SOCC going Down Under

While a number of sporting associations are busy preparing for the return of the Micronesian Games to Saipan this summer, not all of the athletes in the CNMI are eligible to show their stuff due to the strict residency requirements.

Rather than sit idly by and wait for their seven years to elapse, members of the Saipan Outrigger Canoe Club are taking the plunge in the deep waters to challenge the best from California, Hawaii, New Zealand, Tahiti, and Australia by entering the Hamilton’s Cup in Queensland, Australia from June 28 through July1.

“We’ve been training since February by practicing every Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday, and we just received confirmation from the race organizers of our nominations to race in the 1,000m, 16km, and 42km races,” said SOCC secretary Sonny Downer.

The Hamilton’s Cup is one of the largest paddling events in the world, and this year there’s $100,000 on the line that will be evenly distributed between the best of all the divisions. In addition to the top finishers, those who display the true spirit of paddling will walk away with $1,000 and the Charles Pene “Spirit of Aloha Award.”

While the longest-distance race equates to an aquatic marathon, the paddlers of the SOCC are used to taking on challenges, much like they did during their latest attempt at the channel crossing to Tinian. While they’ve attempted the treacherous course once and nearly, they were forced to turn back in the “severely rough water” and nearly capsized.

The team is taking on a challenge within the challenge as well. While most teams tackle the monster 42km race with six paddlers in the outrigger and three to swap out every half hour from a chase boat, the men of the SOCC are going the distance with six.

The first-ever team from Saipan to brave the Hamilton’s race consisting of Downer, Joe Przyuski, Eric O’Malley, Wayne Bramlett, Gil Birnbrich, and Richard Sikkel is not just looking for fun—they are looking for contention.

Columbus, Ohio product Birnbrich said that he’s excited to go to Australia first time, but he plans to put his experience in smaller regional events in his biggest international competition.

“I expect it to be a blast. I don’t expect to just go there to show up. I expect to compete,” he said.

While none of the paddlers took up the sport in the mainland, they team came together after friends invited them to join them for a paddle. Since then they have spent countless hours in the Saipan Lagoon training for the event.

Veteran triathlete and top notch swimmer Bramlett picked up the sport in October hasn’t put down the paddle since.

“The guys said come to do and I said okay. I like it because it’s a whole new way of dealing with the water—being on top of the water rather than in it,” he said.

Skimming the top of the water is a long way from skiing the tops of the Rockies, but O’Malley of Denver, Colorado said that he took to the sport when he was invited by friends to jump in a couple years ago. Now he finds himself as one of the seasoned veterans of the team.

“We started off pretty strong and then I kind of waned off a little bit but then we got a new batch of guys that were enthusiastic about it and they got us started again and the next thing we know we’re going off to the biggest race in our careers,” he said.

Sikkel is another one of the more seasoned of the paddlers, and he is tasked with steering the crew through the big waves of the South Pacific. While he never paddled back home in Holland, he took the sport up for the exercise and said that the Hamilton’s Cup will be “an interesting experience” at least.

This will be the first event of any kind for newbie Joe Przyuski, and he said that he’s ready to go and have a great time giving his all in Australia.

“I’m excited. I’ve only been paddling since I got here in November. It’ll be interesting having the first race pretty much being one of the largest outrigger races in the world but it should be fun. It should be a good time all around,” he said.

The cost to send the team is staggering, and the SOCC is looking to the community to help them compete with the world’s finest on one of the biggest stages.

“We’ve got a nice clean boat and we’re looking to put some decals on it. We’re looking for anybody to come out and sponsor our team,” said Downer.

As Przyuski added, the team also has some “nice clean uniforms” that will be arriving soon and sponsors can add their names and logo to blank canvas by contacting their secretary via email at sonny.downer@gmail.com.