FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Sunday, August 1, 2004
AUSSIE MITCHELL BREAKS RECORD FOR QUIKSILVEREDITION MOLOKAI TO OAHU TRIFECTA
Nine Over The Line in Record Time & Five-Minute Foran First With Stock Shock
HONOLULU – Near-perfect 4 to 6-foot open-ocean swells and strong Tradewinds resulted in a total re-write of the 32-mile Quiksilveredition Molokai to Oahu Paddleboard Race record books today. The event is considered the world championship of long distance paddleboard racing. Australian lifeguard Jamie Mitchell, 27, was the first over the line in a record time of 4 hours 56 minutes and 3 seconds – almost 30 minutes faster than the out-going record. His result earned him an unprecedented third consecutive Quiksilveredition title and rounded out three years of undefeated paddleboard racing.
But Mitchell wasn’t the only one to crack the long-standing record of 5:22: 48, posted in 1997 – the inaugural year of the race, by Mitchell’s coach, Mick DiBetta (Australia). Today, six other solo paddlers, including 41-year-old DiBetta, also broke past the old record which has stood unchallenged for seven years. Two 2-man teams also completed the crossing in a time faster than DiBetta’s old record – Jimmy Austin/Dolan Eversole (Hawaii – 5:04:48) and John Gangini/Victor Hemmy III (Maui – 5:12:29), and Oahu’s Kanesa Duncan broke the women’s record with a time of 5:53:49. The outgoing women’s record was set last year by Australia’s Hayley Bateup – 6:47:30.
Mitchell had runner-up Cory Hutchings (New Zealand) to thank for setting a blistering pace today. Hutchings, 32, led the race from the start at Kalua Koi Hotel, Molokai, up until the final three miles, when the different courses he and Mitchell had taken began to play out just off of Koko Head, Oahu. In the end, just two minutes and 16 seconds were the difference. Third place was 2001 Quiksilveredition champion Aaron Bitmead (Australia), who was on the leaders’ heels for the duration. Bitmead’s time was 5:02:23. The top Hawaii finisher was Brian Rocheleau, a Honolulu lifeguard, in a time of 5:04:16. Rocheleau was runner-up to Mitchell here last year.
“Cory set a cracking pace at the start,” said Mitchell. “I tried to peg him back and peg him back and I just took the inside line. Coming to the point, he was coming from the north and I had more of a straight line and just got to Port Lock in front of him. I just had a little bit better line and that was it.
“I can’t believe it. One of those freakish days I guess. Even Mick broke his own record. It’s just one of those days – maybe we won’t get another day like this for another seven years. This is pretty special. No-one’s ever won three and to break the record in the same day is amazing. I’ve got a good coach in Mick DiBetta and if it wasn’t for him, none of this would happen. He came over in ‘97 and set the record and we just came after. I pretty much owe everything to him.
” It was a fast race – and the less time out there the better. The first three hours the surfing was really good. The last hour’s always so tough. It feels like you’re going nowhere. The current’s always against you and it’s the hardest part. That last hour is a nightmare.
“I thought it would be close with a lot of guys. Cory was really surprising. I know he’s a great paddler, I’ve paddled against him a lot in Australia. But he really had a good crack at it today. He definitely set the pace. Aaron and I were sitting together and feeding off his pace. He went for it and I think that was a factor in the fast time today. You don’t know how much your body can take until you push it that hard. Ask anyone out there today, we’re all hurting the same.”
For Hutchings, today was his first crack at the Molokai Channel – a deep body of water with a fearsome reputation for rough ocean conditions that have claimed many lives over the years, including that of legendary Hawaiian waterman Eddie Aikau. It was a special introduction for Hutchings and an experience that has him set on returning.
“That was really enjoyably terrible,” Hutchings said of the painful yet exhilarating experience. “It’s probably the hardest thing I’ve ever done in terms of how your mind plays games with you. You just want to stop. The Koko headland never gets any closer. You paddle for an hour and look back up and it’s the same distance away. I bet Jamie and I were no further than 300 yards apart the whole race. I came in about half way along Koko Head and it was really bumpy. Jamie was south of me and I guess in the last half hour I dropped back. The distance that we finished apart is how far I dropped back. It also has a lot to do with my endurance though. Jamie’s a sensational paddler and I doubt this will be the last time the record is broken.
“The furthest I’ve ever paddled in my life is about 2.5 hours, so I thought I would go as fast as I could and see if I could hang onto it as long as I could, and it’s probably not the smartest thing to do. But it’s the only way I know how to race – race from the front and make them catch you. It almost worked. I think coming home Jamie’s line was a little better than mine. But I’m stoked to get second. This is my first time and it’s a big experience for me. I want to come back next year.”
Third-placed Rocheleau appeared to be more in shock than pain upon his completion of the race.
“I can’t believe they got so far ahead of me,” said Rocheleau, 28. “I was on pace with them at the start and then they went south. I just went straight. I couldn’t believe how far south they were going. It got tough, mentally. But I gave it my all. ”
For DiBetta, there was nothing bitter about seeing his record go down, especially because he also broke it. He was full of praise for Mitchell and the outcome of the race.
“I knew the record would be broken today,” DiBetta said. “I told the guys at the meeting last night that the record would be broken because of these conditions. I’ve always known my record would go down to Jamie and this is just the best way it could have happened. It was an amazing race. I feel great. I was getting some long runs, it was a pleasure to be out there. I don’t even feel tired. This is the kind of race we’re all in the sport for. Everyone here today knows how awesome that was – for the competitors, the sponsors and the sport. It doesn’t get any better and I’m so proud of Jamie.”
