Local Boys prepare for US National Team Trials

Dolan Brothers prepare for USA Canoe/Kayak Team Trials

The 2010 USA Team Trials for Canoe and Kayaking take place this Saturday and Sunday at the Olympic Training Center, in Chula Vista, California. The top athletes from around the country will be represented this year, all competing for the top eight spots. Pat and Ryan Dolan from Kailua, Hawaii will be racing individually and as a team in these trials.

The Dolan Brothers have been training all winter in Hawaii in preparation for the USA Team Trials. They arrived back at the Olympic Training Center the first week of April, to reconnect and start training with their teammates from last year. Pat mentioned, “We want to prove that training in Hawaii is good and that we can get on the podium doing it Hawaiian Style.” Hawaii has been the breeding ground for many of the top paddlers in the world. “It’s comforting to train at home with friends and family and support of the Hawaii paddling community,” Ryan added. Through the Hawaii Canoe and Kayak Team (HCKT) Ryan and Patrick have been able to continue their mission to achieve their Olympic Dreams.

Theese trials mark the first round of qualifications for the Dolan Brothers. This weekend Pat and Ryan will be racing individually (K1), in a double (K2) and in a 4-person boat (k4.) Pat commented, “It’s fun to race with other guys…it makes me go harder.” After these trials, Pat and Ryan will be headed off to Europe for the 3 World Cups and the World Championships at the end of August.

Last year the International Canoe Federation (IFC) changed the Olympic racing program by eliminating all 500-meter events and in its place adding 200-meter events. Previously athletes raced 1000 and 500 meter distances. With the new rule change, athletes will have to specialize more as a sprinter in the 200-meter or an endurance based athlete in the 1000-meter races.

The Dolan Brothers are on a mission. To focus the next two years leading up to the London Games in 2012, by making the fastest K4 possible. “We want to win a medal, and I believe we have the guys to do it,” Pat added. Ryan and Pat are excited to get the season underway after a long but successful winter training season in Hawaii. “Were strong and fit,” Ryan added, and were ready to race!

Progression of events:

Saturday April 24th

• 500 meter Heats/Finals (Non-olympic event)
• 1000 meter Heats/Finals
• K4 (4-person boat) Trials

Sunday April 24th

• 200 meter Heats/Finals
• K4 (4-person boat) Trials

www.usack.org/events/2748

For any additional information regarding Vertra Sunscreen, dealer locations or the Vertra Paddlesports team, Contact: Eric Abbot at: wailupeabbott@gmail.com. Or visit us on facebook at www.facebook.com/vertrapaddlesports

Vertra Sunscreen embodies the characteristics of being a quality, innovative and stylish product. Our superior line of sun resistant products carries the full endorsement of the Hawaii Lifeguard Association in addition to all our products bare the Skin Caner Foundation Official Seal of Recommendation. We have developed, formulated, and manufactured a product with superior ingredients in a designer quality fashion…we would not settle for anything less!

Team Vertra gears up for the Kaiwi Channel World Championships.

::FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE::

Contact:

Keoni Watson

Eric Abbott

Vertra’s Paddlesports Marketing

www.vertra.com

Team Vertra gears up for the Kaiwi Channel World Championships.

Honolulu, Hawaii (April 14, 2010) The 2010 PA’A Steinlager Molokai to Oahu Kaiwi channel race is set for this Sunday, April 18^th. This race is considered the World Championships of single (OC1) and double (OC2) outrigger paddling. Athletes will navigate the thirty-two mile open-ocean course starting at Kaluakoi on Molokai, and ending in Moanalua Bay on Oahu. The top paddlers from around the globe will be represented in this year’s championship. Among these elite athletes are Vertra Sunscreen’s own Lauren Bartlett and Danny Ching.

The reigning Molokai to Oahu women’s champion Lauren Bartlett, will be back again this year to challenge herself in the channel as well as defend her title, paddling her Kai Wa’a Pegasus OC1. Bartlett is the current record holder and is no stranger to the unpredictable nature of the Kaiwi Channel. Bartlett mentioned, “It’s the channel, just have fun!.” Whether the channel pushes six to eight-foot swells like back in 2006, or is flat like in 2009, Lauren is seemingly unbeatable in any condition. “Surf is always better, it is why we paddle” Bartlett added.Bartlett’s resume speaks for itself, as she has crossed and won, paddling almost every type of watercraft possible in the Kaiwi Channel. From paddleboards to outrigger canoes, Barlett is truly an amazing waterwomen.

