U.S. OLYMPIC FESTIVAL : LOS ANGELES--1991 : ATHLETES TO WATCH : Among 3,000 Competitors, Some Will Stand Out

JIM TERRELL

Canoe/Kayak

El Toro’s Jim Terrell is making his ninth U.S. Olympic Festival appearance and is the all-time Festival medal leader with 23. Terrell, 26, has won 13 gold, eight silver and two bronze medals.

He is one of the nation’s best Olympic-style canoeists and placed ninth in the 1986 World Championships. In 1987, he finished fourth in the semifinals of the World Championships. Terrell won a gold medal in the 1,500 meters and a silver in the 1,000 meters at the Pan American Games in Indianapolis. In 1988, Terrell’s Seoul Olympics medal hopes took a blow when he contracted mononucleosis during the summer and finished fourth in the semifinals.

Terrell, who weighs only 160 pounds but can bench press 300, supports his training at the Newport Beach Aquatics Center as a craftsman of wood and composite material. He was born in Cincinnati and reared in Milford, Ohio. He participated in football, wrestling and track in high school.