Terrell Paddling Toward His Third Olympics : Canoeing: Newport Beach man is also skilled in woodworking, and plans to market a custom-made paddle after competing in Barcelona.

When an athlete starts talking about his weight in kilos, you know he’s a veteran of international competition.

Jim Terrell’s mastery of the metric system began nine years ago when he became a member of the U.S. national canoe team at age 18.

“I’ve always been a 71- or 72-kilo guy, which is kind of small for canoeing,” said Terrell, who is preparing for his third trip to the Olympics. “My doubles partner (Stewart Carr), though, is a 100-kilo guy, which is really big.”

If you say so. Actually, although Terrell’s physical stature--5 feet 10, 160 pounds (about 72 kilos) isn’t overwhelming, his success as a canoeist has been. The Newport Beach resident is the all-time leader in U.S. Olympic Festival medals with 27, including 17 gold, won during nine trips to the festival.

Terrell, currently training at the U.S. Olympic Center in Lake Placid, hopes to add to his medal collection at the Summer Games in Barcelona. He was a non-competing member of the U.S. team at the 1984 Los Angeles Games, but came back to advance to the 1,000-meter doubles semifinals in the 1988 Seoul Games.

Four years later, Terrell is back, looking to cap his career with an Olympic medal--if he retires, that is.

“This is probably going to be my last year, but I’ve said that before,” Terrell said. “After Seoul, I thought I was going to hang it up, but I came back after a year off and ended up winning the nationals and (U.S.) world trials (in 1989), so who knows? Maybe I’ll become un-retired again in 1994 or something.”

For most of his career, Terrell has trained year-round without a sponsor, supporting himself with small amounts of money from the U.S. Olympic Committee and what he makes as a craftsman.

“The money from the USOC is nice, but it’s not enough to live on,” said Terrell, a gold medalist in the 500 meter singles at the 1987 Pan Am Games. “Since I’ve been about 18, I’ve constantly had to spread my money as thin as possible in order to keep going.

“I still enjoy it, which is why I’m still doing it. But as you get older, you don’t see as much improvement no matter how hard you train, and you have to start thinking about what you’re going to do the rest of your life.”

Terrell wants to make a career of custom woodworking and developing equipment for canoeists. He has built his own canoeing equipment since he was 16, and after competing in Barcelona he would like to market an ultra-light, carbon-fiber-composite paddle (called “Quick Blade”).

“I’ve always liked to make things with my hands, and I’m always thinking about ways to improve canoes and paddles,” Terrell said. “When I first started racing internationally, there wasn’t anybody doing canoe research, and there’s still a demand for improved equipment.”

Terrell realized he couldn’t train full time and devote himself to woodworking and the marketing of his paddle, so his focus has been solely on Barcelona since December, when he left his part-time job at a Costa Mesa cabinet-making business.

With Carr, Terrell hopes to compete in the 500 and 1,000 doubles events at the Games.

“I’ve been concentrating on doubles because Stewart and I have had some success together,” Terrell said. “I’ll have to make a decision about the 500 singles soon because it’s on the same day as the 500 doubles, but I’m leaning toward the doubles.”

The canoeing competition in Barcelona doesn’t begin until the second week of the Games, so the U.S. team will continue to train in the South of France for a week before going to the Games. The U.S. canoeists can choose whether to go to Barcelona for the opening ceremonies, and Terrell plans to be there.

“I’ll drive there by myself if I have to, but I don’t think I’ll be the only one going” he said. “It’s a pretty great experience, and even though I’ve done it twice already, I don’t want to miss it.”