13 ASAP paddlers competed in both V1 and V6 menâs and
womenâs sprint and marathon events over the Easter weekend competition. John Goeke, Malama Petaia, Amity Quinn, and
Erika Radewagen competed in the V1 events.
John Goeke, who has won silver in the V1 marathon in several
past years finally got the gold in the master menâs V1 15KM marathon. He brought back 3 other medals in the menâs
V1 and OC1 categories, a silver in the open men V1 15k, a silver in the master
men V1 500, and a bronze in the master men OC1 15k.
âI have been working hard to win the V1 marathon and was
close to getting gold in both open and masters classes but I was surprised to
get silver in the sprints. The OC1 was
engineered for fun this year by towing the boats to the upwind end of the course
and running it mostly downwind. The
waves were great!â said John about his performance.
Erika Radewagen, a 3-year Wai Tui medalist, brought back a
gold in the master women V1 500 as well as a silver in the master women V1
10k. A faulty rudder cable in the OC1
10k, took her out of the running for two medals at the 5k mark.
âIt is disappointing to miss out on the OC1 race especially
since I missed the surfing leg and the waves were great for that type of boat,
but I did well in my two V1 races. I was
a bit worried about my V1 performance since I spent more time this year
focusing on the V6 training. Itâs been 5
years since weâve entered a womenâs V6 team in this competition and we really
committed to the V6 training. It
definitely paid off!â said Erika.
Malama Petaia finished a close fourth in the open V1 women
500 but was unable to participate in the OC1 due to equipment failure at the
race start. Amity Quinn raced well in
both the 500 m and the OC1 10k but was cut short with 5 other paddlers in the
marathon due to delays in the race start.
The Alo O Samoa open womenâs V6 took bronze in the 500m,
1500m, and the 20k marathon against Brisbane Outriggerâs Keita crew and Fijiâs
top club Kai Wai despite a last-minute replacement to the Alo crew. The Alo O Samoa V6 open women are Malama
Petaia, Amity Quinn, Erika Radewagen, Taâaloga Tupaâi-Drabble, Lisa
Teesch-Maguire, and Elena Vaouli.
âWe had a rough time with our starts in the semi-finals due
to heavy crosswinds but we were able to find our groove and settle in by the
medal races. Most people were surprised
that we came out of 5th and 6th places in the semis to
end up solidly medaling in the finals,â said steerer Elena Vaouli.
The men of Alo O Samoa also showed respectably in the finals
of all three distances despite the loss of two experienced paddlers in the week
prior to the competition. The open menâs
team paddlers are: David Bouslough, Ned
Fluet, John Goeke, Doug Harper, Brian Peck, Iosefatu Vaouli, and Hua-Hsien
Wei. John Goeke and Iose Vaouli are
former members of the American Samoa SPG 2007 outrigger team.
âWe did very well considering
the difficult conditions and the stiff competition and came back with a renewed
commitment to the sport,â said steerer John Goeke.
Overseas teams are invited to compete to give Fiji
paddlers a chance to see where the rest of the region is in their training for
the upcoming Mini-Games. The Fiji Outrigger Canoe Racing Association uses this
event as a time trial in the selection process of the Fiji National Outrigger
team for the upcoming Mini-Games. This
is the second trial in their process.
The Alo O Samoa paddlers are continuing their training in
hopes of going across to Apia for the 2009 Samoa Independence Day regatta where
the women took gold last year. Additional ASAP teams from canoe clubs Tusi and Au Vaâa Laumei are also
training up for Apia. Erika
Radewagen recently received an invitation to join a masters women crew out of Sydney
for the 2009 Hamilton Island Cup race at the end of June.
Alo O Samoa thanks the ASAP for its encouragement and
financial support for this competition. Alo O Samoa especially thanks Au Vaâa Laumei for the use of their
recently acquired Takia canoe during their Fiji
training.
Last Modified on 05/05/2009 12:54