Skip to main content
Thursday, October 29, 2026Oct 29

This story is free to read.

Mining for Gold

mining-gold
mining-gold mining-gold

She might be on her way to London…

He could be scouting a drop on the Chattooga…

She could be his 11-year-old daughter, Séu Jane Jacobi, paddling next to him on the Ocoee.

Whoever will be the next American paddler to bring gold back to the States, it’s Jacobi’s job to find him or her and develop them into world-class competitors.

photo Joe Jacobi

It’s been 20 years since Jacobi, now the CEO of USA Canoe/Kayak, and teammate Scott Strausbaugh won the United States’ only gold medal in Whitewater Canoe Slalom. In the two decades since, no other American paddler of any discipline has been to the top step of the podium at the Olympics. In Beijing, no American paddler brought home a medal of any color.