COURTESY OF THE SPALDING FAMILY Lauren Spalding will compete with Kailua's Kathy Colin at the Summer Games in Athens.

Spalding has
quickly become
one of world’s best

A relative newcomer to kayaking,
the Maui resident will represent
the U.S. in K-2 and K-4

This is the fifth in a series on people with local ties taking part in the Olympic Games in Greece. TomorrowÕs story will be on Lovie Jung.

In sport, anything can happen. It's why competitions are held, games are played, score is kept.

THE SPALDING FILE Sport: Canoe/Kayak Events: Flatwater K-2 500m, Flatwater K-4 500m Competition dates: Aug. 23-28 Birthdate: March 17, 1980 Birthplace: Honolulu Residence: Kula, Maui Fun Fact: Spalding is the three-time defending Molokai-to-Oahu champion -- and women's course record-holder -- in one-man outriggers. Did you know?: Spalding comes for an athletic family which includes dad Mike (sailing canoes and gold medalist at the 1968 Junior Olympics in water polo), mother Jill (outrigger paddler) and sister Nicole (fourth at the World Championships in tandem surfing).

Nothing is a given. There are always surprises.

Lauren Spalding is living proof.

Some 13 months after her first national kayaking competition, the 24-year-old Spalding is among the best of the best. The Kula, Maui, resident heads for Athens on Tuesday with the same attitude that gets her through every race:

"Just let it happen."

Spalding and Kailua's Kathy Colin will team in the K-2 500-meter sprint in a kayak christened "Onipa'a" (Hawaiian for steadfast), complete with a Hawaiian flag sticker. The pair are also entered in the K-4 500, a crew considered the U.S.'s best since the 1984 team, which finished fourth at the Los Angeles Games.

"It's kind of cool to be going to the Olympics, but it has all happened so quickly it's hard to think about it," Spalding said in a telephone interview from Team USA's training camp in Mammoth, Calif. "I came into the sport just a year ago.

"When I first showed up (at the U.S. Trials last July), everyone was asking, 'Who is this girl? What, are you crazy? Hope you enjoyed your stay.' "

Spalding wasn't going anywhere ... except to the national team. She finished fourth in her first-ever K-1 race at the trials and it's been a whirlwind ever since.

There has been intense training at the Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, Calif. Competitions in Brazil, Germany and the Czech Republic. Trips back to Maui whenever possible to spend time with her 5-year-old son, Ha'ena. And a chance for her to three-peat in the Molokai World Championship for OC-1.

Last May, Spalding finished the 32-mile race from Kaluakoi to Hawaii Kai in 5 hours and 39 seconds. It was the first time she had been in an OC-1 this year.

"I felt I had established myself (in canoe paddling), so it was cool coming onto the kayak scene as an unknown," Spalding said. "There was no pressure. It was refreshing when people didn't know who I was.

"I don't know if I'm surprised to be on the team. I thought I might have the potential. I felt I had the drive to be at this level. What's nice is, through doing well in the 1-man and surfski, I was introduced to people who thought I had (Olympic) potential."

Her success has not surprised her family.

"Lauren has shown a competitive spirit starting back at 12, when she was doing equestrian jumping," said her father, Mike. "She always seemed to come home with the blue ribbon. She first started competing in ocean racing sports when she was 14. When she was 16, she steered her first Molokai race. When she first started racing OC-1 on Maui, she dominated. She'd race here (on Maui) on Saturdays then on Oahu on Sundays.

"When Lauren was considering trying out for the national team, she knew in her heart that she could do it, but it would require a huge sacrifice. Looking around her, she could see that she had the support network to make a run at the 2004 Olympics. Her support comes from her family, friends and fellow lovers of ocean sports throughout Hawaii Nei. It is truly the people that follow her progress and encourage her that give her the fire to train her heart out and achieve the best that she can."

Lauren Spalding is humbled by the support.

"What I'm doing is extremely selfish," she said. "My family and friends have allowed me to do this. I have so many people involved in my life who make this possible.

"The hardest part is being away from my son and Hawaii. I get emotional when I come home, flying in to Kahului and seeing the tradewinds on the ocean. Tears come to my eyes. I'm so grateful to be from here and have the values that have been instilled in me."

Her son, Ha'ena, hasn't quite grasped the concept of the Olympics, asking why couldn't his mom be playing basketball. He won't be making the trip to Greece, but Spalding will have a cheering section from Maui that includes her parents, Mike and Jill, boyfriend Kai Bartlett and friend Bubba McLean, a St. Anthony and University of California graduate who failed to make the Olympic team in the pole vault in June.

Spalding, who is part-Hawaiian, said her goals in Athens are to enjoy the experience and paddle hard. She said having Colin as a teammate is helpful, someone who has been at an Olympics and also grew up in Hawaii (Colin, a 1992 Punahou graduate, competed at the 2000 Games in Sydney).

"We want to make the finals (the medal round)," she said. "If that happens, then anything can happen.

"As for 2008, I'm not saying yes but I'm not saying no. I'm planning on training the next four years, keep up my kayaking and play that one out. Right now, I'm just going to let things happen."