A couple of local women were a part of history as they made the 41-mile trek from Molokai to Oahu.
The 40th annual Na Wahine O Ke Kai all-women outrigger canoe race took place over the weekend.
North Shore residents Alana Goo-Fraizer and Kristen Foster were part of Team Bradley, which was the top crew with a time of 5 hours, 48 minutes and 28 seconds.
“It was a tailwind behind us, but it was light and sometimes that helps produce some of the fastest times,” said Goo-Frazier of Princeville. “It was great. Hour three was hard. It’s always hard — you’re halfway in-between the two islands, basically.
“What you go through mentally and physically, like, ‘OK, are we there yet?’ But you’re not. You have two or three more hours of paddling. … I looked at my watch, and that’s when it was like, ‘Oh, we’re at hour three. That’s why I’m feeling this way. Suck it up, buttercup. Let’s go.’”
For Team Bradley, this is the 11th Na Wahine O Ke Kai victory including the last three consecutive races, as reported by The Maui News.
Goo-Frazier has won the event six times with Team Bradley, which is based on Maui.
“I didn’t realize it was the 11th time for Team Bradley. I actually didn’t know that until the next day,” Goo-Frazier said. “It was cool. It was good news, kind of like icing on the cake.”
She added: “Just always thankful for my team and the support of my family. It’s kind of weird. I’m like a paddle geek. It’s what I love to do.”
Local canoe club Puuwai was the only crew representing Kauai in a field of 64 crews. Puuwai finished 31st overall and 17th in the Open division with a time of 6:44.06.
The Puuwai paddlers were Dana Miyake, Aija Gabriel, Annette Fernandez, Nalani Pierce, Kate Enoka, Liz Steiner, Ku’ulei Smith and Debbie Green.
“I think we did really great. As far as being the only team from Kauai and coming in the top half of the bunch, I think that’s a really good marker for us,” Miyake said. “We just want to try and continue to improve upon that each year.”
Considering Puuwai was the only crew from Kauai and that the race celebrated its 40th anniversary, Miyake said the crew was especially motivated to do well.
“Our motto was ‘Kauai Strong.’ I think because we were the only team representing Kauai, we felt like we really had to push ourselves to represent our island,” Miyake said. “Doing our prayer and our cheer, that was our motto. We had to represent our island to the best of our ability, to give us a good showing for our island.”
Miyake added the crew took on an added task of not using plastic water bottles during the race — an undertaking she said was spearheaded by Team Bradley.
“When you register, it asks you if you’re going to be competing plastic free. So we decided as a team, especially having two of the Team Bradley girls be from Kauai, we wanted to support them as well,” she said. “That was a first for us, to do it. Actually, it worked our really well. I’m so proud that we did it.”
Also, a handful of paddlers from Kauai teamed up with paddlers from California.
Kaikuahine O Ke Kai had four members from the Garden Isle — Nancy Vaughn and Nancy Williams of Hanalei Canoe Club, and Janet Nathanson and Liz Bachman-Grechi of Kukuiula Canoe Club.
“It was really a fantastic experience sharing this crossing with others that are passionate about the sport, passionate about Hawaii and wanted to experience the challenge and the thrill that is the Na Wahine O Ke Kai,” Williams said.
Kaikuahine O Ke Kai completed the 41-mile course with a time of 7:00.49, placing 47th overall and eighth in the Masters 50 division.
“We just gelled,” Williams said. “It came together.”
Of the 64 crews that competed, most were from Oahu and a some were from the neighbor islands. A handful were from California. Internationally, crews came from New Zealand, Japan, Australia and Canada.
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Nick Celario, sports writer, can be reached at 245-0437 or ncelario@thegardenisland.com.
