River level (Memphis gauge): 23.0 feet
Clear, mild headwind, 75°
Course Record: 18:44, Chris Hipgrave, 1998
 
 

Men's Elite Kayak Class
 

Pl	Name	Hometown	Boat Type	Time
1	Greg Barton	Seattle, Washington	Surf Ski	16:44 (CR)
2	Chris Hipgrave	Bryson City, North Carolina	Phantom	18:23
3	Chris Metheny	Chattanooga, Tennessee	Sea Kayak	19:07
4	Joe Royer	Memphis, Tennessee	Phantom	19:34
5	Ken Hurd	Marietta, Georgia	Sea Kayak	19:36
6	Elmore Holmes	Memphis, Tennessee	Marathon K-1	19:50
7	Rion Smith	Greenville, South Carolina	Sea Kayak	20:03
8	Wim Nouwen	Memphis, Tennessee	Wildwater K-1	20:30
9	Gary Meikle	Seattle, Washington	Sea Kayak	25:30

 

Just how good is Greg Barton?

This was the question buzzing through the ranks in the weeks, days, hours, and minutes before the start of the 18^th annual Outdoors, Inc., Canoe and Kayak race on the Mississippi River at Memphis, Tennessee.

Of course, evidence of Barton's greatness was abundant: he had been a member of four Olympic teams (1980, 1984, 1988, 1992) and had won four Olympic medals in 1000-meter competition, two of them gold. And most believed his true talent lay in longer races: he was a 10,000-meter world champion, a winner of the multi-stage Finlandia Clean Water Challenge, and a veteran of long-distance races on flatwater and on the high seas in both canoes and kayaks.

Still, as the 39-year-old Seattle resident prepared to make his first appearance at Memphis, observers wondered whether he still had what it would take to defeat two-time winner and course record holder Chris Hipgrave. The uncertainty vanished almost as soon as the starting gun went off: Barton stormed off the line and immediately began to distance himself from the field. Hipgrave rode Barton's wake into solid second-place position, but could hope for no better as Barton began to pull away.

Chris Metheny, who had raced poorly the previous year, also had a very good start to settle into third-place position, with Wim Nouwen, a native of Holland and a former member of the Dutch wildwater team, in striking distance. Ken Hurd found himself in a tight battle with Joe Royer, the event's director. Elmore Holmes, better known as a slalom C-1 paddler, worked to close the distance a few yards back.

Barton remained unchallenged as he crossed beneath the Hernando DeSoto Bridge, rounded the southern point of Mud Island, and cruised into Memphis Harbor to finish in a record-smashing 16 minutes, 44 seconds. Hipgrave, a native of Purley, England, now living in North Carolina, also beat his previous record with a second-place 18:23. The Chattanoogan Metheny completed his fine showing by finishing third in 19:07.

The drama was still unfolding back in the pack. Approaching the tip of Mud Island, Holmes had overtaken Hurd and Royer and was challenging Nouwen for fourth place. But the Dutchman and the slalomist had taken too tight a line around the point and found themselves battling the eddylike slackwater as much as each other. Royer, Hurd, and Rion Smith stayed wide and advanced into fourth, fifth, and sixth places heading into the harbor.

At this point, Nouwen was suffering from a recurrance of tendinitis in his wrist and began to fade. Holmes went by both him and Smith and set his sights ahead, where Hurd was riding Royer's wake hoping to steal fourth. By this time the race had become too short, however, and Royer held a two-second advantage over the Georgian. Holmes finished fourteen seconds later in 19:50, giving the race an unprecedented six competitors under 20 minutes.

A party in Jefferson Davis Park awaited the racers, and Barton was his usual unassuming self as he praised the race organizers for a great event and indicated that he would like to return. Hipgrave, disappointed in giving up his title, acknowledged that he had been beaten by a better paddler and took solace in his respectable time. Metheny exclaimed that he was "thrilled to get third" in such a talented field.