Casey competed in our first Charlotte / Tri-Cities Hometown Throwdown #1 bzck in April 2008. Below is a interview story from NBC on Casey. Check out his Bio with this link:
http://www.nbcolympics.com/athletes/athlete=1414/bio/index.html
Speaking with Casey Eichfeld
A lifelong paddler, Casey Eichfeld makes his Olympic debut at 18 years old. He paddles in the C-2 with his best friend, Ricky Powell. The pair made the Olympic team at the final world cup of the season in Augsburg, Germany at the end of June, beating out the American C-2 team of Austin Crane and Scott McCleskey. Eichfeld spoke with NBCOlympics.com about his friendship with Ricky and what he’s looking most forward to about the Olympics.
So you’re 18 and you’ve made the Olympic team for the first time. How does it feel?
Fantastic. It was so…it was shocking. I mean, either C-2 teams could have done it. It could have gone either way. I expected it to be more of a battle. The relief was incredible. But it was great because we could go into the semis and just race. It turned out to be probably our best international result. We finished 12th in the end.
You’ve been paddling a long time. In 2000 Sports Illustrated for Kids called you out as a potential future Olympian.
I’ve been paddling my entire life. My parents were both paddlers; they did it before I was born. I started with flatwater at 18 months old and whitewater when I was four. My father and I used to do easy Pennsylvania series races together.
What are some of your first memories of paddling?
My dad used to take me on the James River when I was 2 years old. We would go to this island in the middle that had streams. My dad used to take long pipes and shove them into the sand and he would watch me go through the gates. I remember he would try to help me and I would never let him touch the boat. I always wanted to do it myself.
When did you start paddling by yourself?
I wanted to start on my own when I was 6, but my parents said I had to learn how to swim first. So I taught myself. And I would spend weekends out on the lake.
So how did you meet your teammate in the C-2, Ricky Powell?
I met Ricky when I was 5 and he was 6. We were at Fiddler’s Elbow, a course not too far from Harrisburg. I was getting ready for a C-2 run with my dad and there was this annoying kid riding up on our stern with his boat. So my dad had to go find his dad. While he was gone we started playing around in the water in our little plastic boats. From then on we would start to look for each other at competitions.
When did you become a team?
We paddled together for a while starting when I was 7 years old, but we stopped when I was 10 or 11 to focus on the individual boat. But we always stayed in touch. And then in 2006 we threw around the idea of paddling together again. We bought a boat and we had it about a month before we went to U.S. Nationals and won them. So we started to think about training more seriously together.
Talk about your relationship with Ricky.
We’re more like brothers than anything. We’ve spent equal amount of time with one another’s parents. Both of our parents have taken us on cross-country rode trips for competitions.
How do your personalities differ?
We’re complete opposites. I can’t stand messy things. Ricky doesn’t mind a mess and he’ll wear the same thing over again. I’m ridiculously social. Ricky’s okay playing on the computer or hanging out by himself. But in the boat I guess we’re very similar. We understand each other so well. We’ve known each other for so long.
So what about the Olympics are you most excited for?
I’m really excited for the Olympic Village and the Opening Ceremony. Our competition is only for a week and a half, but we’re going to stay through the Closing Ceremony. I’m also looking forward to meeting other athletes. It’s cool to share a common bond with all of them; we’ve all put so much effort into our sports.
Good Luck Casey and thanks for representing the good ol’ US of A and our sport of whitewater!
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