PaoPao 9-man Outrigger Race
The morning started with some higher than expected winds, rain and a 30-minute lightning delay, making for a super-long build-up before the mad dash to get on the water.
Once we were off, the energy was great. Even though our co-ed crew had never paddled together, we clicked into a rhythm surprisingly quickly. My main goal for the day? Keep the vibes high throughout the entire race. As we settled into our pace, we could hear the women’s teams calling changes as they inched closer. Since they started two minutes behind co-ed, that felt like it couldn’t be a good sign. I encouraged our crew to keep the focus on our boat, and our boat only, really talking to myself more than them, reminding myself that we were just here to have fun.
Rounding the first turn, we had awesome momentum and even caught some little bumps that gave us an extra boost. After the second turn, heading downwind, our chase boat let us know we were right on the heels of the third-place boat, Kahakai. Suddenly, “we’re just here for fun” got a lot more competitive. The podium was within reach. When the team ahead went for a change, our crew capitalized, pulling ahead to claim a minor lead they skillfully held onto.
Then came our next change! John, our change coach for the day, gave us our cues and quick instructions on how to keep the momentum flowing. I was heading into seat two, a seat I rarely paddle, and Candice (rocking her very first OC6 race) was going to seat four. We hopped into the water, ready to nail it. The canoe came, I zoned in, and hopped into seat four…
Only to get into the seat and realize that’s not where I was supposed to go! I missed my seat, Candice is hanging on to the side of seat five and shouts are going around that we needed someone in seat two! “Shoot, that was supposed to be me.” We grab Candice from the back iako passing her forward like a bread basket at the Thanksgiving table, from seat four, to three, and three up to front iako, where she climbs into seat two. The whole thing felt like it was minutes long, the video playback revealing that it was 20 seconds before Candice was in seat two paddling strong. Unfortunately, 20 seconds was all Kahakai needed to regain the lead.
With one more change to go, we powered through. We rounded the final buoy about 40 seconds behind Kahakai, Diana, our steerswoman queen, hugged the jetty coming into the harbor, hoping for a magic wave to carry us up to Kahakai. No such luck. We finished strong, pushing hard right to the end… 26 seconds behind Kahakai.
Disappointed in myself for my mistake, I apologized to the team, feeling like I was the reason we were behind. Everyone was encouraging, ensuring that it could happen to anyone, but I was so bummed I never even checked the race results. Imagine my surprise when I show up to practice on Monday and a teammate said congratulations on my medal. “What?!?!”