SEATTLE - Jordan Malloch just keeps moving forward as fast as he can, confident that the last year of training has put him on a new competitive level.

"I'm definitely top ten in the world right now. I have proven that over the past year," he said.

He has put in thousands of hours, tens of thousands of miles on Green Lake.

As a 20-year-old, he made the U.S. Olympic team for the Sydney games.  He made it again in Athens, paddling with fellow Seattlite Nate Johnson.

Canoeing has consumed and defined his life, but in some ways it has been a long and lonely boat ride.

This is hardly a big money sport. Malloch worked for years part-time at home depot, part of the company's longtime support program for Olympic athletes.

He's had to develop his own training programs, work out with friends and teammates and occasionally join the Canadian national team for training sessions.

This year for the first time, U.S.A. Canoe and Kayak has provided a full-time coach.

But right now he's not just on the national sprint canoeing team. He is the national sprint canoeing team.

"I am the team at this point … looking forward to having some company here in the future," he said.

In the meantime, he's been dialing in life outside the sport, putting his accounting degree to use in real estate.

"Knowing that you've competed against the best in the world and done well, you can apply that focus and that drive to something else," he said. "I think its applicable across the board to many things but I've chosen to focus on real estate."

He and his wife Shannon are expecting a baby boy in November, so it's time to leave the paddling to someone else. The next Olympics, Malloch's third, will be his last. And he expects quite a show in China.

"They're trying to smooth over their image they're going to put on a great show. Theyr'e going to try to push that out of the way and say 'this is what we are now so its going to be an amazing event," he said.