One-year layoff can't stop Tresnak from canoe title
| • | Chalupsky first to 10th win in Moloka'i paddling race |
| • | 'Oiwi Moloka'i World Championships results |
By Dayton Morinaga
Advertiser Staff Writer
A one-year break was hardly enough to break the winning ways of Karel Tresnak Jr.
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Tresnak made a triumphant return to the 'Oiwi Moloka'i World Championships yesterday, winning the men's one-person canoe division for a record fourth time.
"I got in a good rhythm and got ahead," said Karel Tresnak Jr.
He completed the 32-mile course from Kaluako'i Beach, Moloka'i, to Hawai'i Kai Towne Center, O'ahu, in 3 hours, 51 minutes, 32 seconds. Tresnak won three consecutive titles from 1999-2001, then skipped last year's race because of a conflicting college schedule at the University of Colorado.
"I would say the field this year was the toughest ever," said Tresnak, 22. "I knew it was going to be tough just to be near the top again, so I trained really hard for this one."
Kai Bartlett, who set the course record last year, placed second at 3:52:57. Mike Judd was third at 3:56:51.
Led by Tresnak, those top three canoe paddlers were the top three overall finishers from Hawai'i, beating out the fastest surfski paddlers from Hawai'i.
It is the first time in the 28-year history of the race that the first overall finisher from Hawai'i paddled a canoe and not a surfski.
"We're pushing the limits of the sport," Bartlett said.
Maui's Lauren Spalding continued to do the same in the women's one-person canoe division. She finished in 4:30:00 to cap an undefeated season.
Tresnak surged ahead of the lead pack midway across the Kaiwi Channel and maintained it the rest of the way. For the first half of the race, the leaders paddled virtually side-by-side.
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"We were all kind of cruising, waiting for the other guy to make a move," Tresnak said.
Lauren Spalding was the runaway winner in the female canoe division of the 'Oiwi Moloka'i World Championships, finishing in 4 hours, 30 minutes, which was 31 minutes ahead of the second-place finisher.
Bartlett added: "We were playing off each other. I think we all were kind of thinking about conserving energy for the end."
Tresnak said the Channel offered alternate patches of flat water and favorable waves.
"There would be nothing for five to 10 minutes," he said. "Then all of a sudden you'd find some magic surf and get rides of 100, 200 yards."
During one of those "magic" moments about two hours into the race, Tresnak decided to make his move.
"I just wanted to see what would happen," he said. "Fortunately, I got in a good rhythm and got ahead."
Bartlett added: "I saw him surfing on by and went, 'Oh no, there he goes.' I couldn't even see him after a while, that's how fast he went by me."
Bartlett tried to make up ground by drifting to a more northerly course, but that only made the final margin closer.
"Karel deserved to win this race because we were all right there," Bartlett said. "We were all on the same line, and he just beat everybody. No excuses."
Spalding's victory was perhaps the most impressive of all the divisions. She finished more than 31 minutes — which equates to more than three miles — ahead of second-place Dane Ward.
Despite less than favorable conditions, Spalding's winning time was only 89 seconds off the record she set last year.
Spalding, 23, also finished second overall among all female paddlers. Only surfski winner Kirsty Holmes of Australia finished ahead of Spalding. Like Tresnak in the men's canoe division, Spalding beat all the top female surfski paddlers from Hawai'i.
What's more, Spalding has spent most of the year training on a flat-water kayak in hopes of earning a spot on the United States national team.
"This was an active rest day for me," she said. "Usually, I'm supposed to be in a (kayak) and I only paddle (canoes) in races."
