From Chuck Hines. There is a Good article about NRC Olympian
Chris Ennis in the 5-30-04 edition of the Charlotte Observer. Find
it at www.charlotteobserver.com. Look at the site search section,
write in Chris Ennis, then punch GO. The article, entitled "Rapids
Rise To Stardom," should pop up.
You can also find the article, along with many other articles and
lots of useful information, at www.daveyhearn.com, under Olympic
Press Releases.
For those interested, we're getting ready to teach another good
six-lesson classroom course on Personal Leadership Through The
Olympic Ideals. Facilitated by the Asheville YMCA for its younger
swimmers, but open to perhaps a few others, the course is sched-
uled for the month of Sept. This course teaches Visioning For the
Future, Focus, Commitment, Persistence, Self-Discipline & Good
Sportsmanship, and it is ideal for Teen Athletes and their Parents.
Many of our Best young Paddlers here in Asheville have taken the
course in the past, including 17-year-old World Extreme Kayaking
Champion Patrick Keller. IF interested in Attending, let me know.
This weekend, American Whitewater, the national organization
which has an office here in Asheville, is having its 50th anniversary
gala in Vail, Colorado. AW has done a Lot for rivers and paddlers,
not the least of which has been arranging for the "Ocoee Olympic
Whitewater Course" to be open for recreational paddling this sum-
mer. For a look at the days this Class III-IV section of river will
be
open in 2004, go to www.tva.com/river/recreation/ocoeesched.htm.
This is also the week that the 2004 Olympic Torch Relay starts
its worldwide trek, beginning in Sydney, Australia. The initial run-
ner will be Aussie Cathy Freeman, an Aboriginal who won the 400
meter run at the 2000 Summer Olympics. The motto of the Torch
Relay this year is PASS THE FLAME, UNITE THE WORLD. The
Relay will be passing through Atlanta on June 18.
Several Junior Olympic Qualifier Races have been held already
this year -- in CA, CO, PA, MD etc -- and two more that are com-
ing up soon are the Southeastern Qualifier on the Nantahala River
on June 19th (www.nrcrhinos.com for details) and the Midwestern
Qualifer Training Camp/competition in Wisconsin on June 22nd to
27th. The Wisconsin event is named after the late, great whitewa-
ter mentor Ray McLain, who started MANY young paddlers down
the road to success at the Green Bay YMCA including Olympian
Rebecca Bennett Giddens and National champion Gwen Greeley.
We miss you, Ray! For info on the Wisconsin activities, send an
inquiry to Mike Hickey at mhh@....
Finally, don't forget about the Nantahala Outdoor Center's sum-
mer youth instructional camps, the first of which starts June 20th.
For youngsters ages 10 and over, the instruction is supervised by
1996 Olympian Wayne Dickert. Check out www.noc.com for the
latest details on all of NOC's many summertime activities.