Up a creek, with a paddle; Women seek equality for sprint canoe.(SPORTS)

Byline: Patrick Hruby, THE WASHINGTON TIMES

ATHENS - Rolling hills rise in the distance. Water sparkles in the morning sun. A stiff breeze cuts across the course at Schinias Rowing Center, where Nate Johnson and Jordan Malloch have just finished their preliminary heat in the 1,000-meter two-man canoe race.

"It's great," says Johnson, a first-time Olympian from Seattle. "Everything is great."

Johnson is fortunate. As one of the world's best male sprint canoeists, he gets to be here, gets to compete. Gets to live his Olympic dream.

Pam Boteler is a woman. She doesn't.

A 35-year-old canoeist from Alexandria, Boteler is the top female sprint paddler in the country. Undefeated against American racers. Swifter than many men.

From her chiseled physique to her love for her sport, Boteler has all the makings of an archetypal Olympian - only women's sprint canoe isn't part of the Summer Games program.

And so she sits at home, watching the Athens Games like everyone else. On television.

"I wish I could go be a spectator," says Boteler, who formerly worked in the Office of the Inspector General at the Interior Department and now works for Homeland Security. …