Patrick Dolan's accelerated pace in the sport of kayaking resulted in a record haul of gold medals last week.

Dolan won eight gold medals at the USA Canoe & Kayak Flatwater Sprint National Championships at Seattle, Wash.

Dolan, a senior-to-be at Maryknoll School, started kayaking this year.

"I was hoping to do good, but I never thought it would turn out like this," he said.

Jim Farnum, coach of the Hawai'i Canoe & Kayak Team, said: "It's an amazing accomplishment. He's been in the (kayak) about eight months now. It takes some people years to get to compete at this level. To win at this level as fast as he has is unheard of."

Farnum said competitors are allowed to enter a maximum of eight races, so Dolan paddled away with a perfect performance.

"I know there's been guys who won eight medals before, but I don't know if any have won eight gold," Farnum said.

Dolan, 17, won six gold medals in the junior division (ages 18 and younger), but he also proved his worth by winning two gold medals in the senior division (open to all ages).

Most significant, he won the K-1 (one-person kayak) 1,000-meter race in both the junior and senior divisions.

"With his times, we figured he'd be fast enough to compete against the other seniors, so that's why we entered him," Farnum said. "And he just amazed everybody by winning it."

Dolan was not the only Hawai'i competitor to fare well.

Eric Abbott also won eight medals — six gold and two silver. His two silver medals came in events that Dolan won.

"It was just real exciting to be a part of that," said Abbott, a senior-to-be at Punahou. "We were just trying to score as many points as we could for Hawai'i."

Dolan and Abbott paired to win three gold medals in the K-2 (two-person kayaks) races, including a victory against older paddlers in the senior 1,000 race.

"It was great to win, but I felt like we could have gone faster," Dolan said. "I definitely want to improve and try it again next year."

Earlier this month, Dolan and Abbott represented the United States at the Sprint Junior World Championships at Hungary. They made the semifinals in a K-4 race, but did not reach any finals.

"It was nothing like I've ever experienced before," Abbott said. "There were 40,000 fans lining the course and there were so many fast (paddlers). It made me realize how much harder I have to work."

One day after competing at the world championships, Dolan and Abbott were at the nationals. Several of the other elite American paddlers opted to stay in Europe, and did not enter the nationals.

"A lot of the top guys weren't there (in Seattle), but the competition was still tough," Abbott said. "And we wanted to be there, so we flew in and raced even though we were tired."

Led by Dolan and Abbott, the Hawai'i Canoe & Kayak Team won the team trophy in the junior division of the nationals.

Seven other paddlers were on the Hawai'i team, and each won at least one gold medal: Kai Chong, Ben Creps, Brenden Donahue, Dustin Gaessner, Robby Kelly, Kilty Inafuku and Allison Trecker.

"As a club, it was really something to see every kid win," Farnum said. "It shows that Hawai'i is on the upswing."

Several Hawai'i paddlers also competed in the senior and masters divisions at the national championships. Among the gold medal winners were Farnum, Chris Ball, Blane Chong, Stuart Gaessner and Nathan Rice.

Reach Dayton Morinaga at dmorinaga@honoluluadvertiser.com.