Pip takes on grueling Singapore Ocean Cup

Marianas Outrigger Club veteran paddler Pipit Ball took on the grueling Singapore Ocean Cup 2024—Singapore’s biggest annual ocean paddling championship race last Saturday.

Ball was the solo paddler which guaranteed her first place in the women’s V1 Long Course single craft 14-km race and finished it in one piece with a time of 2:24:32.5 despite the choppy waters and inclement weather.

Paddlers from Hawaii, New Zealand, Malaysia, Hong Kong, and Indonesia shared the waters for a rough yet rewarding race, with Ball deciding to compete because she was near the area. She is currently in Indonesia for work and made her way to Singapore via ferry.

There, she said it had the “worst water condition I’ve ever been in! But I will do it again!” She added, “I was not expecting that kind of condition but it’s a learning process. It’s my first time [in] this competition and I am hoping I will make it again next year and I will learn from this experience.”

In the race, she said, “Most of the competitors used a OC1 canoe, which I found out was very convenient for them to paddle in rough and tough Singapore water. I chose to be in V1 because that’s what I train for, but it’s more challenging because I have no support from rudders unlike the OC1.

She said with that, she had to rely on her steering skills and power to paddle against the swells from every direction, and find her way to avoid the currents. Also, she said that flat waters without wind is one of the hardest things she had to traverse.

She added, “It was only two of us in the V1 category and to get the medals, that’s part of the athlete’s strategy to choose your course wisely and trust in myself that I can do it.”

Her mindset throughout, she said, was, “I must do my best. I gave myself a lot of pressure but just to be back to the finish line safely, I have so much to be grateful for.”

She then said, “Thanks to MOC, the president and its members, especially to MOC women for all of the support and encouragement from them. And always to GetFitCNMI for their training program.”

Her last race was in the open women V1 500m sprints in the IVF Va’a World Elite and Club Sprint Championship 2024 last month.

She is hoping to be able to make it back to Saipan on time to compete in next month’s 24th Annual Micronesia Cup Canoe Race.