Thomas Bennett "Benn" Fraker (born February 23, 1989, in

Rome, Georgia Rome is the largest city in and the county seat of Floyd County, Georgia, United States. Located in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, it is the principal city of the Rome, Georgia metropolitan area, Rome, Georgia, metropolitan statist ...

) is an American slalom canoeist who competed at the international level from 2004 to 2014. He finished sixth in the C1 event at the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fro ...

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

Early life

Fraker was born in

, on February 23, 1989. He soon moved to

Peachtree City, Georgia Peachtree City is the largest city in Fayette County, Georgia, United States. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 38,244. Peachtree City is located in southern Metro Atlanta. Golf carts are widely used in the city. Over 10,000 hous ...

, where his family resides today. His parents, Tom and Marsha Fraker, supported him by driving him to different parts of the country to paddle more challenging rivers. He has a younger brother, Davis, and a younger sister, Addie, who are involved in different athletic sports. Davis is a 4A state record holder in track and field events discus, shot put, and hammer throw. Benn had been training for over ten years in

kayaking Kayaking is the use of a kayak for moving over water. It is distinguished from canoeing by the sitting position of the paddler and the number of blades on the paddle. A kayak is a low-to-the-water, canoe-like boat in which the paddler sits fac ...

and

canoeing Canoeing is an activity which involves paddling a canoe with a single-bladed paddle. In some parts of Europe, canoeing refers to both canoeing and kayaking, with a canoe being called an 'open canoe' or Canadian. A few of the recreational ...

. Initially he started by watching his father, Tom Fraker, paddle recreationally. He began playing with his dad's kayaking equipment in the pool and later attempted to paddle down rivers. He was a soccer player until he developed

Sever's disease Sever's disease, also known as calcaneal apophysitis, is an inflammation at the back of the heel (or calcaneus) growth plate in growing children. The condition is thought to be caused by repetitive stress at the heel. This condition is benign and ...

in his heel, which is caused by overuse and small injuries to the growth plates. The disease required Fraker to stay off his feet. Kayaking and canoeing allowed him to recover from the disease and still stay active in sports. He started to get involved in the sport around the age of eleven or twelve.

Career

Fraker competed in many events since he was in middle school, but his first major accomplishment that set the stage for the

Olympics The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a variety of competit ...

was the Junior Pre-World Championships in 2005. He was 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 occurred only every other year, the major event for 2005 was the Junior Pre-World Championships. He had major competition in the C1 event and struggled with a gate penalty on the first run, but 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. Proceeding to the 2006 World Junior Championships, Fraker finished 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 13th in 2007 World Cup rankings. Fraker's accomplishments led him to the

. 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 6th overall in the C1 event with a total time of 183.14.Branco, Olivia. "Car or kayak, Fraker logs miles; U.S. paddler, dad will drive far to find whitewater." USA Today 2008. 12c. Galileo. Web. 16 Sep 2010. .

World Cup individual podiums

¹ Pan American Championship counting for World Cup points

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fraker, Benn 1989 births Living people American male canoeists Canoeists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Olympic canoeists for the United States Sportspeople from Rome, Georgia Sportspeople from Peachtree City, Georgia Sportspeople from Fayette County, Georgia 21st-century American sportsmen