance in two time trials set for May 12 at the Lake Lanier
Olympic Center. Recreational and elite paddlers are invited to
participate in the Lanier Dash and Splash organized by the Lake
Lanier Canoe & Kayak Club. The 125-meter and 10-kilometer races are
part of a six race series organized by the club.
The first event, the Lula Bridge
Race, featuring marathon canoe/kayak racing, attracted about 100
competitors in March. The series offers a variety of distances to
test paddlers’ skills.
Other races in the series are:
Summer Sprints #1, June 16, 1,000 and 500 meters; Summer Sprints #2,
1,000 and 500 meters; Fall Long Distance, Sept. 22, 5 and 10
kilometers; and the Halloween Howl, Oct. 27, 500 meters.
Racers accumulate points in
series races. The top three winners in each age category will share
a cash prize. The club website,
www.lckc.org, has
additional information about classifications and applications.
LLRC staff carries the oars
By Jane Harrison
Last month’s successful running
of the Lanier Sprints regatta proved the Lake Lanier Rowing Club’s
strength a putting more oars in the water. The regatta, which
registered 243 boats entered and 786 athletes, was one of the club’s
biggest events.
LLRC Executive Director and
President Ken Goodman credited the regatta’s success to director
Kappy Griffith and club and community members who rallied to host
hundreds of collegiate athletes on the water and in local
accommodations.
The regatta also reflected the
efforts of the new acting executive director and president, coach,
and office and boathouse managers. The changes came about after the
departure of John Ferriss from official duties with the club.
Ferriss served as coach for five years and also worked as executive
director for most of that time.
Ken Goodman, 52, was elected
president in November and began his term Jan. 1. A club member since
2002, Goodman has worked with technical development and timing for
regattas. He is a U.S. Rowing certified referee and has officiated
in events throughout the Southeast, as well as at Lanier.
He first rowed with the Detroit
Boating Club after college but did not pick up the oars again until
he got involved with LLRC. In the interim, his outdoor pursuits have
taken him from oceans to the sky in sail boats, snow skis and
parachutes. Degrees in mechanical engineering and business
administration launched him into a corporate career which he left
to start All-Tech Systems in 1987. He said his company has installed
fire alarms and access control systems for multi-family and high
rise buildings in mid-town and downtown Atlanta, including the
including the Atlantic Station development.
He currently resides in
Alpharetta and plans to build a home on a lot he recently purchased
on Lanier near Duckett Mill.
“I love challenges and solving
issues. I have come to understand how important it is to work with
and through people to achieve results. I love the rowing club and
the community and enjoy every minute of involvement,” he said in a
recent email interview. “I have an extremely effective board that
shares my goals for development of the club and community
relations, and I am very fortunate to be in this position. We look
forward to growing the club, increasing community involvement, and
developing the sport of rowing here at the Olympic Center and
carrying on our Olympic legacy.”
He offered the following
responses about questions regarding LLRC’s current staff and
programs:
• Coaching: We currently have a
coach her name is Mara Keggi Ford. She was the Competition Manager
for Rowing for the 1996 Olympics here at Lake Lanier.
She was awarded the Medal of
Honor by FISA after the Olympics for holding the most successful
rowing event in modern times.
Mara is a graduate of the
University of Wisconsin where she was the most valuable captain and
rower for the women’s crew team. She holds an MBA from Emory which
is what brought her to Atlanta. Her rowing career includes being a
six-time national champion. She has won the Head of the Charles in
a Women’s 8+ and Women’s 4+. She was a finalist in the 1988 Olympics
in a Women’s Pair 2-. After the 1996 Olympics she worked as a
consultant for FISA. Mara is married and has twin boys age 6 and a
little girl, 3.
“... We are very happy with the
job that Mara Keggi Ford is doing. There are many coaches in the
immediate area and metro Atlanta that are equally qualified. We have
plans to invite different coaches in from time to time to get a feel
for how different coaches handle different practices (strengths and
weaknesses). Everybody has a slightly different approach and it is
valuable to experience a mix. We will have guest coaches in for
clinics which may last several days. Mara has helped us
tremendously and provided overall direction for our programs.
We have also contracted with Tom
Borra (previous national team coach) to develop and provide weekly
training programs for our recreational rowers and racing team. Tom
does this professionally through his website and tailors training
programs based on the membership, ages, and goals of the club. He
works with our Racing Captain, Bob Spengler, to implement the
training segments. He is designing our program for us to be a peak
performance for the Masters Nationals where we plan to have great
success.
• Executive director: The
executive director position remains vacant and we have no immediate
plans to fill the position. We are considering a long term staffing
plan which will make us more viable as a regatta venue and to
developing the club membership. Currently I am the acting executive
director and president.
• Office staff: Erika House and
Ann Marie Hynes manage and coordinate the business activities of the
club. I handle decisions as required but am removed from daily
involvement with the great job being done by Ann Marie and Erika.
Other board members have taken on additional responsibilities as
required to complete any necessities.
• Equipment and programs: We
have received a donation of all new office furniture from CRC (Rick
Warford) and have re-cabled our office for network and telephone. We
have had a new high end fax machine donated to us which makes our
office much more productive. We have installed a secure wireless
internet and decks in our main meeting room for the visiting coaches
and rowers with spring break. We are looking at providing additional
services to spring break rowers in the future which will make our
venue even more attractive to the spring break crews. We have
expanded our Learn to Row program which (started in April).
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