Wisconsin kayaker wins Olympic silver

By MARIBEL VILLALVA

Gannett News Service

ATHENS, Greece - The only thing Rebecca Giddens wanted after winning her silver medal in women's kayaking Wednesday was to embrace her husband and coach, Eric Giddens.

She stopped to talk to reporters, but the whole time, her eyes were always searching for one person.

``Sorry, but I see him. I have to go,'' she said.

And there he was, in what has come to be his signature cowboy hat, waving to her, then high-fiving the other members of the U.S. canoe/kayak teams who were there to cheer Giddens on.

After placing fifth in the preliminary competition for women's single kayak slalom Tuesday, the 26-year-old Giddens, a native of Green Bay, Wis., returned Wednesday to move up one spot in the semifinals and another two spots in the finals. The only person Giddens could not beat was Elena Kaliska of Slovakia, who won the gold medal with a combined time of 210.03 seconds.

Giddens' combined time was 214.62 seconds. Helen Reeves of Great Britain won the bronze with a time of 218.77.

The trip to Athens has been a long journey for Giddens, who started kayaking as a child with her family. Her father, Tom Bennett of Green Bay, is an amateur kayaker who introduced the sport to his children.

Bennett stood in the crowd to cheer on his daughter, but his stomach was in knots right before the final round. ``I'm a very proud dad, but I'm very nervous right now,'' he said.

Also cheering in the stands was Giddens' mother, Mary Joyce Knowles of DePere, Wis.

Once Giddens had time to catch her breath and visit with her husband, she wanted to talk to her parents but couldn't leave the athlete's area. So her husband did the next best thing, he took a walkie-talkie out to the stands.

``It was incredible. Everybody was going crazy,'' said Eric Giddens of the brief exchange.

The cheering section included Giddens' teammate Chris Ennis Jr., who was eliminated in Tuesday's preliminaries for the men's single canoe slalom race.

``This race was incredible. Everybody's hearts were in their throats,'' Ennis said. ``Rebecca deserves every minute of this. She's the kind of girl you just want the best for.''

Giddens, who lives in San Diego, said it's too early to say whether she'll continue competing through the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.

Knowles said her daughter will eventually want to try other things.

``Kayaking will always be part of her life, but it's up to her to decide at what level she wants to do it,'' she said. ``I know that sooner or later she'll want to move on, but either way, I think she's already experienced the best part of this sport.''