Oahu, Hawaii
Instagram: @anellab

Anella started paddling in high-school for the Kamehameha Schools under coaches Auntie Rosie Lum and Kelly Fey. These two women continue to inspire Anella to this day. Those days represented what it was to go fast, win, work hard, and have fun. That has always stuck with Anella, and continues to drive her passion for paddling and being on the ocean. She has been fortunate to have had a lot of great coaches over the years (Guy Wilding, Jim Beaton, Johnny Puakea, George Wilson, Pat Dolan, just to name a few…).

Anella has raced with the Outrigger Canoe Club on Oahu since age 18. She has been fortunate to be a part of winning crews that have raced abroad, some of which include:  various Catalina races, Tahiti World Sprints in 2018, World Sprints in Windsor 2022, and Hawaiki Nui 2022 Women’s Champions. She has also been able to compete in various local Hawaii 6-man regatta and distance races over the past 20+ years. Winning the Senior women’s Macfarlane Regatta race three years in a row, steered by fellow Team Rider Jimmy Austin in 2018, 2019 and 2022, was another highlight of her paddling career 

Yet another highlight of her paddling career was placing top 5 women OC1 overall in the Molokai to Oahu Solo in 2023 (the top 5 women that year were all in their 40s)!

She enjoys competing in the Kanaka Ikaika and PA’A Hawaii OC1 races. These races are always a good challenge, and provide another way to get out on the ocean and have fun.  

In her spare time, her other favorite thing to do is surf! If ocean conditions aren’t the best, you’ll find her at the Wai Kai Wave Pool in Kapolei, where she gets her surfing fix in.  

Oahu, Hawaii
Instagram: @kaihechong

Growing up in Hawaii Kai on Oahu, Kaihe started outrigger paddling when he was 8 at Hui Nalu, the local canoe club down the road. At 13, he joined the Hawaii Canoe and Kayak team. At 15, he made it onto the Junior National Team for Olympic flat water kayaking, the same year he crossed the Molokai Channel on a Surfski. When he was 19, Kaihe really started to take up OC1, and his paddling career slowly started to build from there. Maui to Molokai was the first major race that he won. That was in 2012 at 22 years old and he has been coming in top 4 every year since. That same year he came in 2nd in the Olukai race, also placing in the top 4 every year since. He has consistently placed in the top 10 for the past 4 years in the OC1 World Championships, but still haven’t managed to crack the top 5. Most recently he won the Kanaka Ikaika Molokai challenge, as well as, the M2O Standup Championship with teammate Danny Ching. Currently, Kaihe and fellow team rider, Jimmy Austin, hold the record for the Molokai World Champion Relay.

Oahu, Hawaii
Instagram: @mia.surf

Bio coming soon…

Northern California
Instagram: @noam_elroi

Noam moved to California from Colorado when he was six years old and immediately jumped into the ocean. Starting with sailing, then surfing, stand up paddleboarding, and swimming, his love for the ocean only grew. He joined Lanakila occ in Redondo Beach, California at 12 years old where he has trained under Danny Ching since. Becoming best friends in the process, he, Ryland Hart, Keoni Defries, and Blake Rorbach trained day in and day out for years, getting to travel to two IVF distance world championships, placing second U19 in Australia in 2019. He also competed in the Kaiwi Channel Solo at 16 years old and placed third junior. He will be attending UC Santa Cruz next year and is very excited to try new waters and challenge the NorCal paddling scene. 

Oahu, Hawaii
Instagram: @wyatt_rips

Growing up in Kailua, Hawaii, Wyatt has been in and on the water since the day he was born. You can say that the ocean runs in his veins. Wyatt started paddling with Ka Lahui Kai at age 12 and found his passion. At 13 Wyatt is the youngest OC1 solo paddler to cross the Kaiwi and pailolo channels. With a growing list of accomplishments to include CA Outrigger Champs, Gorge Downwind Champs and many local races in an OC1, OC6 and paddleboard, Wyatt looks forward to a future of racing and comradery. Beyond the paddling, Wyatt is grateful for the paddling community, his mentors and coaches that support his path forward. With big goals and dreams…if you’re in the front of the pack don’t look back, the future is coming.

Oahu, Hawaii and Southern California
Instagram: @rylandhart

Ryland has been paddling since the age of 5, starting at the Lanakila Outrigger Canoe Club in Redondo Beach, CA. The biggest race he has done to date is the 2016 Molokai Solo, he placed 1st junior men and 16th over-all. One of his favorite races is the WaterWalker Gorge OC-6 downwind race because he gets to share waves with five of his buddies and go as fast as possible in a canoe. The paddling lifestyle brings a sort of family to everyday life, for Ryland, it is all about making connections with people you otherwise would never even have met. His goals for the coming years are to continue to grow his water knowledge and break into the top 10 in the Molokai Solo. While working towards that goal, Ryland has been taking on the bigger names in paddling at the Gorge Downwind Champs, Hawaiki Nui, the Catalina Crossing and Kanaka Ikaika Race Series.

