Indeed, if you did not know what was going on out there on the lake Thursday during the first round of the four-day heated competition, it might not occur to you to use the word "competition" and certainly not "heated" to describe it.

"It just looks like people paddling around on the water," noted one passer-by, who was just walking around near the water in a decidedly non-heated and non-competitive way.

True, the athletic men and women in mere slivers of boats, vying for a slot on the U.S. Olympic Team, paddled gently in the early morning glow. The lake turned to diamonds in the half sun. Fresh cool air. Little goslings wobbled around the fringe of the shore.

Amid this springtime scene, racers in groups of eight paddled windmill style with their double-bladed paddles, whisking past little red-and-white buoy markers.

They'd go a little faster for about a minute and a half in what an official-looking-but-still-mellow person claimed was a 500-meter kayaking race. Then they'd paddle peacefully some more, sliding silently across the diamonds and back to the boathouse docks.

Peaceful, yes. But just paddling? Pishaw.

This is not your gently-down-the-stream kind of thing. Events are often decided by mere tenths of a second, and these athletes are the best of the best canoe and kayak racers in the United States, highly trained, focused and in love with a sport that rarely gets much attention.

Possibly because you can't see it very well and nobody sells hot dogs.

"You can't even imagine how hard you work until you do a run," said one of the coaches, Kris Lepianka, a sturdy-looking man with tanned face and mirrored sunglasses who competed in Moscow in the 1980 Olympics.

"It's speed, strength and endurance," he said. "Upper body. The legs, too. Everything works so hard. There's nothing like it."

And it may be wet, a little chilly and surrounded by geese, but Lake Merritt is one of the last stops on the road to Greece. Winners of the men and women's 500-meter races will go to the Olympics in Athens this summer. Winners of the remaining events go to the Continental Qualifier in Brazil and then -- they hope -- on to Athens, too.

More spectators will likely come to the free events over the weekend, but it was mostly racers' families, friends and coaches watching from the lake's northern bank Thursday.

Well aware of the pace of the competition -- from a spectator's point of view -- families came equipped with their own gear: thick novels and snacks for the long breaks between races, lawn chairs, long camera lenses and binoculars. This is definitely a sport for the far-sighted.

Someone shouted out the occasional, "Go Rob!" or "C'mon Tim!" But it seemed rather futile.

"I've never been in a race where you can actually hear anybody cheering for you," said racer Andrew McEwan, 24, before the first heat of the day. He trains in San Diego. His mom was there from Maryland to cheer him on, whether he'd hear it or not. "It's definitely not like being in the middle of a stadium or anything," McEwan said. "It's more of a solitary sport."

Thursday was a day of sprints, heats, semis and finals for various kayaking events. Racing officials liken the events to running track and field. Just without the track. Or the field. Or the running.

On shore during breaks, athletes meandered around, stretched, did a few jumping jacks, trying to warm up in the chill. Some were out on the water practicing, their kayaks drawing circles of wake on the lake.

Racing kayaks are longer and leaner than the ones you usually see on the lake or in San Francisco Bay -- about 16 feet in length and a mere 12 inches across. Amazing a set of hips and two legs can even fit.

A taped recording of "The Star-Spangled Banner" was played, then the announcer called, "Let's start racing!" Nothing really happened right away, then finally there was a faint "pop" out in the middle of the lake, which must have been a starting gun because small splashes began to form near the kayaks, although it was hard to tell if they were even moving at all.

Soon, the eight racers in the first heat moved closer, and you could see they were paddling pell mell. Binoculars popped out on shore. Someone shouted support, but mostly it was so quiet that if you turned to see the meter maid going by your car, you'd miss it entirely.

One kayak moved out ahead and glided across the finish line. Winners of these individual heats would skip the semifinals and go directly to the finals later that afternoon. The rest of the group would compete in semifinals.

At the end of the day, jubilant racer Carrie Johnson won the women's K-1 500-meter final, and Rami Zur took the men's.

A heron beat them all, but probably can't go to Athens.

The trials run Thursday to Sunday. Closing ceremonies are Sunday evening at the Jack London Aquatic Center in Oakland. For more information about the event or to volunteer, visit paddletoathens.org.

The Oakland Tribune: Cityside
Leanne McLaughlin, Managing Editor
(510) 208-6447
(510) 208-6477 Fax
lmclaughlin@angnewspapers.com Email