Jim Terrell

Jim Terrell grew up racing marathon canoes in the Midwest, and eventually paddled canoes at the 1988, 1992, and 1996 Olympic Games. Between 1983-99 he competed at eight World Championships. Terrell won four medals at the Pan American Games between 1987-99, including golds in the C1-500 in 1987 and 1995. Between 1979-91 he won 17 gold medals and 28 medals at US Olympic Festivals. He won national titles almost every year between 1980-99.

As a boy, Terrell starting building paddles with his father, who built boats. This led to his career, as he established QuickBlade Paddles in 1990 in Costa Mesa, California. Terrell not only designs paddles for canoe and kayak racing, but has become a big proponent of stand-up paddling, and builds paddles for that sport as well. In his hometown of Milford, Ohio, he was honored in 1998 by naming a town park as the Jim Terrell Park. Terrell was inducted into the Clermont County (Ohio) Hall of Fame in 1994.