Southern California
Instagram: @scooterpaddle

Corn-fed and Midwestern raised, Grace fell in love with the water from summers spent on Canandaigua Lake in upstate New York. She found her groove and competitive edge when she joined her swim team in high school. After college, she moved to Oceanside, California and discovered the existence of Outrigger, beginning her novice year in 2016. She quickly fell in love with the community of the sport, along with a shared love of water, sunshine, hard work and healthy competition. She went on to start competing in the local SoCal OC1 races, borrowing anyone’s canoe who was kind enough to lend to her. 

She competed in the V6 IVF World Distance Championships in Australia in 2019, took a close second in the Catalina Crossing in 2020 and helped score a win with Dana Outrigger for the crossing in 2021.

Grace enjoys chasing fellow Team Rider, Brandi, around during workouts, who always pushes her to be better. They took 3rd place together in the 2022 Wild Buffalo Relay. During the day, Grace enjoys working for a non-profit that trains Service dogs for people with disabilities. Grace can’t wait to see where paddling takes her next and who she will meet!

Singapore
Instagram: @freakofeet

Shortly after moving to Singapore in 2007, Janus joined Singapore Paddle Club (SPC) and has been racing in both dragon boat and outrigger canoe events locally and overseas. Cross training in both disciplines led to winning medals in Dragon Boat Club Crew World Championships in Macau, Hongkong, Italy, Australia, Hungary. She loves the challenge of competing in outrigger canoe races in Hong Kong, Australia, Hawaii, knowing that there are always bigger challenges (waters!) to aspire to.

After a year of recovering from a huge shoulder surgery, she now enjoys paddling her Kahele, which helped her slash minutes off her time trials, consistently lead the pack for females, and made her fall in love with ocean paddling all over again! Janus is looking forward to joining virtual races, as well as training in the tricky waters of Singapore leading up to the Hong Kong Dragon Run and Singapore Ocean Cup.

One thing that fires Janus up is drawing her wider community to ocean paddling and the healthy lifestyle it brings. She is a founding member of Philippine Outrigger Canoe Club, the 1st and only ocean paddling club in her home country. Janus is also an organizer for Singapore Ocean Cup, the country's premiere ocean racing event, which has grown in participation with paddlers flying in from all over.

The ocean paddling community, with its openness and encouraging culture, has pushed her well out of her boundaries while enjoying paddling in the ocean, coming out as a better and healthier person -- the ethos that Janus is passionate to share with everyone, and hopes to continue doing for many, many years to come!

Southern California
Instagram: @joe_waa

Joe’s love and respect for the ocean came at a pretty young age. His stoke and passion for canoe paddling started as a teenager in his hometown of Ewa Beach, on the southwest side of Oahu. Of all the sports and activities he grew up playing, the ocean kept calling and took over as his favorite playground. He was instantly hooked after his Uncle took him on his first Hawaii Kai run at 14. He then started competing in the High School Na Opio OC1 sprint series on Oahu, and eventually introduced paddling to his high school friends in order to form a 6man racing crew.

After high school, Joe enlisted into the U.S Coast Guard and got stationed near San Francisco, CA. Moving from Hawaii to a big city at 18 was a major adjustment, so he sought out canoe paddling and found San Francisco Outrigger Canoe Club. The folks at SFOCC made him feel right at home and they made a huge influence in the paddler and person he is today. In 2019, he moved down to Orange County, CA and has been a part of the Lanakila Outrigger Canoe Club in Redondo Beach, CA for the last couple years.

Paddling has given Joe a tremendous amount of joy over the years. It’s the best team and individual sport there is, in his opinion. Through competition, to catching ocean swells, to local races and international events, it’s offered so many thrills and accolades. As he continues to keep the glide going, his overall goal is to perpetuate the lifestyle and share the stoke like his family and friends did for him.

Oahu, Hawaii
Instagram: @milesorrr

Miles, born and raised in Southern California found paddling at the age of 10 years old at the infamous Newport Aquatic Center. At the age of 15, he crashed a canoe into a bridge and was told to fix it in the NAC shop. Here Miles found a deeper connection with paddling, understanding the backbones of what goes on behind the scenes at races and within construction of canoes. At 18 Miles had been paddling with the NAC mens program every morning and afternoon when he decided to move to Hawaii to attend university and compete in paddling. Miles has competed in multiple IVF world championships and other prestigious races around the world. 

In Hawaii, Miles has found a new love for paddling as the open ocean conditions of Oahu are much more rough than California. He has found love beyond paddling, and can be found diving, surfing and being in the ocean nearly every day. Currently Miles is finishing up his finance degree at the University of Hawaii and is amped up on the upcoming winter OC-1 season. Miles loves paddling his Volare as he has found it to surf much better than any canoe he has paddled. Miles aspires to be one of the top paddlers/watermen in Hawaii and plans on doing that by competing in paddling and pushing himself in big ocean conditions.

