Posted on: Monday, April 23, 2001
Tresnak, Fey repeat as champs in one-person canoe class
By Dayton Morinaga
Advertiser Staff Writer
Some things changed, others remained the same during the Kanaka I Kai Ka O'ahu Championships yesterday.
More than 200 paddlers participated in the race, which was for one-person canoes, one-person kayaks, and two-person canoes.
Karel Tresnak Jr. and Kelly Fey repeated as champions in the one-person canoe division. Tresnak won the men's race with a time of 2 hours, 5 minutes, 35 seconds over the 18-mile course from Makai Pier to Magic Island. Fey dominated the women's field with a winning time of 2:34:49.
James Beaton and Christy Borton became first-time winners in the kayak division. Beaton won a controversial men's race with a time of 2:01:44. Borton won a close women's race in 2:22:12.
"There were trade winds and some semi-rough swells," Beaton said. "It was really good conditions; the kind of conditions I like."
Still, Beaton was awarded the victory only after Wyatt Jones was disqualified for unsportsmanlike conduct. Jones actually beat Beaton to the finish line, but then got into an argument with a race official over the starting process of the race.
Kanaka I Kai Ka president Karen Kiefer was a participant in the race, and did not witness the incident. She said it was an "official decision," even though several paddlers did not agree with it.
"This is his," Beaton said while holding his first-place medal. "In my eyes, Wyatt still won. I don't feel like I won it, because actually, I didn't."
Beaton, Jones and Kala Judd moved ahead of the field about halfway through the race. Beaton and Jones traded the lead throughout the course before Jones pulled away down the stretch off Waikiki.
"We were going back and forth most of the way," Beaton said. "But in the end, Wyatt pulled away and beat me by about 10 seconds."
Judd was awarded second place in 2:02:59, followed by Todd Clark (2:06:37) and Guy Pere (2:06:41). Nalu Kukea, the four-time defending O'ahu champion, did not enter yesterday's race.
Only six women entered the kayak division, and Borton edged Nicole Wilcox by 32 seconds for first place. Maile Chong, the defending women's champion, did not enter.
In the canoe race, Tresnak broke away from a large pack of contenders by surfing every wave he could find.
"It was a dog fight in the beginning between about five or six of us," he said. "Around Portlock, I got a little bit of a lead and then I just kept surfing the rest of the way and didn't see anybody else come up."
Mike Judd placed second nearly two minutes behind at 2:07:33. Judd (five victories) and Tresnak (four, including yesterday) are the only paddlers to win canoe races so far this season. They both paddle for Lanikai Canoe Club, which placed four of the top five male finishers.
"I had some really good surfing swells, some over 100 yards," Judd said. "But Karel is so good in the surf. I saw him get ahead and pretty much knew that I had to go for second."
Aaron Napoleon was third at 2:08:08, and John Foti (2:08:57) fourth.
"Any one of us can win it on any given day," Tresnak said. "It's so close among the top 10 or so guys that you have to be ready every week."
The women's canoe race was not nearly as close, as Fey won by over seven minutes. Paula Crabb was second at 2:42:25, followed by Megan Clark at 2:45:28.
Earl Chang and Denise Darval-Chang were the first tandem to finish on a two-person canoe in 2:31:43.
More than 150 of the total entries raced on canoes.
A 10-mile "short course" race was also held. Vincent Monaco was the first kayak paddler to complete the course from Hawai'i Kai to Magic Island. Donovan Leandro was the first to finish on a canoe.
The state championship race is scheduled for Sunday. The course will travel from Hawai'i Kai to 'Ewa Beach.
