Much like students going back to school at summer’s end, crews participating in the long distance outrigger canoe paddling season are quickly reminded of the hard work and preparation needed to succeed.

"We need to keep doing our homework," said Dana Gorecki, one of many experienced paddlers making up the Waikiki Beach Boys distance crew.

The "Beach Girls" aced their first test by claiming the 40th annual Dad Center Race held Sunday along Oahu’s east and south shores. The event marked the first full-field event of the women’s long-distance paddling season, and featured 41 crews that traversed a 25-mile course spanning from Kailua Beach, around Makapuu and Diamond Head and finishing in the waters fronting Kaimana Beach and the Outrigger Canoe Club in Waikiki.

Waikiki notched the win in 3 hours, 10 minutes and 46.58 seconds and fended off Hui Nalu’s open crew (3:12:23.79). Defending champion Team Bradley (3:18:22.69) crossed the line third despite suffering a five-minute penalty for an improper start, and edged Hui Nalu’s masters (40-and-older) by 0.25 seconds.

"We learned a lot today, and we know that, just like us, the other crews will continue to get stronger," Gorecki said. "It’s going to get tougher as the season goes on."

Gorecki was joined in the winning crew by Alanna Bender, Laura Birse, Chelsea Bizik, Rachel Bruntsch, Jessica Kaawa, Eko Lapp, Frances Lichowski, Alexia Lopez and Jennifer Polcer.

Team Bradley, which races under Hawaiian Canoe Club of Maui, won this event in 2009 and again last year, beating Waikiki by six minutes. Team Bradley features an experienced group of paddlers from across the state that bears the name of outrigger canoe maker Sonny Bradley, and has won eight of the last nine Na Wahine O Ke Kai events, including a streak of six straight titles from 2005 to 2010; Waikiki dethroned Bradley in 2011.

Hui Nalu’s masters and Team Bradley got out to an early advantage around Flat Island, but Waikiki and Hui Nalu’s open crew eventually worked their way into the lead. The two canoes then seesawed into and out of first place as the crews rounded Makapuu and worked around Koko Head. Gorecki explained that while Team Bradley made a charge in the waters off Maunalua Bay, Waikiki answered after making some key adjustments and established the eventual winning margin.

"We played the cat-and-mouse game. … Team Bradley marched up on us, but midway through Maunalua Bay, we made a push and opened up a bit of a gap," said Gorecki.

Waikiki’s victory was made possible in part by the successful steering from Bruntsch, a veteran waterwoman who was tasked with navigating the canoe after experienced steerswoman Kaui Pelekane took the year off from racing. The Beach Boys are in good hands when it comes to steering, as Bizik is also skilled at guiding the boat when called upon.

"She has some big shoes to fill but is handling the pressure very well," said Gorecki of Bruntsch’s solid performance.

Sunday’s race was named after George David "Dad" Center, a premier waterman in the same era as Duke Kahanamoku who headed the Outrigger Canoe Club’s water programs. Kawika Grant, a longtime member of Outrigger’s paddling committee, explained that in those times, women were not included in canoe paddling because they were thought to lack the strength or endurance to compete in the same events as men.

In 1943, Outrigger fielded its first women’s crew, and in 1974, the first women’s long-distance race sanctioned by the Hawaiian Canoe Racing Association was held in memory of Center and his work in advancing women’s paddling. At the time, the course spanned 8 miles from Maunalua Bay to Outrigger; it was expanded to its current distance in 1979.

Waikiki’s victory netted the crew the Thomas H. Richert trophy, which is awarded to the race’s open division winner each year. The cup was donated by Outrigger paddler Tiare Richert Finney, whose mother, Loretta Turnbull, won what was originally dubbed the Conte Theo Rossi Cup in 1932 as a reward for victory in Italian speedboat racing.

The distance season consists of four races on Oahu — two men’s and two women’s events — followed by the Na Wahine O Ke Kai and Molokai Hoe: the women’s and men’s versions of the 41-mile Molokai-to-Oahu race considered the sport’s world championship.

The women return to action on Sept. 7 for the E Lau Hoe race, which follows a course from Maunalua Bay to Nanakuli Beach Park. The men will complete the same course Sept. 14 in the Henry Ayau Memorial Race.