BRYSON CITY, N.C. — When your father is a legendary whitewater kayaker and coach, and you’re a kid afraid of the water, it kind of stinks.
That was just one of many obstacles Michal Smolen overcame to become the best whitewater slalom kayaker in the country and the only one to make the U.S. Olympic Team heading to Rio de Janeiro in August.
Michal Smolen, (whose first name is pronounced “Mee-how”) was born in Krakau, Poland, and emigrated with his family to Sylva when he was 9, for his father, Rafal Smolen, a two-time Olympic kayak alternate from Poland, to head up whitewater coaching for the elite Nantahala Racing Club.