My first World Championships was in Merano, Italy in 1971, on a course going right through a gorgeous, tourist town, starting under an old Roman bridge. I was hooked for life—thanks, Brad Hager, my C2 partner, for introducing me to this astounding sport.
Thereafter I was involved in 14 world championships, 8 Olympics, and 5 years as president of the World Cup, which I helped start. All this was in the capacity of athlete, coach, manager, NBC commentator, and consultant to several foreign countries, including China and Britain in the lead up to their Olympics.
I visited 74 countries because of canoeing and kayaking, many of them many times, and I have friends in many of them who I correspond with to this day.
I coached athletes who won 57 medals in overall World Cup, World Championships, and Olympic competition, 27 of them gold, including 10 individual gold medalists: Jon Lugbill; Davey Hearn; Cathy Hearn; Chuck Lyda and Marietta Gilman; Boo Hayman and Fritz Haller; Steve and Mike Garvis; Fritz and Lecky Haller; Dana Chladek; Jamie McEwan and Lecky Haller; and Joe Jacobi and Scott Strausbaugh. I also coached Norman Bellingham who won the 1988 Sprint Olympics in K2 with Greg Barton.
I was with Jamie McEwen at the 1972 Munich Olympics when he won his bronze medal. I asked him what he was thinking and he said, “I thought I was going to win.” I realized then that before you could get anybody to believe in you, you needed to believe in yourself. So as a coach, I resolved to do everything I could to prepare to win so I could believe in myself and help get others to believe in themselves. For I found that it was only when athletes believed they could win, that’s when they started to train hard enough to win!
Our sport has gone through lots of changes over the years, with incredible highs, and more recently, some challenges with reduced funding and changing NGBs. But what is special is there are so many different ways through paddlesports to connect with the world through competition and adventure. Canoes and kayaks are special, and as the ACA celebrates it’s 145th anniversary as the oldest national canoe association in the world, I hope we can continue to make new memories and new friends, visit new places, win new medals, and inspire the next generation of athletes to believe in themselves.
I could not have done all these things had not been for our many volunteers, and particularly my wife, Abbie, who supported me every step of the way.
It’s all been the ride of a lifetime!
Thank you to the incredible Bill Endicott for bringing us the first story of the ACA Story Project!
For those of you who may not know Bill, he is a legendary figure in American paddlesports and a two-time inductee into the International Whitewater Hall of Fame, honored for both Lifetime Achievement and Advocacy. He also played a leading role in creating the Slalom World Cup and securing slalom’s place in the Olympic Games. His story is a powerful reminder of the passion, persistence, and global connection that define the spirit of the ACA community.