Canoeist Terrell Impresses Coach With 500 Victory

As far as canoeist Jim Terrell is concerned, success is mainly a matter of confidence.

Terrell, 30, has been on three Olympic teams, but has yet to make it as far as the finals. Now he is back for a fourth try, and no less an authority than Coach Reg Hatch thinks he can win a medal.

“He’s an outstanding athlete and he’s ready now,” Hatch said Saturday after Terrell had won his 500-meter singles heat at the Arco Olympic Training Center in trials for the U.S. Olympic canoe/kayak sprint team.

Terrell also won his 1,000-meter heat Friday, but feels that he has his best shot in the 500.

“Actually, the 200 is my best event, but it’s not on the Olympic program,” he said.

It’s easy to understand how consecutive disappointments in 1984, 1988 and 1992 could shake a man’s belief in himself, and Terrell is quick to acknowledge it.

“I know I need confidence,” he said. “I’m not the type of person who tends to be overconfident. I tend to look at what I’ve done in the past rather than what I might do in the future. Maybe I sometimes get psyched out by bigger, stronger guys.”

Although Terrell is relatively small at 5 feet 9 1/2 and 165 pounds, he gives nothing away in strength. He is a muscular guy whose athletic background includes a stint in high school wrestling in Milford, Ohio.

Terrell retired from canoeing after the 1992 Olympics, in which he was eliminated in the semifinals for the second time in a row. But after a two-year hiatus in which he coached disadvantaged youngsters at the Newport Beach Aquatic Club, he decided on a comeback.

“I made a commitment,” he said. “I didn’t just want to compete in another Olympics; I wanted to win a medal. So I quit my job as a custom cabinetmaker and moved into the training center here.

“It’s been great for me, and I’ve even started a small business, making custom canoe paddles.”

All other favorites in the men’s and women’s events advanced Saturday to the finals, which will be held today and Monday.