Vote for Greg!

Today I did seven laps of the February strength circuit and paddled for 90 minutes.  Yes, I know it's March now, but with a race this Saturday, I'm waiting until next week to start up a new strength routine.

Even though this blog is less than two months old, I've dropped the name Greg Barton at least five or six times already, so I guess it's safe to say the man is a big influence on how I train and approach the sport.

And I'm not the only one impressed with Greg: he has been nominated for induction into the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame.  Fan voting is open until April 9, and I encourage you to vote for Greg at the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame website, here.

Greg's nomination should be no surprise, for not too many U.S. Olympians can boast of an achievement record like his.  He was a member of four Olympic teams (1980, 1984, 1988, 1992) and won four medals, two of them gold, in flatwater kayak competition.  He was nominated for the Sullivan Award for the nation's top amateur athlete (the winner of which is usually a household name like Carl Lewis) in 1988.

And yet, after three previous nominations, induction into the Hall has eluded Greg.  I try not to engage in arguments over whether Greg deserves induction more than the other nominees--not knowing any of the others personally, I must assume that each is just as outstanding as every other.  But at the same time, I'm convinced that Greg does not deserve induction any less than the other nominees.  I am fortunate enough to know Greg and have participated with him in numerous race events over the years, and I simply cannot imagine a classier representative of the Olympic spirit.  What's more, the Hall of Fame currently contains no canoe-kayak athletes, and it's time to change that.  The governing bodies of many other sports can only dream of having a person like Greg to offer for induction.

The Hall of Fame website is vague about the weight of fan voting in the selection process, saying only that "Hall of Fame inductees are selected by the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame Nominating Committee, U.S. Olympians Association, the Olympic Family and the general public."  It could be that no matter how many people vote for Greg, the induction class is ultimately subject to the whims of a few USOC muckety-mucks.

Well... all we can do is vote for Greg and keep hoping that this will be his year.  Once again, please go here and cast your vote.