Lenny posts record time in Molokai SUP win

In the days leading up to Sunday’s Molokai-2-Oahu Paddleboard World Championships, defending champion Travis Grant issued a challenge in jest to talented foes Kai Lenny and Connor Baxter: find the “very rare, extremely valuable Pokemon midway in the Ka‘iwi Channel.”

Lenny would later admit that he doesn’t play the Pokemon Go game, but did manage to catch and surpass the stand-up paddleboarding (SUP) field en route to posting a record time in the 20th edition of the 32-mile race that spanned from Kaluakoi on Molokai’s northwest coast, through the treacherous Ka‘iwi Channel and finished in Maunalua Bay on Oahu’s south shore.

“It’s pretty awesome, and we have such a close community of paddlers here,” said Lenny, a Maui native. “I’ve been doing this race since I was 9 years old as a prone paddleboarder, and it’s always been my dream to come in first overall. This is the hardest race in the world … I figured I had to get a win soon because everyone’s getting so much faster that it’s harder to do it. I wanted to check this off my list so badly.”

“Travis’ joke was awesome since everybody’s obsessed with Pokemon here. I was chasing the bumps out there, trying to collect them all,” said Lenny with a chuckle.

Lenny powered through the finish line to notch his record mark of 4 hours, 7 minutes and 41 seconds to claim the “unlimited” SUP division, while Grant (4:10:14) and Baxter (4:16:19) competed for the runner-up spot.

“Kai’s just a phenomenal athlete, he’s so talented and I couldn’t catch him,” said Grant, who noted that he endured a bout with dizziness early in the morning but felt better during the race. “I knew one of us would get the win today. (As far as the Pokemon challenge went, Lenny and Baxter) didn’t fall for it. You have to use mind games, but it’s all in fun.”

Baxter turned in a solid performance after pulling out of last year’s competition when he suffered from a stomach ailment midway through the competition. The Makawao, Maui, native set the previous record in 2014 with a mark of 4:08:08, and in 2011, he became the event’s youngest winner as a 16-year-old.

“Travis and Connor were right there the entire time and I really tried focusing on the bumps; the record was secondary,” Lenny said. “I just found a rhythm and paddled smarter, that’s what I needed to learn. My mind needed to mature for this race. It’s just really special and surreal.”

More than 300 of the world’s top traditional (prone) and SUP athletes from across the globe took part in the grueling test of strength and endurance. Competitors were cooled by steady tradewinds and occasional showers that provided cloud cover throughout most of the race.

Niuhiti Buillard of French Polynesia claimed gold in the “stock” SUP division and crossed the line in 4 hours, 40 minutes and 50 seconds. Danny Ching (4:45:59) came in second, while three-time defending division champion Travis Baptiste (4:48:11) of Maui took home the bronze. Lenny also holds the stock SUP record of 4:22:14 after winning that division title in 2012.

“We were catching some bumps on the way to Oahu,” said Baptiste after congratulating Buillard and Ching. “That was some great surf out there with head-high swells and some perfect glides.”

Matt Bevilacqua of Australia defended his crown in the unlimited prone division and continues to follow the example set by fellow Aussie Jamie Mitchell’s prolific 10-year win streak in the category that came to an end in 2011. The win was extra special for Bevilacqua who set a new record mark of 4:29:32 and broke Mitchell’s record of 4:40:31 set five years ago.

Aussie Stewart McLachlan also turned in a record-setting performance in the stock prone division, and his mark of 5:05:41 bested the time of 5:12:35 set by Jack Bark — who finished third in this year’s race — in 2014.

Sonni Hoenscheid (5:01:40) of Germany claimed her third consecutive title in the women’s unlimited SUP division. New Zealand’s Annabel Anderson (5:17:26) and Australia’s Terrence Black (5:31:45) also medaled in the grueling competition.

Jordan “Magic” Mercer of Australia claimed the women’s unlimited prone division for the sixth consecutive year after crossing the line in 5:32:42. Kauai’s Kanesa Duncan-Seraphin, an eight-time champion in the event who has now logged 480 miles in her 15 channel crossings, finished nearly 34 minutes behind Mercer and notched third place. Abby Brown (6:29:47) took home the women’s stock prone division championship after holding off Carter Graves (6:34:23).