Kane'ohe canoers triumph at Ke'ehi Lagoon
By Dayton Morinaga
Advertiser Staff Writer
Clint Anderson took a year off from coaching canoe paddling last year to rebuild his house.
Jeff Widener • The Honolulu Advertiser
Yesterday, he returned to coaching and took the first step toward rebuilding the Kane'ohe Canoe Club into championship form.
A victory by this women's novice A crew helped Koa Kai win the A division for smaller clubs at the Hui O Ikaika Regatta yesterday at Ke'ehi Lagoon.
Riding the strength of its youth paddlers, Kane'ohe won the Hui O Ikaika Regatta at Ke'ehi Lagoon. It was the opening regatta of the Na 'Ohana O Na Hui Wa'a season. Kane'ohe amassed 70 points over 36 races to top a field that included 16 teams and more than 1,200 paddlers.
"It's all forward now," said Anderson. "We know what we have to work with."
Perennial power Lokahi, which has won 13 of the past 14 Hui Wa'a championships, placed second with 65 points. Manu O Ke Kai was third with 40.
Koa Kai won the A division for smaller clubs with 29 points. Kalihi Kai was second with 25.
"I had things to do last year," Anderson said. "But everything settled down, so I came back to the 'ohana."
Anderson led Kane'ohe to a Hui Wa'a title in 1999. Last year, Lokahi took it back.
"Lokahi is still strong," Anderson said. "I think it's going to come down to the wire all the time. We just have to keep it up."
As has been the case for the past two years, Kane'ohe dominated the youth races while Lokahi countered with a strong performance by its women.
Of Kane'ohe's 70 points, 38 came during the 13 youth races. Five-point victories came in the girls 12s, boys 12s, boys 13s, girls 15s and boys 16s.
"The kids are still our strength, no matter what," Anderson said.
The Lokahi women closed the gap by sweeping all four of the open races (freshman, sophomore, senior and open-4) by convincing margins. Dy Valdez, Theresa Gerry, Suzanne Schaefer, Joanne Vierra, Jen Thompson-Tuzon and Mikala Hetland each paddled in two different winning crews.
"We knew we had to put in a strong performance, but we weren't sure if we were going to be able to," Hetland said. "We put in some extra work to make sure."
Prior to yesterday's regatta, the Lokahi women held an early-morning practice.
"We motivate each other," Gerry said. "Up until this morning, we were pushing each other for (starting) seats."
As proof, Lokahi won the women's senior race — the top division for females — by a whopping 43 seconds.
After 33 of yesterday's 36 races, Lokahi and Kane'ohe were tied with 63 points.
A key move came in the 35th race — women's masters— when Lokahi was forced to withdraw because it did not have enough paddlers to form a crew.
"We already had them racing in other places to make other crews," explained Lokahi head coach Wayne Babineau.
Kane'ohe placed fourth in that race, resulting in only one point, but it was still one more than Lokahi.
Kane'ohe sealed the victory by winning the final race of the day, men's masters.
"In the old days, when Lokahi raced out and just dominated, the only question was 'Are we gonna crack 100 points?' " Babineau said. "From a coaching standpoint, that was nicer in a way because you could relax and cruise. But for the club, I think it works better when we've got competition. I think it makes it more interesting for everybody."
Overall, Kane'ohe won nine races; Lokahi won eight.
The competition was also tight in the A division, with Koa Kai clinching it with a late surge.
Koa Kai and Kalihi Kai were tied with 20 points after 33 races, but Koa Kai then won the mixed open-6 race and placed second in women's masters to pull away.
"It went all the way to the end," Koa Kai head coach Joe Kim said. "But we helped make it exciting because we made some mistakes earlier; we got couple of our crews (disqualified)."
Koa Kai won four races, including the prestigious men's senior race. The crew of Andrew Gomes, Brian Arzadon, Lyndel Harper, John Schubert, Jason Corrales and Dave Randall completed the 1 1/2-mile course in 12 minutes, 12.05 seconds.
The next Hui Wa'a regatta is scheduled for Sunday at Waimanalo Beach Park.
The O'ahu Hawaiian Canoe Racing Association is scheduled to open its season with the Clement Paiaina Regatta on Sunday at Ke'ehi Lagoon.
