Kayaking team comes close, but no China trip

By Ashley Landis
Staff Reporter

May 06, 2008 11:38 am

— San Marcos kayaker Ben Kvanli and partner Mark Poindexter of Austin placed third in the USA Whitewater Slalom Team Trials, but narrowly missed a chance to compete in the 2008 Olympic Games.
Kvanli and Poindexter competed in the USA Whitewater Slalom Team Trials and the Pan American Championships in Charlotte, North Carolina April 25-27. They placed third in the trials and second in the Pan Americans.
“It’s a little bittersweet,” said Michelle Kvanli, Ben’s wife.
Though the two-man team did very well, they missed the chance to compete in the 2008 Olympics by a two percent margin.
“The Olympic run is over,” Michelle said. “It was just a little hair off.”
By placing third in the trials, Kvanli and Poindexter will have a place on the U.S. kayaking team and will still compete at the top of the Slalom Centers of Excellence within the next few years, said fellow kayaker Jim Stuart.
“Ben and Mark were facing steep odds at Charlotte. They were well back of the leaders in the rankings, so that they made the team and almost made the percentage is heroic,” said Stuart.
Kvanli said they did some of their best runs to date and the team could represent the U.S. in several international races.
After the competition, Poindexter said, “four more years.”
Kvanli and Poindexter are instructors at the Power Olympic Outdoor Center in San Marcos.