RECREATION INSIDER: Area paddler aiming for Olympics

BY ERIC RANSOM

SPECIAL TO THE STAR-TELEGRAM

The Beijing Olympics are six months away, but one area paddler begins his quest for the gold this weekend.

Ben Kvanli of Dallas will take part in the slalom kayak team trials in San Marcos, beginning a long chain of events to qualify for the U.S. team.

Kvanli competed in the 1996 Atlanta Games in whitewater slalom, and is trying to qualify for Beijing in the double canoe class. He attempted to qualify in 2000, but missed making the team, and he didn't try to qualify in 2004 because he was in college.

Kvanli recently took part in a kayaking instructional class at Tarrant County Community College put on by Cutter Aquatics.

"I really thought I was better in 2000 than in 1996," Kvanli said. "When I was qualifying, I have no idea what happened. I was in the zone, and I felt like I was so focused, but my times just weren't there."

After the team trials this weekend, Kvanli must participate in a sequence of additional qualifiers that end in April with the U.S. Olympic team trials in Charlotte, N.C. If he qualifies there, he will participate in the World Cup in Europe leading into the Beijing Olympics.