GEORGE F. LEE / GLEE@STARBULLETIN.COM Jamie Mitchell won last year's Quicksilveredition Molokai to Oahu Paddleboard Race in a record 4 hours, 56 minutes and 3 seconds.

Mitchell up for
another title

The Australian looks for
his fourth straight win

RYAN Addison wishes he had the answer on how to beat Jamie Mitchell.

In fact, Addison isn't the only person who has yet to figure out how to catch the 28-year-old Australian, who is one of the world's top paddleboarders.

Mitchell is riding a three-year winning streak heading into tomorrow's Quiksilveredition Molokai to Oahu Paddleboard Race. In race-friendly conditions last year, Mitchell mastered the 32-mile trek across the Kaiwi Channel in a record 4 hours, 56 minutes and 3 seconds.

The race is considered the world championship of long-distance paddleboarding. Paddleboards are streamlined surfboards between 12 and 16 feet.

"I don't know what it's going to take (to beat Mitchell)," said Addison, a 33-year-old from Malibu, Calif., who finished second to Mitchell at last Saturday's Hennessey's International Paddleboard Championships at Waikiki. "Maybe him having a bad day or one of us having a good day? The potential is there."

Mitchell knows the target will be on his back when the other 113 competitors take off from Kaluakoi Hotel and Golf Club on Molokai tomorrow at 7:30 a.m. for Maunalua Bay Beach Park in Hawaii Kai. But after years of success on the Molokai and other races internationally, Mitchell has confidence in the training that has brought him to this level.

GEORGE F. LEE / GLEE@STARBULLETIN.COM Jamie Mitchell closed in on the finish line en route to a victory in last Saturday's Hennessey's International Paddleboard Championship at Kaimana Beach. Mitchell will seek another win in tomorrow's Molokai-to-Oahu race.

"The expectations are high," said Mitchell, who has spent the past month on Oahu to get acclimated with the summer heat. "My preparation has been similar to the past few years. That obviously has culminated into a win.

"I'm hoping to do that this year. If I go out and give 110 percent, that's all I can ask out of myself. If that's a win, it will be great. If it's second or third, that's fine. As long as I can give it my all, that's all I can ask."

Mitchell asked fellow Aussie Mick Dibetta about long-distance paddleboarding in 1999. Dibetta, 42, won the inaugural Molokai race in 1997 and has become a coach and mentor for Mitchell.

Dibetta's training routine, down to the style of board he uses, has attracted much attention from other paddleboarders, who have tried to emulate it. While some focus their training on speed workouts, Dibetta's training group is out in the water paddling for more than an hour every other day. On weekends, they do longer paddles. Interval training is mixed in between.

Mitchell spends four months training for paddleboarding, three months surfing during the winter in Hawaii and the remainder of the year in Australia as a lifeguard and "regular guy." He's been active in the water since age 5, which he credits for helping him in races.

"You got to read the ocean in Hawaii," Mitchell said. "The bumps and surfing is really important. Not everyone has that ability to do that. I'm glad I was brought up from a young age in the ocean, so I'm lucky in that sense."

In a sport where prize money is not very substantial ($1,500 for first place tomorrow), the love of the sport and the people involved in it are what keep Mitchell going.

"In the Molokai, to paddle for that long, it's a great feeling when you finish -- a sense of achievement," Mitchell said. "You're out in the middle, you tell yourself you're never doing this again and as soon as you finish and cross that line, you're like, 'That wasn't so bad, I'll come back again.'

"I see guys that are paddling in their 50s. As long as I'm enjoying it and physically able to do it, then I can't really see myself stopping in the near future. Hopefully I'll be down until I'm 40 or 50. That's the plan anyway."

Quiksilveredition Molokai to Oahu Race The 32-mile race starts at 7:30 a.m. at the Kaluakoi Hotel and Golf Club on Molokai and finishes at Maunalua Bay Beach Park in Hawaii Kai 2004 winners Jamie Mitchell, Australia, 4 hours, 56 minutes, 3 seconds* (open), Tim Foran, Australia, 5:39:01 (stock), Kanesa Duncan, Honolulu, 5:53:49* (women), Jimmy Austin and Dolan Eversole, Hawaii, 5:04:48* (team). Contenders Open: Ryan Addison, 33, California; Mick Dibetta, 42, Australia; Ludovic Dulou, 33, France; Cory Hutchings, 34, New Zealand; Jamie Mitchell, 28, Australia; Brian Rocheleau, 29, Honolulu. Women: Hayley Bateup, 25, Australia; Kanesa Duncan, 29, Honolulu; Terri Sullivan, 24, Australia. Stock: Victor Hemmy III, 31, Honolulu; George Ramos, 53, Haleiwa; Matt Sack, 34, Kaawa. Teams: Jimmy Austin and Dolan Eversole, Hawaii; Dave Kalama and Dave Daly, Hawaii; Hayden Smith and Bruce Taylor, Australia. * records