American canoeist hopes to bring Disney magic in historic 4th Olympic appearance: Racing Toward Paris

This is the fifth installment in our weeklong series taking a closer look at Team USA members and their sports as the Paris Olympics get underway. 

Casey Eichfeld is many things: a husband, father, Olympian and a self-described Disney fanatic.  

“We got married at Disney World in Epcot,” he told Straight Arrow News, confirming his and his wife’s Disney devotion.

Eichfeld is hoping for a little Disney magic as he enters his fourth Olympics, competing in canoe slalom for Team USA.

We asked him to explain the rules of the sport. He gave SAN this concise explanation:

“Canoe slalom is a series of gates hanging over a whitewater river. Athletes have to navigate those gates and there will be 18 to 25 of them. Fastest time wins. If we touch a gate we incur a 2-second penalty. If we miss a gate, go through it upside down or the wrong direction, we get a 50-second penalty. And that’s really about it.”

But that’s far from it when talking about Eichfeld, who will be making history in his sport for most Olympic appearances. He was, in a way, born for canoeing. 

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“My parents had a boat waiting for me before I was born so I don’t know if I was really given that much choice,” Eichfeld said with a laugh.

So once he started he said everything clicked, a perfect fit like Cinderella’s glass slipper, and he fell in love with the sport.

In 2008, he qualified for his first Olympics in Beijing at 18 years old. It was an experience he called “super surreal,” especially being part of the opening ceremony.

“That’s one of the memories that will stay with me all of my life, particularly my first opening ceremonies,” Eichfeld said. “There’s 550 of us, we’re walking through the tunnel into the bird’s nest and everyone’s chanting ‘USA! USA!’ It gives me chills every time I think about it.”

Eichfeld said it’s not just the memories on the water that stick with him. He said he has plenty of other stories to share.

“I have a memory of hanging out at our athlete’s lounge in our village building, chilling out, watching other sports — Michael Phelps walks in,” Eichfeld recalled. “He’s like, ‘Hey are there any Uncrustables left?’ I said, ‘Dude, I got you.’ I took him right to the fridge that had them, had a coffee together, chatted a little bit. ‘It’s cool to see you. I’m not at all starstruck.’”

After placing 7th at the Rio Games in 2016, his highest placement yet, but then not qualifying for Tokyo 2021, Eichfeld contemplated retirement. He was starting a family and wondering if it was time to turn the page on his Olympic quest, but, like Moana, the water called to him.

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“I had to make the decision: If I’m going to do this, I’m going to do this,” Eichfeld said. “There’s no messing around with this. If I’m going to take the time to be away from my family, as much as I need to be, then I really need to put the effort in and it paid off.”

At 34 years old, Eichfeld is now the veteran among his Team USA crew. He’s already thinking ahead, not just about his Olympics dreams, but the ones coming true at home, too.

“I’m really happy with my decision [to compete], now I get to make that decision again,” Eichfeld said. “We got a home Olympics coming and we have a baby boy coming at the end of October. So big, big year for me.”

“I like to add big things to my Olympic years. In 2016, my wife and I got married in December and this time, we’re having a baby two months after the Olympics. So why not make it a big year, a really memorable year?”

With his family in Paris motivating him, Eichfeld is looking to bring home the gold this time around and then celebrate in style. 

“I want to prove that I belong here and even in my advanced age that I can still throw it down,” Eichfeld said. “So I’m fighting for the podium. I want to be up there. And then when I get home I want to go Disney.”