[PADDLING]
On a day with conditions conducive to fast racing, solo outrigger canoe paddlers Kai Bartlett and Lauren Spalding demonstrated their ability to be the fastest ever. Records fall in Eyecatcher
By Brandon Lee
Special to the Star-BulletinOld race records were drowned -- or at least threatened by the wake of more than one competitor -- at the 26th annual Outrigger Reef-Eyecatcher Molokai World Championships yesterday, but it was Hawaii's own pair of first-time winners, Bartlett and Spalding, who began the whirlpool effect with record-shattering marks in their respective divisions.
Bartlett won the OC-1 men's division by successfully navigating the 32-mile crossing of the Kaiwi Channel in 3 hours, 42 minutes and 37 seconds, crushing the old record by approximately seven minutes.
"It feels really good, it's hard to explain," Bartlett, 26, said.
In her first attempt at the race that spans from Kaluakoi, Molokai, to the Hawaii Kai Towne Center Marina on Oahu, Spalding won the OC-1 women's competition with a time of 4:28:31. Her time was more than 15 minutes faster than the record Kelly Fey set last year.
"It was perfect (conditions), smoking the whole way, a good ride the whole time," Spalding, 22, said.
"Very surprised," she answered, when questioned as to how she felt about the outcome. "It's definitely been a dream since I was young and it's nice to accomplish that ... I have immense respect for Kelly; I think she's an awesome paddler and definitely like a hero. So it was real nice to win."
Approximately 60 competitors from the U.S., Australia, Japan, New Zealand, South Africa, Italy and Tahiti challenged the 5- to 10-foot swells in the channel. The wind was mostly at their backs, and the racers were able to connect the bumps on rides, making for the fast times.
Mike Judd, Bartlett's teammate at Lanikai Canoe Club during the regatta and long-distance seasons, finished second in the men's OC-1 at 3:47:09, also breaking the old record. Kealii Paiaina placed third at 3:51:45.
"We both broke the record," said Judd, who finished No. 2 for the second straight year. "I'm stoked for Kai, but I got to break the record, too. ... I'm just glad that I'll be paddling now with Kai at Lanikai, instead of racing against him."
The winner of the event the last three years and now the former record holder, Karel Tresnak Jr., did not participate this year because he is attending college on the mainland.
Fey finished second in the women's OC-1 at 4:43:56, and Noelani Sawyer third at 4:48:37.
Two other primary divisions were contested, with defending champion Dean Gardiner of Australia winning the men's surfski division in 3:24:52 for a record-tying ninth career victory overall. At 4:17:34, Hawaii's Nicole Pedersen made it back-to-back championships in the women's surfski after winning it for the first time last year.
Gardiner, who was off his own race-record pace by almost 3 1/2 minutes, was the first competitor to cross the finish line, while Pedersen was the first woman. Pedersen did not challenge the race record.
Bartlett was the seventh finisher overall. He said that after breaking away from the other canoes after the start, he was not seriously challenged until Judd came up on him about 2 1/2 hours in. They battled each other for approximately an hour from that point, until Bartlett was finally able to gap Judd for good with his surfing off of Sandy Beach and on through to the finish.
"It wasn't easy, we were duking it out for a while there," Bartlett said. "But after I made my move on him, I was just trying to pace with the kayakers (surfskis)."
"This is the top (of my career), I can retire now," Bartlett added in jest.
Actually, if his current performances are any indication, Bartlett's career is riding a wave of momentum that may be difficult for anyone to slow down. With yesterday's victory, Bartlett made it three wins in the three Kanaka I Kai Ka series events that he entered this year. The second win came two weeks ago, when he paired with Aaron Napoleon to also break the Kaiwi Channel Relay race record.
And Spalding is a ball of fire in her own right, also claiming three Kanaka I Kai Ka wins this year.
With the regatta season just around the corner, they and their opposition will have little time for rest. In two weeks' time, the five associations statewide will all be into their short-course schedules.