California’s Danny Ching will be back again this year looking for his first PA’A win. After winning the EPIC Solo in 2008, and placing 2^nd in the PA’A solo in 2009, Ching is anxious to get back into the channel this year. Ching commented, “surprisingly I feel much faster this year. I am hopeful that my years of base training will help me sustain the kind of effort needed for 32 miles.” He spent most of the winter paddling season in California training and racing on the unlimited Standup Paddleboards, winning the distance race at the 2009 Battle of the Paddle in Doheny, California. “My training has been a little different than usual this year,” Ching explained. In past years Ching has commuted back and forth from California to the islands in order to race and prepare out in Hawaii. The Kaiwi channel pushes athletes to the breaking point; for Ching, he is anxious to get out there and test himself on his new Kamanu Composites Pueo OC1.

The conditions are looking favorable for this year’s channel crossing, with predicted fifteen to twenty mile an hour northeast winds. After last years glassy race, both Lauren and Danny are looking forward to getting back into a good downwind channel. The top athletes will be rounding China walls and heading into Moanalua Bay in less than four hours.

For any additional information regarding Vertra Sunscreen, dealer locations or the Vertra Paddlesports team, Contact: Keoni Watson or Eric Abbot at: wailupeabbott@gmail.com. Or visit us on facebook at www.facebook.com/vertrapaddlesports

Vertra Sunscreen embodies the characteristics of being a quality, innovative and stylish product. Our superior line of sun resistant products carries the full endorsement of the Hawaii Lifeguard Association in addition to all our products bare the Skin Caner Foundation Official Seal of Recommendation. We have developed, formulated, and manufactured a product with superior ingredients in a designer quality fashion…we would not settle for anything less!

Kanesa Duncan Seraphin: Molokai Paddleboard Champion

There is much to be said about those who compete at an elite athlete level, and still manage to keep a successful career. For Kanesa Duncan, the choice is clear, and academics and athletics will coexist together in a “love-love” relationship. As anticipation for the 2010 season gets underway, lets see what Kanesa Duncan has to say about her training.

NUTRITION/TRAINING

What is your Weekly mileage?

Ummm… I don’t have a GPS…. I paddle between 6 and 10 hours a week during Molokai prep.

How do you mentally prepare for a race?

I check out the course. Check out my equipment. Eat well, train, rest and focus on my plan – which is pretty much to do the best I can by putting forth my best effort and enjoying the race as much as possible.

What do you eat the night before a race?

Well I used to eat those Costco spinach raviolis every night before a big race, but they stopped making them so I’ve moved on to any kind of yummy pasta thing with flat kind of noodles.

Do you use supplements?

Do bananas count? What about vegetables? How about Wahoo’s tacos? I eat all three all the time… Seriously, I do eat a lot of fruit and protein powder shakes. I have a vita-mix, and I make a fruit smoothie pretty much every day. I take vitamins sometimes and am big on emergen-C and Echinacea when I’m not feeling 100%.

Do you weight train, and if so, how do you design your program?

Well Eric Abbott writes my program, and I’d be way stronger and faster if I had time to do it… “Excuses, haha, your doing an awesome job Kanesa!”-EA

What's your favorite cross training or favorite other sport?

Oh gosh. Well my favorite is surfing. I also like to run, do yoga and boogie board…. Surf ski and canoe paddle also.

INFORMATION

How many years have you been paddling?

This is my 10^th year.

How many times have you crossed the Molokai Channel?

This will be my 10^th crossing, 10 years in a row, on my paddleboard. I’m inspired by George Ramos and Matt Sack who’ve done the race every year, solo, since the inception. I’ve also done the kayak solo, the one-man relay and the 6-man outrigger.

What websites do you visit or magazines do you read regularly? What would you recommend?

I read the NOAA surf forecast put out by Pat Caldwell. Check it out: http://www.prh.noaa.gov/hnl/pages/SRF.php. Also Joe Bark blog at www.joebark.com. And www.windfinder.com

How do you keep abreast of the latest news, trends and information in the sport?

