Jimmy Austin had just passed two competitors as he headed toward the finish of Sunday’s Steinlager Kaiwi Channel Solo OC-1 World Championship.

The 32-mile trek from Kaluakoi Beach, Molokai, to Koko Marina on Oahu had left him physically and mentally exhausted.

Then a song Austin was listening to on his iPod boosted his fighting spirit as the finish line fronting The Shack Hawaii Kai came into sight.

"At the very end, this is kind of funny, but ‘Eye of the Tiger’ came up," Austin said. "Just thinking of all the training watching the ‘Rocky’ movies, it was like OK, got to lay it all out."

Austin, a 32-year-old from Honolulu, won the race for the first time, finishing in 3 hours, 31 minutes, 54 seconds. He was followed by Kailua’s Karel Tresnak Jr. in 3:32:45 and Pat Dolan, also of Kailua, in 3:33:24. All three broke the course record of 3:38:00.

On the women’s side, Lauren Bartlett won the event for the ninth time, finishing in a course record 4:01:31.

The competitors had favorable trade winds in the 15 to 20-mph range, according to an in-race report.

"I feel really blessed and lucky," said Bartlett, of Kula, Maui. "It was an awesome channel crossing. We don’t always get these conditions. So it was a total treat to have some waves. I woke up this morning, saw the conditions and it was like Christmas morning."

Dolan added: "The conditions were good. The wind picked up. It was nice. Can’t complain about the conditions."

Austin, the men’s winner, had one runner-up and two third-place finishes in the previous three solo OC-1 world championships.

"I’ve been trying for four years to win this … thing," he said. "It’s the most awesome, yet brutal race I’ve ever done."

The start of the race was delayed about 30 minutes and started at 9:30 a.m. as big surf hit Kaluakoi Beach.

"The surf was really big over on the west end of Molokai," Bartlett said. "Everyone worked together and got off the beach safe. It was still an adventure getting past the shore break. It had solid size to it."

Once things got under way, Tresnak took the lead.

Austin said he and Dolan were at least 200 yards behind Tresnak for a majority of the race and trying to conserve energy before making their moves.

Austin said he pulled ahead of Dolan, then "just put my head down from there, drank some Red Bull and went after Karel."

Austin passed Tresnak just before they traveled under Kalanianaole Highway, about 600 yards from the finish. That’s when "Eye of the Tiger" started playing.

In the desperate push to the finish, Austin polluted the ocean with some Red Bull.

"I was puking basically from the bridge to here," said Austin, who added he also listened to Hawaiian and Reggae music during the race. "I was just vomiting, but thinking about being a world champion."

Added Trasnak, "I thought I paddled a helluva race, but it wasn’t enough. What else can you do?"

Kai Bartlett, the defending men’s race champion and husband of Lauren, decided not to enter Sunday’s race. He instead rode aboard Dolan’s escort boat.

"He really wanted to help me out and I was very fortunate to have him on my crew," said Dolan, a 23-year-old who recently fell short in his attempt to make the 2012 U.S. Olympic kayaking team. "He really helped me. Unfortunately, I couldn’t pull it out today, but that’s how it goes. He was setting my line and making sure I was staying on it."

On the women’s side, Bartlett’s time of 4:01:31 was more than 15 minutes ahead of the next female competitor. Rachel Bruntsch finished second in 4:16:52 and Lori Nakamura placed third in 4:24:41.

The previous women’s record was 4:13:00.

"I wanted to knock 3 minutes off of that. I knocked more than that off of it, so I’m happy," Bartlett said.