Benn Fraker - Athletic Achievements

Athletic Achievements

Fraker has competed in many events since he was in middle school, but his first major accomplishment that set the stage for the Olympics was the Junior Pre-World Championships in 2005. He is coached by Cathy Hearn (the USACK canoe coach and multi-time world champion) and her brother Davey Hearn (three-time Olympian, and two-time World Champion) Since the World Junior Championships occur only every other year, the major event for 2005 was the Junior Pre-World Championships. He had major competition in the C-1 event and struggled with a gate penalty on the first run, but flawlessly finished the event with a 192.19 total time to win the event. The Pre-Worlds allowed Fraker to compete against the best juniors in the World Junior Championships. Proceeding to the World Junior Championships in 2006, Fraker finish fifth setting the stage for senior level competition. Although it's a difficult task to transfer from junior to senior level competition, Fraker proceeded to win the US Team Trials in 2007 and become first boat on the senior national teams. He also finished thirteenth in 2007 World Cup Rankings. Fraker's accomplishments led him to the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China. He was one of the youngest competitors in his division. He had struggles in the beginning from the pressures of his first Olympics, but he finished first in the first heat of twenty-three paddlers, and finished overall sixth in the Men's C-1 slalom with a total time of 183.14.