Interview with Davey Hearn
by Alex Wittenberg
10th Grader Walt Whitman High School
9/22/02
Q: What is a Professional Kayaker?
A: Someone who makes money out of kayaking. Some try to win Prize money and get sponsorships. I guess you would classify me as a professional canoer though. But now I work as a Whitewater coach and am not training seriously. I am the coach of the Bethesda Center of Excellence and work with kids generally around 12 to 14. I also try to attract more people to the sport. This is a great area for kayaking.
Q: What are your major accomplishes?
A: I have been training for 10,000 days. I've been in 3 Olympics, many international races and won 2 World Championships. I also worked with some famous kayakers like Rebecca Giddens who is an American woman World Champion.
David has been a Whitewater Slalom Olympian in 2000, 1996, and 1992.
Twice World Champion Canoeist 1995 and 1985.
13 Whitewater World Championship Teams 1977-2001.
14 World Championship Medals: 8 Golds, 5 Silvers, and 1 Bronze Medal.
14 World Cup seasons since 1988, the inaugural year: 2nd place World Cup overall 4 times, and 3rd place World Cup overall once.
US Whitewater Team member for 26 years, since 1976.
19 National Championship C1 (decked one-person canoe) slalom titles, and 28 National Whitewater Canoeing titles include 7 C2 slalom, 1 C1 & 1 C2 wildwater.
David offers individual and group coached sessions in racing and river play for canoe and kayak paddlers of all ages.
Q: How often do you get paid?
A: Some people give me payments during the year, some by the quarter of the year and some pay per each session so I don't have the normal 2-week salary.
Q: What time do you have to get up and what time do you come home?
A: Tomorrow I wake up at 6 a.m.; coach a workout at 7 that will probably take about and hour and a half. Then I'll get home quickly for breakfast and bring Jesse my 3 and a half-year-old son to preschool. Then at 9:00 I have a student I've been teaching for a few sessions and that will probably last until 11. Then I'll come home, work on the computer to write back to people I coach. Then at 3:30-5:30 I'll go back out to the river and train your brother, Andy.
Q: Are you restricted on what you eat?
A: I don't have a very strict diet, but I usually eat healthy. I do eat meat and also lots of fruits and vegetables, and plenty of water so I don't get dehydrated. I stay away from fried foods and eat lots of carbohydrates. Carbohydrates give you fuel and replenish your muscles and protein doesn't.
Q: Has anyone inspired you?
A: I think a person who inspired me was Jamie McEwan. In the 1972 Olympics he won the bronze medal.
Q: How did you get started?
A: I first started paddling when I was four on the Missouri River with my family. When my sister Cathy and I got older we got serious about training and lifted weights and paddled after school. I work at my business called Maximum Whitewater Performance. Now I try to pass the knowledge I learned on to people who are serious about boating.
Q: What would you change about you job?
A: I basically like my job but it would be nice if the sport of whitewater slalom became better known.
Q: What do you do on a daily basis?
A: I do individual training, presentations at summer camp and schools. Some people might think it's glamorous but it's a lot of hard work, just like every other job. I'm self-employed so I don't have a boss and I work at a small business.
Q: What is your favorite river to kayak on?
A: I'd have to say the Potomac River but my most memorable trip was when I went on the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon.
Q: How do you balance your career with family life?
A: Jennifer and Jesse sometimes come with me in the Van on kayaking trips. This year I coached kids at races in Indiana and Colorado. On the way home we stopped at Yellowstone National Park. It works out at home because we live right near the river so I'm always going in and out and I usually walk Jesse to preschool.
Q: What so you do in the winter when the water is frozen over?
A: The River's never completely frozen but the training in winter is different. First you have to run to warm up, and move around the whole time to generate heat. You can't do much Whitewater because it gets very cold and is difficult.
Q: Is it mainly boys you train?
A: The majority is boys although it's a great sport for girls too because it's not all about physical ability, there's a lot of thinking involved-it's mostly about technique.
