Taking The Plunge With “Tiger Titanium,” Denton Hopes To Prove He Belongs In Olympics

Engulfed in the driving spray of the whitewater of the Ocoee River, Craig Denton appears to be in a fight for his life.

His titanium paddle dips into the rushing water as he guides his tiger-striped kayak through the torrent under a brilliant summer sky.

The 32-year-old athlete likes to think that Olympic gold is one short year away. But he has been down that path before, only to have his dream dashed by a devastating accident on a mountain bike in Costa Rica while training for the 1992 Olympics.

His collarbone was fractured in seven places. He was strapped back together with titanium pipe.

“I think that’s where I got the titanium bug,” said Denton, who manufactures titanium paddles to supplement his income. He calls his kayak “Tiger Titanium.”

Denton spent the next two years paying off his hospital bills and slowly working his way back into shape.

He signed on with The Home Depot’s Olympic Job Opportunities Program, which allows him to work 20 hours a week, get paid for 40, and spend most of his time training.

Denton bought his first boat in 1987. In 1988, he placed 30th in team trials and placed in the nationals in 1989. In pre-Olympic trials in 1991, he placed fourth.

“I guess I was a late bloomer,” he said.

His black Toyota truck with his kayak atop is a familiar site along the Ocoee near Ducktown, the venue for the whitewater slalom course.

He also trains almost daily at the Atlanta Reservoir on the Chattahoochee River, where a practice course has been built.

Denton gives his vision of whitewater competition the same patience and perseverance that has allowed his return to the sport.

Facing the river is an “exercise in problem solving instead of a fight against the river. An exercise in going with the flow.”

“Most of what whitewater slalom is revolves around relaxing, seeing a clear picture of what you want to do, where you want to be. It sort of flows out of you,” he said.

“When I’m out there it is not a contest between me and the river. It is an exercise in trying to go with it - to consider everything an asset and to use it to your advantage.”