| Sports & Leisure - Progress 2007 |
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this story Olympic Center remains gold standard A busy season of rowing, paddling events are on tap By KATIE B. DAVIS |
Graham Barton, High Performance Director for Canoe and Kayak Canada, once told Connie Hagler, the executive director of Hall County's Lanier Canoe and Kayak Club, that her facility and staff run the best events in North America. Not the state. Not the Southeast. The best canoe, kayak and rowing events on the entire continent. So good, in fact, that the Canadians are holding their National Team trials on Lake Lanier, at the Lake Lanier Olympic Center on April 13-15. "We would love for Hall County to come out this spring and support those trying out for the Canadian National Team," Hagler said. In the past, one event that has drawn crowds from not only Hall County but surrounding areas is the Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival held annually at the Center. This year's event is set for Sept. 8-9. "We are looking this year to get more local teams," Hagler said, "We have been talking with local high schools about getting school-sponsored dragon boats." Hagler said that the prestigious Westminster School of Atlanta had already thrown down the gauntlet by entering a boat of its own in last year's competition. "We are looking to have a high school league for the dragon boat races and have a high school championship," she said. Helping with the day-to-day operations of the Olympic Center, which is located on Clarks Bridge Road, are new coaches Dave and Devri Robertson. Dave, a former Canadian National Team coach and his wife, Devri, have been coaching at the Center for a little over a year. They have been working with the likes of Emily Mickels and John DePalma, who will be trying out for the Senior World team and the Pan American Games in their respective events in California in April, and Emily Vinson, who will be trying out for the Junior World team. Katie Hagler, Morgan House and Tim Hornsby, all of whom trained at the Lanier Center, are in California now training at the Olympic Center in preparation for the U.S. Olympic team trials. The daily operations of the Center include the training of athletes they hope will one day become world class. But even more impressive are plans for the facility's future events. "We are putting in a bid for the 2009 Junior World Championships," Hagler said. "The last time we had the Junior Worlds, half of the U.S. team was from Hall County." Hagler also noted that House, who was on the Junior World team at that time, finished with the best kayak time in the history of the event. The Olympic Center is working with the parks and recreation departments of both the city and county as well as city and county governments in an effort to enhance the marketability of the 10-year-old facility. "We are losing events to Oklahoma City, Lake Placid and Tampa because we lack housing on-site and citywide amenities that would better serve those coming to our events and coming to use our facilities," Hagler said. Hagler, along with others in the community, is coming up with a master plan for the Center that includes athletes' housing, a cafeteria and conference rooms for use by local municipalities and the local parks services. This spring, more than 1,500 college students from 14 different colleges will storm the beaches of the Center practicing with their college rowing teams. "The northern schools come down here for spring break to practice because their waters are frozen," Hagler said. "We got a call from J&J that they were running out of power bars because of the athletes we have coming here to train and to call them next time we are going to have a large amount of kids coming through and they will buy a bigger shipment." Thus, the site known for its Olympic memories remains a lively venue with a bright future. Contact: kdavis@gainesvilletimes.com, (770) 718-3418
Originally published Sunday, March 25, 2007 |
