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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Thursday, August 2, 2007

Reflection on the water

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Photo galleryPhoto gallery: Paula Crabb in action

By Mike Gordon
Advertiser Staff Writer

Hawaii news photo - The Honolulu Advertiser

Paula Crabb gets ready to hop into her canoe at Ala Wai Canal.

Photos by ANDREW SHIMABUKU | The Honolulu Advertiser

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PAULA CRABB

Age: 55

Profession: Physical education teacher at Punahou School

Residence: Manoa

Height: 5-feet-6

Weight: 118 pounds

Workout habits: Paddles canoes year-round, either solo or in six-woman crews, usually five days a week. Practices yoga two to three times a week. Takes long walks.

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Hawaii news photo - The Honolulu Advertiser

Crabb's workout includes paddling year-round.

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Hawaii news photo - The Honolulu Advertiser

Paula Crabb rigs her 22-foot canoe at Ala Wai Community Park.

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Her cadence is deceptive, a gentle metronome on the water's surface. But each time Paula Crabb dips her paddle into the Ala Wai Canal and pulls back, her small green and white canoe snaps forward.

Reach. Snap. Reach. Snap. Reach. Snap.

The boat glides so smoothly — and swiftly — that you would think it's being towed. It's the physical form of her paddling philosophy.

"Paddling is like a meditation, the same thing over and over again," Crabb said. "It's relaxation out on the water, and at the same time it's a workout."

Meditation maybe, but surely with a manic twist. Crabb's dedication to the sport of outrigger canoe paddling has kept her in the top ranks of the sport's elite since she started in 1978.

At this year's state championship canoe regatta Saturday on Kaua'i, she'll race in one of two events for her Outrigger Canoe Club: The prestigious senior women's event or an event for women 40 and older.

And by the way, Crabb is 55.

The Manoa wife and mother of two teenage boys said she doesn't consider her age a barrier to performance. In fact, an intense workout doesn't hurt any more now than when she was younger, Crabb said. And her arms ripple with lean muscle.

But she's made changes.

"As I've gotten older, I've actually decreased my training time," she said. "If you've built up enough base, you can get away with that, depending on how competitive you want to be."

How competitive has Crabb been? She's paddled in the Moloka'i-to-O'ahu race on first-string crews 25 times, and has been on winning crews three times. She's also crossed the channel on relay teams in the smaller one-person and two-person canoes 13 times.

It's such a lengthy span of time that Crabb, a Punahou physical-education teacher, sometimes finds herself seated next to former students. She has had to tell them it's OK to call her Paula instead of Mrs. Crabb.

Crabb was a high school and college gymnast when she lived in Waterford, Conn. She also coached the sport at Punahou for 23 years.

"That was my lifting and weight workout," she said. "Lifting and spotting my kids. Carrying your own body weight is important."

Working with her own body weight is one of the reasons Crabb likes to practice yoga, which she originally began three years ago to help her relax. Instead, she discovered it was a great strengthening exercise.

The variety helps Crabb drive the boat forward.

"The passion has to be there," she said. "That's what I think keeps me going."

But there is an end to everything. In a nod to age, Crabb and several of her teammates plan this fall to leave Outrigger's No. 1 boat in the Moloka'i-to-O'ahu race and form a masters crew.

"Although we could still make the crew, it's time to let the younger ones step up and have a chance," Crabb said. "It's a turning point right now for my crew. But we'll all be in the same boat."

And for Crabb, in the same awesome shape.

"I still feel strong," she said. "Mentally and physically."

Reach Mike Gordon at mgordon@honoluluadvertiser.com.