Newport Harbor Senior on Olympic Kayak Team

Newport Beach’s Lia Rousset, 18, has become the youngest qualifier for the 1996 U.S. Olympic women’s kayak team.

Rousset, a senior at Newport Harbor, and partner DeAnne Hemmens, 30, of Costa Mesa, were named to the four-person team Sunday night at the Arco Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista. They also won the two-person trials, but Hemmens said they had to face one more challenge race on Monday.

Rousset said making the team “seemed like a dream to me.”

“I had no idea what kayaking was until my sixth grade teacher introduced it to me,” she said. “Then some former Olympians took me under their wing and here I am. It’s because of all my mentors I am able to be here.”

Hemmens started paddling with Rousset in September, after another partner decided not to pursue the Olympics.