Welcome Volunteers!  Thank You so Much for your Help!

“To Achieve something great..we must attempt something so big, that we could not possibly accomplish alone”

Joe Jacobi

Olympian@JoeJacobi.com

www.JoeJacobi.com

http://olympiczone.blogspot.com/

February 18, 2008

Good morning from the Ocoee River.  I am back home in Ducktown, Tennessee after a fabulous week in Texas with Ben and Michelle that culminated with the outstanding event yesterday in San Marcos.  Fabulous racing, terrific spectator turnout, and an amazing volunteer effort sets the bar high for whitewater racing this year in a season that showcases our prestigious competition, the Olympic Games.  I travel to many whitewater races in the course of a season and I’d probably have go back to Ben’s Olympic year on the Ocoee in 1996 to find a volunteer output like the one I witnessed this weekend in San Marcos.  Congratulations and thank you to all of you!

The race itself was exactly what we hope for racing to be – exciting yet accessible, far-reaching yet personal, and elite yet inclusive.  You made all of that possible. 

For me, I was thrilled to level of racing demonstrated by Heather, Pablo, Michelle, and Ben/Mark in the C2.  Equally important, watching Kelsey and Clyde take an active part of in this generation of racing is something we can be proud to hang our hat on when the day is done.

One of the top rank racers in attendance this week told me that he felt this park, this group of volunteers, and this vibe would be perfect for Jr. Olympic competitions in 2009, which is a cool comment coming from a young athletes who spends the majority of his time paddling at the U.S. National Whitewater Center in Charlotte and the Adventure Sports Center in Maryland.  I couldn’t agree more and at the end of day, that “vibe” behind Ben and Michelle’s vision for the sport in Texas is what makes this so easy to support.

Thank you for your support, time, energy, friendship, and fun this weekend.  I enjoyed meeting all of you and look forward to seeing you on or near the river again soon.

All the best,

-Joe