Making only its third appearance in the Olympic Games, the discipline of Whitewater slalom holds tremendous promise for the United States in 1996. After a gold medal performance in C-2 and a bronze in K-1 W in 1992, the U.S. is looking stronger across the board than it ever has. There are several reasons for the U.S. to be optimistic entering the Atlanta Games: the C-2 team of Fritz and Lecky Haller, who reunited in the wake of the Barcelona Games and have steadily built themselves back to the form which won them the C-2 world title in 1983; Scott Shipley and Rich Weiss in K-1, both of whom have mounted the medal stand in recent World Cup or World Championship competition; David Hearn and Jon Lugbill in C-1, who established the U.S. as a dominant power in the sport in the 1980s; and Dana Chladek and Cathy Hearn in K-1W, who continue to keep the Americans a threat in women’s kayak.

From the 1984 Olympic Games until Barcleona and the 1992 Olympic Games, the United States emerged from a ranking of 13th in the world to a spot among the top five. No other U.S. Olympic sports team could claim that kind of progress during that time span. Keying the charge was the performance of Greg Barton, whose bronze medal in Los Angeles started a run of success unprecedented in U.S. paddling history, climaxing in a pair of gold medals at the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul and closing with another bronze in Barcelona. Wth the retirement of Barton and Norman Bellingham at the conclusion of the Barcelona Games, the U.S. was faced with the challenge of rebuilding its men’s kayak class. That challenge, along with elevating the level of performance in women’s kayak and men’s canoe, is being succesfully met by Reg Hatch, USCKT’s High Performance Director and Sprint Team Head Coach, hired from Australia in 1994.