Well, I’m part of the Bark team and we talk about boards and shapes all the time. We test each other’s equipment and talk about things so much that ideas get passed around. I think the other guys check the online blogs a lot more than I do. They keep me posted!

What keep you motivated to train and paddle at an elite level year in and year out?

I love being out in the water…. Definitely the “thing” that has me coming back every year is a combination of the great people that I get to paddle with, the awesome conditions we have in Hawaii and the amazing events (MOLOKAI) that we get to do!

What type of Equipment do you race with?

I’m paddling a bark, downwind special, 15’ double-concave unlimited board with a rudder. I wear Pualani swimsuits, XCEL wetsuits and jerseys (also paddling pants!), and Maui Jim’s sunglasses. To protect my skin, I’m a Vertra fanatic…. Oh, yeah and my water bottle and my iPOD.

Do you have any sponsors who help out your paddling career?

My sponsor’s rock. They support me and they give me the best product ever. I’m not making a living at this sport, so I only go with sponsors whose product I really want (it’s not like I’m going to get 100k to wear something I don’t like). The bottom line is that my sponsors represent a group of products that really work made by people who are really nice and who work with me to get things right. I’m also super stoked on my newest sponsor Surftech.

Shaper: Joe Bark

Sunglasses: Maui Jim

Sunscreen: Vertra

Swimsuits: Pualani Hawaii

Wetsuits/ Jerseys: XCEL

Food: Wahoo’s Tacos

Surfboards: Surftech

REAL LIFE

What do you do for a "real job" (if the sport isn't their real job)?

Well, in my other life I am a professor at the University of Hawaii. I teach science education for graduate students and K-12 teachers at the university’s Curriculum Research & Development Group. I am also the director of our newly established UH Sea Grant Center for Marine Science Education. My background is in ecology and population biology. I got my PhD studying hammerhead sharks here in Hawaii, and I’ve had the good fortune to have traveled to a lot of amazing places doing research (Antarctica, Palau, and the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands).

What would change for you if money were no object?

I would hire someone to do all my paperwork for me so that I could spend about 50% of the time I do now at work but still be able to do the things I’m trying to do. That person would also do all of my email and filing… oh, and they would cook me good, healthy food too! Then, I would do lots of marine science education and research, but there would also be plenty of time to paddle and surf.

How do you make sure to find time to train/compete?

I make it a priority. My whole life has always involved a balance between athletics and academics. They are both a part of me and I don’t really know how to leave one behind. I am constantly plotting how to squeeze in my training. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve gone to a meeting without showering (I wonder who is reading this…) or how many talks I’ve “practiced” out on the water rather than in front of my computer.

What sacrifices do you make in your personal life to be an elite athlete?

Ummm… I have a lot of disgruntled friends and very few friends who don’t spend a lot of time in the water. I have also made career and personal sacrifices, but looking back I’m not sure they were sacrifices. Just choices. I’m happy with my choices.

Kanesa is truly an amazing waterwomen, and I wish her the best of luck in the upcoming paddleboard season and the 2010 Molokai to Hawaii paddleboard race. It takes extreme dedication and commitment to put in the hours of training on the water as well as the countless hours instructing as a professor at the University of Hawaii. Good luck Kanesa and paddle hard!

Eric Abbott

wailupeabbott@gmail.com

Dolan Brothers gear up for 2010 US National Team Trials

After months of dedicated training at home in the Hawaii Islands, Patrick and Ryan Dolan arrived back in Chula Vista, CA in preparation for the 2010 US National Team Trials. These trials are set to begin on April 24th with athletes competing for the top spot in the 200 and 1000 meter Olympic distances. Ryan and Patrick have elected to race together in the two-person (K2) kayak are focused on finishing atop the podium in the K2 1000 meter event. They will also be racing individually in the K1 1000 meter distance as well. April 25th will be the second day of racing in the 200 meter events. As apposed to the 1000 meter events which span just over 3 punishing minutes of racing, the 200 meter event is quick, intense, and holds no room for error. Athletes competing in this discipline have to be flawless from start to finish.

April 24th
500 meter Heats/Finals
1000 meter Heats/Finals

April 25th
200 meter Heats/ Finals

We will be following the Dolan Brothers over the next few weeks, and posting updates and pretrial interviews. Good luck boys!

pics from dolanbros.com