Local kayaker training for China
betsyCLAYTON boatingbybetsy@yahoo.com

A slender canoe and flat water are two things that excite Amniel "Pepe" Naranjo.

The metal framer and dry waller - now working on some of the downtown Fort Myers towers - returns at the end of each workday to his Cape Coral home. After kissing his wife and two children, he heads to Lake Kennedy, Saratoga Park or the canal system for which Cape is famous. His 21- foot canoe is no wider than his shoulders and no heavier than a five-pound bucket of dry-wall mud.

Then he paddles. And paddles. And paddles.

The 37-year-old is a world master champion and Olympic hopeful who has competed this year in places such as Brazil and Hungary pursuing medals and chances to train - and ultimately qualify for - Beijing in 2008.

He'll be among a handful of elite athletes who compete in two upcoming Lee County races, the Midpoint Paddle Sprint on Oct. 27 and the Paddle of the Pass on Nov. 4. The regattas - expected to draw 60-some racers each from around Southwest Florida and the state - are not typical scenes for Olympic hopefuls.

But heck, they're races and they're here in Naranjo's backyard.

COURTESY PHOTO Cape Coral's Amniel "Pepe" Naranjo (left) and paddling partner Balazs Hunek of Chicago won a grueling canoe marathon in September in Hungary. Naranjo will compete in two Lee County races this fall.

If the wind doesn't blow and the water is flat, he'll be there. Wife Miladys and kids Andy, 12, and Freddy, 8, will be with him.

It was a year ago this month, in fact, that I met the Naranjo clan at the Midpoint Paddle Sprint.

I was on the fishing pier at North Shore Park, watching the racers when someone tapped me on the shoulder and said, "You should go talk to that guy."

"That guy" was also on the pier, lamenting the fact that wind made less than favorable conditions for his specialized style of sprint canoe. This is not the aluminum thing you paddled on a summer camp lake. This is a bullet of a boat that is paddled with the athlete not sitting but actually balancing on one knee. It's like the marriage-proposal pose (technically called high-kneel) but in

a boat that weighs no more than 35 pounds, thanks to its carbon fiber or fiberglass makeup. The boats can glide across smooth water at more than 10 mph.

In competitive circles, the canoes are called C1s or C2s,

depending on whether a paddler is solo or with a partner. Naranjo does both, his most recent partner being Balazs Hunek of Chicago. Go online to the U.S. Canoe & Kayak official site at www. usack.org to check it out.

It may look crazy to you and me, but to Naranjo, it's the most natural boat in the world. He's been a paddler since age 13, when he started canoeing in his native Cuba. Within three years, he was competing nationally. He fled his island nation for the United States in 1994.

The 5-foot-3, 142-pound Naranjo moved to Lee County from Miami about a year ago for the Cape's 400 miles of canals.

He trains 90 minutes daily in his boat, and then he works with weights another 90 minutes, followed by a half-hour run. It's a family affair, seeing as he works out at home. Plus his family travels with him when he competes.

Hungary was cold and rainy, his wife reported, and Brazil - well who can't have fun in Rio de Janeiro? There also were trips to Atlanta and Seattle. Naranjo went solo to California.

"Busy year," Miladys said, smiling.

And an expensive one, considering the downturn in the real estate/construction industry. Naranjo's business is A D N Quality Builders. The Naranjos are looking for sponsors to defray travel costs.

More travel is coming, too. There are outof the-way places such as Oklahoma City, plus the Pan American games in Canada in 2008 and then - hopefully - Beijing.

"I lose money doing this," he said when we met last week to look at his photos from the Hungarian competition. "But I don't compete for money. I do it because I like it and it's healthy.

"And because I want to win and be on the Olympic team."

- Betsy Clayton is a freelancer based

on Pine Island and is Lee County Parks &

Recreation's waterways coordinator. Contact

her at boatingbybetsy@yahoo.com