American Samoa’s name goes on the medal scoreboard at the International Vaa World Distance Championships in Apia.
This morning, John Goeke clinched a bronze medal in the Master Mens 70 VI 16 kilometer race.
Goeke was in good form when he crossed the finish line behind competitors from Australia, who won the race, and New Zealand, in second place. There were seven paddlers in the race.
KHJ News spoke earlier with James Tamasese, who competed in the Mens 40 V1 race yesterday and finished 15 out of 19 paddlers.
He said apart from the heat, the course was good. But it wasn’t smooth sailing for him.
Tamasese said they were heading up to the first red buoy the paddler from Samoa collied with the tail of his canoe and pushed him diagonal to course.
“I dropped right to the back and had to really work hard to catch up to everyone again,” he said.
Still he crossed the finish line ahead of the Samoa paddler.
Tamasese said conditions in Apia Harbor are pretty similar to what they’re used to in Pago Harbor.
“We just need more intense races leading up to the event for conditioning,” he commented. “We don’t really get the needed exposure because we have less than a handful of V1 paddlers, and 1 or 2 competitive paddlers.”
Contrast that to many of the paddlers in the world championships which have many races leading up to the event. “That’s a really critical part of the build up.”
The first local paddler to race at the championships was Eugene Tuimaualuga in the Open Mens V1 16 kilometer race. According to the IVF results website, he did not complete the race.
The women’s paddling team of Paula Stevenson McDonald,
Katrina Mariner, Sandra Ho Ching, Luaao Wasko, Vaegaau Fe’a and Sala McGuire, will be racing in the Women’s 24 kilometer tomorrow.
