Marietta Athlete to Compete for Olympic Spot This Weekend

The 2012 Olympians for Men's Canoe, Men's Kayak, Women's Kayak and Men's Double Canoe will be named by Sunday. 

In Men's Double Canoe, the Georgia tandem of Jeff Larimer, of Marietta, and Eric Hurd, of Woodstock, leads in Olympic selection points after winning the previous two selection races, the and the .

Casey Eichfeld and Devin McEwan, of Salisbury, Conn., finished second in both races. Scott McCleskey, 33, of Sylva, N.C.,and Dave Hepp, 38, of Charlotte, N.C., came out of retirement to place third at the Olympic Trials and take one more shot at qualifying for the Olympics.

This weekend athletes will compete in the 2012 ICF Slalom World Cup No. 1 in Cardiff, Wales. This is the final Olympic selection event for Team USA.

In order for any U.S. boats not leading in Olympic points to earn a ticket to London, they must finish in the Top 20 and above the current U.S. points leader by the placing needed to surpass the current leader. If that does not happen, the point leaders will be named to the 2012 U.S. Olympic Team, no matter where they finish this weekend.

Hurd and Larimer are both following in the wake of their paddling fathers, Mike Hurd and Mike Larimer. The elder Hurd and Larimer trained with each other on the Chattahoochee River.

Mike Hurd was also a high school All-American basketball player. Mike Larimer narrowly missed out on competing at the 1992 Olympic Games, but he was able to coach Team USA at the Atlanta 1996 Olympics.

Larimer, 30, is a carpenter and attended Georgia State University.

Sprint kayakers Carrie Johnson and Tim Hornsby have already been named to the 2012 U.S. Olympic Team.

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