Editor’s Note: Bellingham native Jonas Ecker, 21, is writing a diary for CDN during the run-up to and including the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, set for July 26-Aug. 11. Ecker, a 2021 Sehome High graduate and five-time Ski to Sea competitor, and Seattle’s Aaron Small are roommates and full-time University of Washington students. The pair qualified for the Games’ sprint kayak Men’s K2 500-meter race and individually in the Men’s K1 1000-meter race. Olympic heats begin Aug. 6. The medal race for the Men’s K2 is Aug. 9. The Men’s K1 final is Aug. 10. This is his seventh entry. See week six’s entry here. Follow Ecker’s Instagram at @jonasecker__.
Week 7 – July 22, 2024
If you read this on Friday, I will be attending the Opening Ceremony for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games as a member of the U.S. Olympic Team for the first time. Before I dive into life at the Olympic Games in next week’s diary, I think it’s important to rewind and recap my last week of racing.
To start off, Bulgaria was hot, very hot. Temperatures never dropped below 70 degrees at night and soared to around 100 degrees during the day. With this heat, hydration and body temperature management was key. I did my best to find air conditioning and shade whenever possible, drinking copious amounts of water and electrolytes, as well as wearing a cooling vest while warming up and cooling down on land between races.
As I mentioned in my last entry, I was in Bulgaria to race at the U23 Canoe Sprint World Championships where I competed in the Men’s Single Kayak (MK1) 1000-meter and Men’s Double Kayak (MK2) 500-meter with Aaron Small. In both races, we had to progress from heats, through semifinals, and in the A final if we wanted to compete for a medal. I first competed in the MK2 500m where we won both our heat and semifinal, landing us a berth in the A final. After strong races in the preliminary rounds we had our eyes on a medal, but come the final, it was not our day. We put together a strong race, but finished fifth in a close field, less than a second away from the podium. Although it was not the result we were hoping for, our performances throughout the regatta provided us with constructive repetitions before competing in Paris.
As for the MK1 1000m, I found myself in the lane next to the 2023 U23 MK1 1000m World Champion, Tobias Hammer of Germany, for my heat. Rather than viewing this lane assignment as an unlucky draw, I saw it as an opportunity; what better way to see how I compared with the rest of the field than getting to race the reigning world champion?
With that mindset, I entered my heat with the goal to match the pace of the German as best I could, and by doing so I netted myself a second place in my heat and a second place in the overall time standings. Later in the regatta, I competed in the semifinals to determine who would qualify for the final, in which I placed first, once again with the second fastest time.
Going into the final I had the feeling I could be in the hunt for a medal, but if you’re not trying to win then why are you in the race? I knew the loose race plans of the other athletes from watching them compete earlier in the week, so I was confident that if I stuck to my race plan I could be in the mix.
Before pushing off the dock the last thing my dad (in his role as a coach) said to me was; “You can do it, it’s possible. Leave it all out there and you can win it.” Once I lined up and the gates dropped, my only thoughts were to be smooth with my power, reach out and be consistent.
At 250 meters I was in fourth, but only by half a second. At 500 meters I was tied for first, and at 750 meters I was leading by just under a second. With 250 meters to go my only thought was to hold on, keep it together and cross the finish line.
In a nail-biting final stretch, for both me and the spectators, I crossed the line in first with a time of 3:36.810 to become U23 World Champion.
Like many of my achievements this year, it still feels hard to believe and for better or for worse, there isn’t much time for it to sink in. I am on my way to the Olympic Village as I write this; it’s time to refocus for the final push of the year. The Olympic Games open on Friday, July 26 and I compete starting August 6.
To watch the Olympic competition, the sport is listed as Olympic Canoeing, which encompasses both canoeing and kayaking. NBC’s coverage of the opening ceremony begins Friday, July 26, at 10:30 a.m. Pacific Time. It is expected to last approximately 4.5 hours.
Ecker joins a handful of Bellingham-raised Olympians that include: Jake Riley, marathon, 2020 Summer Olympics (held in 2021), Tokyo; Angeli VanLaanen, freestyle skiing halfpipe, 2014 Winter Olympics, Sochi, Russia; Fred Luke, men’s javelin, 1972 Summer Olympics, Munich; Roy Rubin, men’s coxed four rowing, 1960 Summer Olympics, Rome; Paul Jessup, men’s discus, 1932 Summer Olympics, Los Angeles.
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