New York
Instagram: @ktcanoe

Paddling since 2006, Katie started her paddling career in a community dragon boat team, and later moved to Philadelphia Dragon Boat Association’s Youth Team. She currently paddles with Wanda Canoe Club out of Ridgefield Park, NJ focusing on marathon and outrigger canoe. She has competed in five World Dragon Boat Championships, and in 2019, made the Premier Team in both women’s and mixed crews that competed in Thailand. In 2019, she won the Chattajack race in the women’s OC-1 division. The community and friends she has around the world through paddling is her most cherished part of paddling. In 2020, Katie will complete in the AuSable River Canoe Marathon for the first time and is looking to make the podium again at Chattajack. So look out for Katie in her natural habitat on the East Coast U.S. or anywhere else in the world. Stop, say hello and make a new friend!

Hong Kong and Oahu, Hawaii
Instagram: @jackkseymour

Jack was born and raised in Hong Kong where his dad was a surfski paddler and organizer of local races in Hong Kong. He started paddling SUP when he was 12 and would travel to races all over Asia, as well as in North America. At the 2019 SUP World Championships, Jack came in 3rd in the junior division. He started paddling outrigger at the VRC (Victoria Recreation Club) in Hong Kong when he was 13. Here he found a passion for outrigger and decided to shift his focus away from SUP towards outrigger. Fast forward a few years to 2021 where Jack moved to Hawai'i to attend the University of Hawai’i and started paddling with KLK (Ka Lahui Kai). In his first year with KLK, Jack and his team won the 2021 Catalina Channel Crossing: US Outrigger Championship Race! Jack is also proud of consistently placing top 10 in his first year racing OC1 in Hawai’i.

Canada
Instagram: @type1kanu

Growing up on Georgian Bay in Canada, Leanne has always been drawn to the water. Though not introduced to paddling until 1998, the water has always had a calming yet invigorating influence on her. Over the past 20+ years in competitive paddling, she has won numerous National titles (marathon canoe, outrigger, SUP, surfski) as well as several World Dragon Boat and Outrigger Sprint Championships with Team Canada, along with a win at Queen Lili, 4th at her first Na Wahine O Ke Kai, and never finishing lower than 4th at the World Outrigger Sprint and Distance Championships in V1 since 2008. You can regularly find Leanne on the podium at the Gorge Downwind Champs and various winter races throughout Southern California and Hawaii. 

When you meet Leanne, there is no doubt that she loves sharing her passion for paddling with others. She is happiest when helping others become more effective and efficient, recognizing their potential and striving to be their best. She does this in all avenues of her life: in her day job as a Special Education Teacher, as a role model in the Type 1 Diabetes community and as a leader in the Canadian Outrigger Racing Association.

With all the travelling, coaching and racing that Leanne has done, her favourite paddling experience has been helping with the development of the Kelowna Paddle Centre. The unique combination of outrigger, surfski and SUP programming, paddling excellence, social events and ohana has put Kelowna on the radar of many of the world's paddling elite. 

Singapore
Instagram: @tecklee.kong

The first contact Kong had with paddling was back in 2015 when he joined the National University of Singapore Sprint Canoe varsity team, where he picked up flatwater canoeing under Coach Denes Szaszak. Paddling soon became his new-found passion and he took on team captaincy barely a year after he first set foot (or knee, to be exact) in the C1. It was also during his years with NUS that Kong discovered the world of ocean racing and its community on the outrigger canoe. To achieve his goal of paddling competitively at the international level, he has moved to within 15 minutes of cycling from the sea to clock in as much mileage as he can while balancing a full time job in the Singapore public service. Kong is currently training with the Singapore Paddle Club and is actively involved in helping budding paddlers like himself improve on the single craft. For him, the most rewarding part of the paddling lifestyle is the opportunity to connect with nature and the people who enjoy the same thrills of surfing the waters!

Kailua-Kona, Hawaii
Instagram: @aliiboi_808

Ali'i grew up surfing, body boarding and paddling in the waters of Kailua Kona, Hawaii. His 'ohana are one of the original founders of Kai 'O Pua Canoe Club. Ali'i has paddled OC6 off and on from age 8, but his true passion is being in a V1 or OC1. He started paddling a V1 at the age of 5 and gradually progressed to an OC1 at age 13. Ali'i has raced V1 races such as Race Around the Hat and Aloha Aito, and successfully defending his age division. He currently races in the HIPA and Kanaka Ikaika Associations and does fairly well in the long course, junior division. He has raced at the Wild Buffalo Relay and the Gorge Downwind Champs placing in the top 3 of the junior division. One of his greatest opportunities and accomplishments have been traveling to Tahiti and training with some of Tahiti's top paddlers and racing amongst the best junior V1 paddlers in the Te Aito 2022, which he finished in the top 20. Followed by placing 6th in the world in the u19, V1 division at World Sprints 2022 in London. He loves traveling, meeting new people and spending time with family and friends and being able to paddle and race in places we can only dream of. Ali'i's love of paddling stems from his parents and his love for the ocean. When he was younger his parents would dream of days when they could just drop him off and to do a downwinder on his own, or the day when Ali'i would beat his Dad in a race. Well that day has come!