Building up boating for future Olympians
Lanier Club was born after '96 Summer Games
Building up boating for future Olympians

By Blake Jackson

Published: April 21, 2008

Morgan House was nine years old when the Olympic Games pulled into Georgia and his hometown of Gainesville buzzed to life with the bustle of world-class athletes.

His parents drove him 55 miles southwest to Atlanta to watch a gymnastics competition at the 1996 Summer Games.

But a dock on Lake Sydney Lanier was the jumping off point for House.

That's where he watched his very first Olympic kayak race. That's where it all began.

"I started paddling in 1995, but became much more interested after the Olympics,” said House who, after a strong weekend in Oklahoma City, is one step away from Beijing. House is one of several Olympic hopefuls to cut their paddling teeth at the Lanier Canoe/Kayak Club.

The Club was formed after local interest in canoe/kayaking spiked during the 1996 Atlanta Games. Why is that important?

Because the folks on the Oklahoma River hope this weekend's U.S. Sprint Canoe/Kayak Trials will have the same effect on Oklahoma City.

"We wanted to make sure the event was successful in their eyes because that's important for us to create a legacy and have events to grow and expand,” said Mike Knopp, executive director of the Oklahoma City Boathouse Foundation. "Officials have said this is the best Olympic Trials they've ever had.

"Now we can take the momentum we've gained from having an Olympic event here and get more people involved in the sport recreationally.”

Rowing has already caught on. Club participation is high and the success of events like the Centennial Regatta and the OCU Head of the Oklahoma have only drawn more interest.

Knopp is so confident that canoe/kayaking has a bright future in the city, he hired a sport-specific director for the boathouse more than two months ago. Matt Woodson comes from a whitewater and slalom background — and he'll teach those, too. But his focus on the Oklahoma River will be the flat-water sprints that ruled the water this weekend.

"They've decided to step it up to the next level,” Woodson said. "I'm not dealing just with the basics. I'm here to develop those top-level programs also.”

For all its successful products, Lanier Canoe/Kayak Club and its top-notch facility weren't built over night. Oklahoma City won't be either.

Olympic coach Nathan Luce watched Lake Lanier grow from a recreational kayaking haven, to an Olympic site to one of the nation's top training facilities.

He knows what it takes.

"To start a big program, you need capital — you need human capital and physical capital,” Luce said. "Oklahoma City has the physical capital.”

It has the boathouse. And the money to buy more boats. And the community support.

"What they need now is expertise,” he continued. "Back in 1996, Lanier hired a head coach from Canada, a professional. He brought a lot of athletic kids right from the start.”

Morgan House was one of the first.

"We've got the best club in America,” House said. "That's where I grew up. That's like a second home to me.”

And therein lies the rub for Oklahoma City.

Can events like the U.S. Sprint Canoe/Kayak Olympic Trials and the USA Canoe/Kayak National Championship — scheduled this August in OKC — drum up enough interest to pull young athletes from sports like football, basketball and baseball? Can it inspire kids to put down a video game controller and pick up a paddle?

"Lanier's middle school program brings in hundreds of kids,” Luce said. "The kids see it and it catches on.”

Some kids, like House, jump in for good. Watching from a dock did it for the 2008 Olympic hopeful.

Perhaps the Lincoln/Byers Bridge will do the same for 2016 Olympians. Born and bred on the Oklahoma River.

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