BARCELONA '92 OLYMPICS / DAY 15 : Barton Can't Out-Paddle New Technology : Kayaking: Double gold-medal winner at Seoul settles for one bronze, despite faster times.

By MIKE PENNER

Aug. 9, 1992 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

CASTELLDEFELS, SPAIN —

The boats are sleeker, the paddles are better but the arms are four years older.

Greg Barton, the only United States kayaker to win two gold medals in one Olympics, was curious to see how the combination would play on the flatwater at Canal Olimpic.

Fast was how it played.

Faster than Seoul, where Barton won his two Olympic gold medals in two hours four years ago.

Faster by 17 seconds in the 1,000-meter singles, faster by 13 seconds in 1,000-meter doubles.

Faster, but not better.

In 1988, singles and doubles times of 3:55.27 and 3:32.42 earned Barton the first two American kayaking gold medals in 36 years.

In 1992, times of 3:37.93 and 3:19.26 got Barton a bronze and a thanks-for-coming.

Beginning the morning on his own, Barton paddled his way to a close third place, 0.67 of a second behind the winner, Clint Robinson of Australia, who was timed in 3:37.26. Ninety minutes later, Barton rejoined Norm Bellingham, his gold-medal partner in 1988, for the doubles final, and finished fourth, more than three seconds behind the German team of Kay Bluhm and Torsten Gutsche, whose winning time was 3:16.10.

“The times are definitely faster,” Barton said, “and that has to do, mainly, with two things.

“First is the new paddle design (a semi-scoop) that was developed in 1989, after Seoul, by Norway. Soon, everybody adopted it.

“The new boats make a small difference, but the training people are getting now is the other significant factor. In the past, the East Germans and the Soviets were so much more advanced with their coaching, their technology and their physiology. Now, the rest of the world has caught up.”

At 32, however, Barton is tired of playing catch-up. He announced before Barcelona that he would retire from competitive flatwater racing after the Olympics, and saw nothing Saturday to alter those plans.

“I think I’m starting to get to the upper limit,” Barton said, referring to his age. “In kayaking, 32 is up there.”

Barton tried to retire after Seoul--the perfect way to go out, he thought--but was shamed into a comeback by New Zealand’s Ian Ferguson, who at 40 placed eighth in Saturday’s 1,000-meter doubles.

“When I said in ’88 that this was my last race, Ian Ferguson, who’s eight years older than me, told me, ‘I’m still going to go on. You can’t retire. ‘ “

Barton gave retirement a try, but by 1989 he was reading the small type in the back of the sports section and muttering to himself: “That guy wins the world championship, and I beat him.” He missed the time spent on the victory stand. He realized that Ferguson might be right.

From 1990 on, Barton split time between the home office in Bellingham, Wash., where he designs equipment for Ocean Kayak, and Newport Beach, where he trained in preparation for his third Olympics.

Bellingham is his home--and his partner. It can get confusing. A tip: Norm is the one reporters flocked to Saturday as they attempted to assess Barton’s contribution to kayaking in the United States.

“What’s he given to the sport?” said Bellingham, repeating a reporter’s question. “Good God. Greg’s a legend. I got to paddle in two Olympics with a legend. That’s not too bad . . .

“Ever since 1984, when Greg won the bronze in Los Angeles, American paddlers now start an Olympics thinking, ‘I can get a medal.’ Before, it was always the East Europeans--people who were from the netherworld, who were completely unapproachable.

“Greg made it attainable. He made it more realistic. For years, Americans never thought they had a shot. Now, they go into the Olympics believing they can medal. That’s quite an attitude to have.

“That’s what Greg has given to the sport.”

Barton takes more satisfaction in what he has done to spread the word. From coast to coast, his medals in 1984 and 1988 sent a message about the new world order.

“I’m really happy to see the coverage the sport is getting today,” Barton said. “Before ‘88, hardly anyone had heard of kayaking at home.

“Now, I’m at a race somewhere and I call home and it’s, ‘Hey, they showed highlights on TV tonight,’ or ‘Hey, your picture was in USA Today.’ ”

Barton did for American kayaking what Greg LeMond did for American cycling. He took a fringe sport and made it better. He took his “very small sport,” as he calls it, and shoved it closer to the mainstream, dredging it out of the backwater.

“My roommate, for three Olympics,” Bellingham proudly said. “I like to think I spurred him on to many great victories. It was my bedtime stories.”

Gold would have been the way to go out, but Barton’s bounce-back ability isn’t what it used to be. He paddled two 1,000-meter races in two hours, with the Germans’ breakthrough carbon boats leading the fleet. At 32, Barton doesn’t recommend it.

“It’s tougher to come back for that second race now,” Barton said. “I’m older, and the whole world’s improved since ’88. You saw the times.”

The gold medals are part of Barton’s past, but they are also part of the United States’ future, now that American kayakers have been shown the way.

As legacies go, there are worse ones to leave behind.

Canoe / Kayak Medalists

* MEN (Canoe 1,000 Singles)

GOLD: Nikolai Boukhalov (Bulgaria)

SILVER: Ivans Klementjevs (Latvia)

BRONZE: Gyorgy Zala (Hungary)

(Kayak 1,000 singles)

GOLD: Clint Robinson (Australia)

SILVER: Knut Holmann (Norway)

BRONZE: Greg Barton (United States)