The biggest surprise today came in the shorter 12-foot stockboard division in unknown Australian Tim Foran. Prior to a week ago, Foran had never been in a race longer than 5 minutes, being an Australian surf lifesaving sprint racer. Last weekend, he beat a world class field of paddlers in a 6.5-mile race, but drew laughs when he declared he’d be entering the Quiksilveredition. He shot down any critics today when he won the stockboard division in a time of 5:39:01, less than three minutes shy of the stockboard record (Guy Pere, Hawaii, 5:36:46, 1998).
“If I hadn’t been so sick out there, I might have broken the record,” said Foran, who was violently ill for the last hour and a half of his race. “But I was just hoping to finish to be honest. I’ve never paddled that distance or for that long before and I was absolutely clueless as to what the situation was out there. I couldn’t make out what my support boat crew were saying. They just kept telling me I was probably top 10, so I just kept paddling. I was trying to keep my fluids up but at four hours I lost everything and just had to sit there in the middle of the channel for a while and get myself together. That’s probably where I lost the record. I had no idea I was in the lead. It’s been an amazing experience. I just want to call my wife back in Australia and let her know I’m still alive. And I won! She won’t believe that.”
In the women’s division, Kanesa Duncan turned a bad day into a good day. Her paddleboard suffered major hull damage during its shipment to Molokai, but thanks to the swell, it still performed well.
“Had it been a flat-water race like the last few years, I don’t think I’d have done too well,” said Duncan. “The bottom of my board looks something like the surface of a golf ball after it was exposed too long to the heat. But with the swell, it still worked somehow.
“I think that was the best race for me. The first year was great just to cross but now I know what to expect and how much it’s going to hurt. Today I really wanted to make six hours 30, so to be under 6 hours … I don’t think I ever thought I could go that fast on a stock board, so I’m pretty happy. The conditions were awesome. It was fun because it wasn’t directly following seas, so you really had to be mentally there the whole way and that makes the time go by really fast. That’s the best part about paddling – the mental and the physical aspect of it coming together.”
In all, 33 solo paddlers and 26 2-person teams started out across the channel today. Only two solo paddlers withdrew.
Paddleboards are streamlined boards ranging in length from 12-17 feet and are designed to ride open-ocean swells. They are arm-paddled in a prone or kneeling position.
For more information:
Jodi Young, in Hawaii. 1-808-258-8533
Digital images are available from Carol Cunningham: Tel: 1-818-970-7770
RESULTS:
OVERALL FINISHERS – ELITE:
1. Jamie Mitchell (Aus) 4:56:03 – RECORD
2. Cory Hutchings (NZ) 4:58:19
3. Aaron Bitmead (Aus) 5:02:23
UNLIMITED MEN’S 29&UNDER
1. Brian Rocheleau (Oahu, Haw) 5:04:16 – RECORD
2. Justin Mitchell (Aus) 5:34:28
3. Mike Menkewicz (Oahu, Haw) 5:55:24
MENS 30-39
1. Chad Noble (Aus) 5:21:49 – RECORD
2. Guy Pere (Oahu, Haw) 5:25:46
3. Dawson Jones (Oahu, Haw) 5:37:15
MENS 40-49
1. Mick DiBetta (Aus) 5:11:19 – RECORD
2. Sean Richardson (CA) 5:21:34
3. Chris Owens (Oahu, Haw) 5:36:06
STOCKBOARD MENS ELITE
1. Tim Foran (Aus) 5:39:01
2. Matt Sack (Haw) 5:50:19
3. George Ramos Jr. (Oahu, Haw) 5:50:57
STOCKBOARD MENS 29&UNDER
1. Tom Hinds (CA) 6:23:51
STOCKBOARD MENS 30-39
1. Adam Payne (Aus) 6:33:09
2. Kevin Horgan (Kauai, Haw) 7:08:24
STOCKBOARD MENS 40-49
1. Kamuela Aea (Oahu, Haw) 6:09:10
2. Bruce Stine (Kauai, Haw) 7:12:00
WOMEN ALL AGES
1. Kanesa Duncan (Oahu, Haw) 5:53:49 – RECORD
2. Jane Cairns (CA) 6:53:24
STOCK TEAM MENS 59&UNDER (combined ages)
1. Jimmy Austin/Dolan Eversole (Oahu, Haw) 5:04:48 – RECORD
2. Kaimalino Andrade/Jeremy Cole (Oahu, Haw) 6:02:56
3. Travis Des Roches/Curen Ohama (Oahu, Haw) 6:10:18
STOCK TEAM MENS 60-79 (combined ages)
1. John Gangini/Victor Hemmy III (Maui/Oahu, Haw) 5:12:29 – RECORD
2. Victor Lopez/Kiva Rivers (Maui, Haw) 5:30:36
3. David Mello/Blair Thorndike (Maui, Haw) 5:42:52
STOCK TEAM MENS 80-99 (combined ages)
1. Todd Bradley/Buzzy Kerbox (Oahu/Maui, Haw) 5:26:56
2. David Daly/David Kalama (Maui, Haw) 5:28:27
3. Charlie Buckingham/Ralph Sifford (Maui, Haw) 5:35:11
STOCK TEAM MENS 100+ (combined ages)
1. Johnny McCandless/Jack Dyson (Maui, Haw) 6:46:06
MIXED TEAM
1. Stephanie Barneix.Walter Geyer (France) 5:46:37
2. Darlene Randles/Keith Malloy (CA) 5:53:11
3. Chitose Iwanami/Taku Araki (Japan) 6:04:35
