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JAMM AQUINO / JAQUINO@STARBULLETIN.COM Patrick Dolan, shown here in an outrigger canoe, has been kayaking for less than a year but has earned a spot in the Junior World Championships in Hungary.

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Chasing a dream

Maryknoll senior Patrick Dolan
hopes to compete in the Olympics

PATRICK Dolan is a true believer, in prayer and hard work. It has taken him from Kailua to Szeged, Hungary, in what the international kayak community considers a blink of an eye, or a 200-meter sprint.

The 17-year-old Dolan, about to enter his senior year at Maryknoll, has been kayaking for less than a year. But he finds himself this week in Hungary, competing for the U.S. at the Junior World Championships, after qualifying last month at the U.S. Trials.

"It's a big amazement to me, how quickly this has happened," Dolan said prior to leaving for Hungary. "It's a steppingstone to get to the next level. I'm really looking forward to the trip and the competition.

"I've always wanted to go to the Olympics, but they don't have outrigger paddling. So I figured that the only way I'd get to go is by kayaking."

If Dolan continues his rate of success, it would not be a stretch for him to make the Olympic team ... in 2008.

"He has the potential to be there in 2008, just based off his initial performance at the sprint trials," said former kayaking Olympian Chris Ball, a coach for the Hawaii Canoe-Kayak Team. "He's a great talent. At his age, he's arguably the best we've had. There hasn't been another first-year junior with his times.

"What I like about him is he's a good kid, motivated and determined, and serious at race time. Then it's fun after the races. It's a good attitude. You can't go through life and not enjoy it."

HCKT athletes have found great success since the program was started in 1988, with representation in every Olympics beginning in 1992. Joining Dolan in Hungary is fellow HCKT member Eric Abbott, an 18-year-old Punahou senior-to-be who also has been kayaking for less than a year.

HCKT is accepting donations and sponsorships. For information, contact Ball (227-5806) or Jim Farnum (781-3795). The Web site is www.hckt.org

The two have been training with the U.S. team in Italy this past week.

That Dolan has been successful is no surprise to his family, which watched him become one of the top one-man canoe paddlers within two years. Dolan and Kai Bartlett teamed to win the Starbucks Kaiwi Channel Relay on May 1.

Dolan has also been on winning O-6 crews for Lanikai Canoe Club since age 12.

But the international scene?

"It's all new to me and I still don't understand it all," said Ann Dolan, Patrick's mother. "It seems like it's an ongoing thing. He's traveling for one competition, then another.

"I have a very strong faith and spirituality. When he told me he wanted to go to the Olympics, I told him if you pray and work hard, good things happen. On one hand, I'm floored and shocked by this all. On the other hand, he's following his path."

The biggest obstacle, as every parent with an athletic child knows, is the cost. Ann Dolan is a single parent, with two of her four children still at home, living on a preschool teacher's salary. She is also helping take care of her terminally ill father.

Expenses for the trip to Europe and then to next week's nationals in Seattle are about $4,500. At this level, there is no funding from the national canoe-kayaking body.

Money was an issue when Patrick was first approached to join HCKT, according to his mother.

"I had to explain that we couldn't afford it, that he goes to Maryknoll on a scholarship, that he had no way to get to practice (5:30 a.m. on the Ala Wai)," Ann Dolan said. "Every time there was a problem, someone came through, with funding, sponsorship or a ride.

"Patrick is just a really nice kid, who's always been athletic. Everyone has been so kind and generous to help let him pursue this dream. At times it's hard to believe this could really happen for him."

"We're trying to support Patrick the best we can," Ball said. "We don't want finances to be a determining factor to deter him from this goal."

Patrick Dolan is grateful for all the help he's received so far.

"My mom raised me to believe in hard work and prayer," he said. "I have faith that things will work out. I want to say thank you to everyone who has made this possible."

Notes: Dolan and Abbott will join the rest of the HCKT contingent for the nationals in Seattle next Monday. Ball said the HCKT group will number around 18, including paddlers, coaches and parents ... Returning to competition is 2004 Olympian Lauren Spalding, who had her second child last month.