Olympian Pangelinan to join Marianas PaddleFest

Olympic paddler Sean Pangelinan of Guam will be gracing the Marianas PaddleFest Series set on Nov. 7 at the Hyatt Regency Saipan’s beachside.

Guam paddler Sean Pangelinan will share tips and other techniques that earned him an Olympic berth. Pangelinan will be on Saipan this weekend to take part in the Marianas PaddleFest Series to promote a healthy and active lifestyle. (Contributed Photo)

Pangelinan won’t be competing but instead will be conducting a free paddling clinic to all registered participants for the second event organized by OceanSoul Unlimited and Windsurfing Saipan.

The 28-year-old, who grew up in Yona, will be giving tips and other paddling techniques as well as paddling specific fitness.

He represented Guam in the XXIX Beijing Olympics in 2008 in the men’s singles flatwater canoeing events where he reached the semifinals of the 500m and owing to a bad start, was 10 seconds behind in earning another semis berth in the 1000m.

Pangelinan came in seventh with a time of 2:12.696 in the preliminaries of the 500m to advance to the semis where he was five seconds slower of his qualifying time to end up at ninth.

He clocked 4:49.284 for eighth place in the 1,000m event where he lagged behind in the early goings of the race to miss a semifinals berth by 10 seconds behind Angola’s Fortunato Luis Pacavira’s 4:39.538.

Pangelinan started his paddling career in Guam’s interscholastic sports program and tried flatwater canoeing when he was a high school senior. He is now based in San Diego, California where he manages own fitness gym, The FitLab.

The second edition of the PaddleFest held its last practice round yesterday with the actual racing event set on Saturday also at Hyatt’s beachfront.

Last June, 55 joined the inaugural racing event. This time a masters division (over 50), relay event, and longer distance course are some of the events added by the organizers in the second series.

At least five entries are needed in the masters, while the relay event includes a beach run for each member of the three-person team. The long distance course will be held on Sunday, Nov. 8, where a minimum of 10 entries and is open to paddlers Over-17.

The board length required for the races is limited to 12 feet and paddling equipment—boards and paddles—are available for only $5 through WindSurfing Saipan at Hyatt’s beachside.

Registration is still open at http://www.eventbrite.com/e/marianas-paddlefest-race-2-registration-18710063303 or at WindSurfing Saipan. For more information, email oceansoulunlimited@gmail.com.

Northern Marianas College-Cooperative Research Extension and Education Service, Hyatt Regency Saipan, WindSurfing Saipan, Bank of Hawaii, Triple J Enterprises, Tan Siu Lin Foundation, KKMP 92.1, Saipan Apparel, Kialoa Paddles, Infinity SUP, Better Surf Than Sorry, and JET Holdings are supporting the event.