If at first you don't succeed, try, try again. And, that's exactly what a young man from Gainesville who failed by a little more than a second to make the U.S. Olympics team this year intends to do.

Morgan House, 21, says he plans to keep trying to become an Olympics kayaker at least through the 2016 games.

"I'm still young and who knows what will happen," House said recently while home from the Olympics training camp in Chula Vista, Cali., near San Diego.

House, during a taping for an appearance this weekend on Northeast Georgia This Week on WDUN NEWS TALK 550 (5:05 a.m. Sunday) and Sports Radio 1240 The Ticket (9:05 a.m. Sunday), said it was extremely disappointing when failed at the ICF World Cup Regatta June 7 in Szeged, Hungary.

"I felt all along that I would certainly make it," he said.

House finished finished fourth in the men's one-man sprint kayak (K1) 500 meter finals, crossing the finish line in 1 minute, 48.468 seconds -- but fellow U.S. competitor Rami Zur finished second (1:47.112), beating out House for the lone remaining spot on the U.S. national team headed to Beijing.

House, who defeated Zur at the U.S. team trials this April, had to defeat Zur twice in competitive races to earn the spot that Zur had previously qualified for at the 2007 world championships. This will be Zur's third trip to the Olympics.

House had been in training four years and plans to return to Chula Vista in September to begin his quest for the 2012 team. But, he says he won't do much to change the routine he employed the past four years, "except maybe eat better," he said laughing. "I'm getting stronger and faster every year."

House says he trained for about six hours each day the past four years... "either on the water, swimming or in the weight room."

As for the discipline involved in training for the Olympics, House said its pretty much up to the individual.

"People who make it (that far) are serious about making the team and whether they are training for an individual sport or a part of a team, they don't have to be pushed to train and keep focused."

House said there are no bed checks, no curfews and no special diets. Each individual sets his own routines, how often you leave camp and go home or elsewhere for a few days. If you wish to stay out all night, that's okay, but your performance will suffer the next day and that's just another day lost in striving for the ultimate goal.

"My lights are out at 10 o'clock every night," he said, "I'm a too tired to do anything but go to bed and go to sleep."

And, he said those who participate in a team event, say two-man kayak (K2), must remember that if they are not there, their team loses a day or two or more of training because the team member who is left behind can't train alone. That's not an issue for House because in K1 competition, he is his own team.

But, there is one thing where plenty of discipline is involved: drug testing. The Olympics hopefuls are subject to being tested any time, any place... even when they are away from the camp.

"I came home one time for a few days and the day after I got here, they (the drug screeners) were at my door the next morning and I was tested," he recalled.

House takes a dim view of athletes at any level - the Tour de France, Major League Baseball, or the Olympics - who get busted for drugs... and promises that will never happen to him.

"Like it or not, we are role models to a lot of youngsters and that's not the kind of role model I intend to be," he said. And, "yes," he added, athletes who are found to have been doped up when they won their medals "should have to give them back."

House says he got interested in kayaking when he was eight years old, in 1994, and his first experience was on Lake Lanier at the Chattahoochee Country Club. After the 1996 Olympics rowing, canoe and kayak events at what is now the Lake Lanier Olympics Center at Clarks Bridge Park, he began training at that venue. It was early on, he said, that he decided that he want to be an Olympics kayaker "when I grew up" and he has kept focused on that goal since then.

How is his training financed?

"The U.S. Olympic Committee (USOC) pays for it all," he said. "They pay for our lodging, our meals, and our equipment, and we get a stipend, as well."

Where does USOC get its money?

From all those corporate sponsors you read and hear about every two years... the Coca-Colas, the Home Depots, UPS, etc.

So, forgive him if House isn't focused too much on Beijing, China, in a few weeks when the 2008 Summer Olympics begin. Chances are his focus will already be on the 2012 games which will be held in London... and the next chance for him to live his Olympics dream.accessnorthga. com