Brothers Hope for Doubles Duty : Olympics: Fred and Dave Spaulding, who have paddled together since 1986, qualify for trip to Barcelona.

Like any amateur athlete, Fred Spaulding regards competing in the Olympics as the culmination of a lifelong dream and years of struggle and dedication.

But Spaulding, 26, a Costa Mesa resident who is one of the nation’s top canoeists in the 500- and 1,000-meters singles competition, has an added incentive.

He gets to bring along his younger brother, Dave, 25, a Newport Beach resident, to Barcelona, where they might team up in the doubles competition.

The Spauldings, who have paddled together in the 500- and 1,000-meter doubles since 1986, form one of the top combinations in the United States. In recent years, they’ve competed for the Newport Aquatics Club and trained in Newport Bay. But in April, they were on Lake Wheeler near Raleigh, N.C., for the Olympic trials.

“It’s kind of a good experience to go to the Olympics with your brother,� said Fred, a Cal State Long Beach graduate, while taking a break from training at Lake Placid, N.Y.

“I’m excited and nervous,� said Dave, a recent UC Irvine graduate who is also training at Lake Placid. “I’m really pleased to be qualifying for the U.S. Olympic team. I think that every Olympic athlete that does well gets a lot of help from a lot of people.�

Also representing the Spaulding family in Barcelona will be the brothers’ father, Frederick, of Manchester, Conn., and older brother, Bill, who will be in the stands.

Fred Spaulding has been involved in competitive canoeing the longest, getting his start in 1978 under Bill Bragg, coach of the Ventura Olympic Canoe Club. Spaulding competed in Junior World championship competitions in Bulgaria (1981), Cuba (1982) and Poland (1983).

“I began competing in seniors in 1984, but I didn’t make the senior world teams (until 1989),� Spaulding said. “I couldn’t quite get in.�

But when Fred and Dave hooked up in doubles in 1986, they got a taste of international competition after winning the European trials at Lake Sebago, N.Y.

“The first time we went over to compete against the guys in Europe, it was quite an eye-opener to see how good they were,� Fred recalled.

In 1988, Fred Spaulding finished fourth in the Olympic trials and failed to make the cut for Seoul. His frustration began to grow.

“In 1989, I decided I couldn’t be on the edge anymore,� he said. “I wanted to compete internationally. I entered (Cal State) Long Beach, but what saved me was the Athletes’ Subsistence Program. I was working (jobs) quite a bit, and it was very time consuming. I just didn’t have the time to train the way I should.�

Spaulding stepped up his training program that year and it paid off when he qualified for the world championship team for the first time as a senior. His improvement continued and he was able to compete internationally in 1990, this time in Bulgaria.

The Spauldings were also making waves as a doubles team in 1990, when they won the 500-meter two-man canoe sprint in the Olympic Festival at Lake Elmo, Minn., defeating Jim Terrell and Wyatt Jones in 1:54.65 in the final.

Since graduating from Long Beach in December, 1990, Fred Spaulding has been training full time, aided by the support of his wife, Victoria, a chemist.

“I’ve been doing a lot of endurance training for a year and a half full time,� Spaulding said. “But a lot of these guys (internationally) have trained for a dozen years. It makes it quite difficult to compete on that level.�

Dave Spaulding, who is single, came into competitive canoeing through the same route as his brother. Again it was Bragg, who was also a teacher at Balboa Middle School in Ventura, who got the younger Spaulding started.

“It was pretty easy for me, because I had been a student at Balboa,� Dave Spaulding said. “That club (Ventura Olympic Canoe Club) had won national championships many times. In 1985, I managed to make the junior national team. It was another positive thing. Every time you get a positive thing happening, it keeps you interested.�

After graduating from Ventura Buena High, Spaulding enrolled at UC Irvine and continued his training at the Newport Aquatic Club.

“I got started in 1982, but I didn’t start seriously until 1985,� he said. “I was mostly into surfing, but I got a job at the 1984 L.A. Olympics doing all sorts of odd jobs at Lake Casitas. I got to see the Olympic people and it looked great to me. They had similar body builds to me. That’s kind of what got me started.�

Although he is a member of the U.S. Olympic team, Dave Spaulding may not compete in Barcelona if his brother competes in both the 500 and 1,000 singles races.

“Everything is still undecided at this point,� Fred Spaulding said. “If I compete in the singles, then it will be too difficult for me to participate in the doubles, too.�

Spaulding expects the Russians, Bulgarians, Hungarians and Germans to be contenders for the medals.

“This year, if I can finish in the top nine group, I feel I’ll be doing well,� he said.

And bringing his younger brother along will make it even better.