Jorgensen, Mooney Win Kayak Heat

The United States hasn’t exactly been an Olympic power over the years in canoe/kayak, but it may have a winner this time in kayakers Stein Jorgensen and John Mooney.

Jorgensen, from San Diego, and Mooney, from Eugene, Ore., started on the long road to Atlanta on Friday by winning their heat in the 1,000-meter kayak doubles as the Olympic canoe/kayak sprint trials opened at the Arco Olympic Training Center.

Afterward, Reg Hatch, the Australian-born coach of the American team, said that Jorgensen and Mooney “have an outstanding chance” to win Olympic gold in the 500-meter doubles this summer.

“The 500 is their best Olympic race,” Hatch said. “They won the 200 in the World Games in Duisburg, Germany, last year, but unfortunately, the 200 isn’t on the Olympic program.”

Only once has the United States won a gold medal in a canoe/kayak sprint event. Greg Barton of Newport Beach and Norman Bellingham of Rockville, Md., won the 1,000-meter kayak doubles in 1988.

Hatch, however, says that Jorgensen and Mooney are as fast as any team in the world at 500 meters.

“We tried different combinations before the ’95 worlds and we finally threw them together,” Hatch said. “Once they teamed up, they kept getting better and better.”

Jorgensen praised Hatch, saying, “I’ve grown tremendously in the last year, and our coach has been instrumental.”

Mooney added, “We’re not outstanding paddlers, but we have teamwork. And Coach Hatch is remarkable at detecting flaws in our technique.”

Trials in the 500-meter event will begin today.

Other leading Olympic medal candidates also won their heats. Mike Harbold of Honolulu and Peter Newton of Bellevue, Wash., advanced in 1,000-meter kayak singles and Jim Terrell of Milford, Ohio, a three-time Olympian, in 1,000-meter canoe singles.

Mike Barrowman of Costa Mesa, switching from swimming after winning the 200-meter breaststroke in the 1992 Games, teamed with Wyatt Jones of Honolulu and reached the 1,000-meter kayak doubles final by finishing third in a heat.

Women’s competition will start today. The trials will run through Monday.