ORANGE COUNTY OLYMPIC NOTEBOOK : Barton Fades in Stretch, Winds Up With a Bronze

Before Saturday’s finals in the men’s 1,000-meter flatwater kayak singles and doubles competition at Barcelona, Greg Barton anticipated he would need two of his best efforts to defend his Olympic titles in the events.

He guessed correctly, but couldn’t quite pull it off. Still, Barton didn’t walk away empty-handed, winning the bronze medal in the singles. It was his fourth Olympic medal, three in singles and one in doubles.

Barton, who trains in Newport Beach, finished in 3 minutes 37.93 seconds. Clint Robinson of Australia won the gold in 3:37.26 and Knut Holmann of Norway earned the silver in 3:37.50.

“I thought I had a shot at winning it,” Barton said, “but Clinty had a little bit more than I did at the end.”

Barton, 32, and teammate Norman Bellingham of Bethesda, Md., barely missed winning the bronze in the doubles. The defending Olympic champions covered the course in 3:19.26, finishing fourth behind Germany’s Kay Bluhm and Torsten Rene Gutsche (3:16.10), Sweden’s Gunnar Olsson and Karl Sundquist (3:17.70) and Poland’s Grzegorz Kotowicz and Dariusz Bialkowski (3:18.86).

“I felt like we were in good position at the 500 (-meter) mark,” Barton said. “We just didn’t have enough kick.”

The medal won by Barton, who lives in Bellingham, Wash., solidified his position as the most successful U.S. kayaker in Olympic history.

At Los Angeles in 1984, Barton became the first American kayaker to win an Olympic medal in the 1,000-meter singles when he took the bronze. Four years later in Seoul, Barton won the gold in the closest finish in the event at the Olympics, edging Grant Davies of Australia 3:55.27 to 3:55.28. He also teamed with Bellingham to win the gold in the doubles, the first for the United States in the event.

Though Barton won one medal and challenged for another, other American kayakers were never close in their events Saturday.

In the four-man kayak 1,000-meter finals, the U.S. team of Costa Mesa’s Mark Hamilton and Chris Barlow of San Diego, Mike Herbert of Rogers, Ark., and Terry Kent of Tacoma, Wash., finished last in the nine-boat race in 3:04.30. Germany won the event in 2:54.18.

In the women’s 500-meter fours finals, the U.S. team that includes Newport Beach’s Sheila Conover and Huntington Beach’s Cathy Marino, finished seventh in 1:43.00, well off Hungary’s winning time of 1:38.32. Alexandra Harbold of Rockaway Beach, N.Y., and Traci Phillips of Honolulu are the other two members of the team.

HOW THE OTHERS FARED

--Mike Evans, former UC Irvine water polo standout, scored a goal in the United States’ 6-4 loss to Spain in the semifinals Saturday.

WHO’S COMPETING TODAY

--Nick Becker (Newport Beach), Carlos Briceno (Fountain Valley), Scott Fortune (Laguna Beach), Brent Hilliard (Dana Point) and Steve Timmons (Newport Beach) with the U.S. men’s volleyball team in the bronze-medal match against Cuba.

--Jeff Campbell (UC Irvine), Mike Evans (UC Irvine), Chris Duplanty (UC Irvine), Doug Kimbell (Orange), John Vargas (UC Irvine) and Coach Bill Barnett (Newport Beach) with the U.S. water polo team in the bronze-medal match against the Unified Team.