Nash retires from U.S. Ski Team, pursuing career a pilot

Swenson wins Nor Am Cup race in Fairbanks

While one local athlete is hanging up his cross-country skis for good, another continues to leave his mark on the international scene. U.S. Cross-Country Ski Team announced the retirement of Marcus Nash, of Fryeburg, yesterday. Four days earlier, Carl Swenson, of North Conway, won a Nor Am Cup race in Fairbanks, Alaska.Nash, a two-time Olympian and nine-time U.S. champion, had spent the past year trying to rehabilitate a shoulder injury he suffered while alpine skiing. Countless hours of work simply never got the shoulder to a point where the Fryeburg Academy alum felt pain-free. "Marcus actually retired just before the Olympics (but it became official yesterday)," Mary Nash, his mom, said from Fryeburg yesterday. "That shoulder where he fell on the mountain just never quite recovered. He had two pins put in it and spent nine months in grueling rehab but he still wasn't able to regain full movement in his shoulder.""He phoned me just before the nationals (last January) and said, 'Mom, I'm just not used to this,'" she said. "He was skiing in such pain and not getting the results he had become accustomed to. The coaches told him not to worry and said that he had earned a spot on the (U.S. Olympic) team, but he said he couldn't take it. He said he didn't want to disgrace himself skiing in front of his home crowd (in Utah), or take the spot of someone who was healthy and could be more of a benefit to the team at that time."Nash did not stay in Utah for the Olympics. He got off his skis and away from snow and began a new chapter in his life."He never shared much with me about his feelings about all of this," his mother said. ''He said he was retiring, and just like that, he was off on his second dream to be a pilot. I never thought that was a passion of his. He went to Florida right after the nationals, got into a flight school and graduated in single engine and multiple engine... Now he has a commercial rating and is actually teaching flying out in California."Nash, who was the top U.S. cross-country skier for three straight years heading into 2002, has logged more than 750 hours in the air and upon reaching 1,000 intends to try and become a pilot for a commercial airline. "He absolutely loves it," his mom said. "The dedication he put into his skiing has just carried over into flying. He seems to be a natural at it. He tells me his dream now is to fly for a big airline."Nash, who resides in Truckee, Calif., will be doing some ski events this winter, serving as an ambassador for U.S. Ski Team at a number of races. "He'll essentially be teaching classes during the races.""He seems to be very happy," she said. "He was home for the (Fryeburg) Fair and got his fill of it. He loves coming home and catching up with everyone... I think he has lots of very good memories from the sport. I don't think he has any regrets. When I think about all of the six-hour training days and then the times he got sick just before the Olympics and World Championships and wonder if it was all worthwhile, but he said he wouldn't change a thing... I'm proud of him. This was his dream for so long I'm glad it came true for him."Swenson, a two-time Olympian himself, has been on a roll for the past year, becoming the nation's premier distance skier. The Boulder, Colo., resident, held off Olympic teammate Kris Freeman, of Andover, to win by more than a half-minute Saturday in a 15-km freestyle cross-country race on the first day of the Nor Am Cup races sponsored by Fairbanks Youth Sports. The races, originally scheduled to a be duathlon (two races with no break as skiers switched equipment from classic to freestyle technique after the first race), were moved to West Ridge Ski Trails at University of Alaska Fairbanks because of marginal snow conditions at Birch Hill. Swenson, who started four minutes ahead of Freeman in the field of 30, finished in 33:01.1 with Freeman runner-up in 33:35.8. Third place went to University of Alaska Fairbanks racer Michal Malak (33:53.3)."We had a cold front move in [Friday] night and so it was about 15 degrees for the race, colder than we expected but good winter conditions," said U.S. Nordic Director Luke Bodensteiner. "And the snow conditions were pretty good. It's too bad there hasn't been enough snow to allow the double-pursuit that was scheduled because the organizers have done a great job getting things going... The fields weren't as big as last year, with all the Olympic interest, and it's too bad because some people missed some good racing."