Originally from southern Michigan, it wasn’t until she was 33 years old, living overseas, with a 7-month old son at home that Maureen picked up a paddle for the first time–and it was love at first stroke! Since then paddling has been a big part of her ever changing world: dragon boat in Okinawa (Japan), outrigger in Hawaii, and both in SoCal & beyond. 

Mo is fortunate to have had many memorable team racing experiences, including a 2023 IVF World Distance V6 gold in Samoa, multiple first place Catalina US Championship crossings with her Dana Outrigger teammates, a second place finish at Hawaiki Nui, and the Na Wahine crossing in 2019 with her Kailua novice crew. Some of her most memorable OC1 races include a podium finish at the Gorge Downwind Champs, several Wild Buffalo Relay wins, and a top 10 finish at the 2024 Kaiwi Solo with conditions that will be difficult to beat!

As a military spouse, educator, and eternal optimist, Maureen fully embraces the expression “Bloom where you are planted.” She loves how paddling brings people together and forges instant connections, no matter who or where you are. When not on the water, you can find Mo out exploring & traveling with her husband Brian and their son Luke, trying all the new foods along the way! They are currently stationed in mainland Japan so if you see Mo training or sharing the stoke in the Hayama waters (or wherever the Navy sends them next!), please come say hello!

Leah grew up in a pool in northern Virginia, racing since she was 5. She fell in love with paddling a few years after moving to the LA area, and has been with Lanakila in Redondo Beach since 2009. Since then she has competed in many channel crossing races including several Molokai Solos placing top 10 several years and first-third a few years in her age group. She has also competed in the Molokai Relay, Na Wahine, Pa'a 'Eono, Pailolo, and Maui to Molokai, Wild Buffalo Relay, and Catalina 9 man, not to mention taking the podium twice in Carolina Cup, once in Olukai, Gorge OC6 and Na Pali Challenge, placing 1st in both with her Lanakila teammates. She loves competing in local SoCal races, ranking first in the State Champs in 2014 and 2015. 

In 2016 and 2019 she became the mother of 2 amazing girls. She and her husband, favorite training partner and teammate, Danny Ching, enjoy taking them out on the water more than anything in the world. A close second are their downwind dates. 

Leah is now back in the swing of things, she is balancing her life as a mom, registered nurse in the Operating Room, and a training schedule to get ready for whichever race may be next on schedule. 

Nahokuheleiakeahu’olu has been paddling since she was 8 years old growing up on Moloka’i. Over the past 20 years, Hoku has paddle with various clubs on Moloka’i and O’ahu and is currently paddling with Outrigger Canoe Club. She has competed and podiumed in various OC6 races such as 2nd and 3rd overall in Nā Wahine O Ke Kai, 3rd place overall at Hawaiki Nui, 1st place overall at the Sydney Harbor Challenge, and 3rd overall 1500m sprint a the World Sprints in Tahiti with her perspective teams. She has also competed in various OC1 races placing 5th in the PA’A Hawaii Moloka’i Solo in 2018.  This is also Hoku’s favorite race because “while this race is a solo race, itʻs not a race she ever feels alone…it’s a time for me to connect with my kupuna, my culture, connect with Kanaloa on a level that I haven't been able to replicate. To cross from one island to another, pulling the island closer and closer like my kupuna did, is why I love this race.” Her favorite thing about the paddling lifestyle is watching it flourish. While you will see Hoku competing and staying connected to the ocean through the wa’a, you will also see her celebrating her Hawaiian heritage and culture while perpetuating its traditions and history for the generations to come. 

At 46, Brandi can honestly say she has been competing at something longer than the rest of the team riders have been alive. She started competitive swimming at 8 years old, and since then she has competed at an elite level in Volleyball, Ironman Triathlon, SUP and over the past 5 years Outrigger Canoe. Her SUP accomplishments won her several 1st place finishes at BOP, and 3 Golds at the ISA's World Championships in Peru 2014. As a paddler at Dana Outrigger, Brandi and her team have won 3 Catalina US Championship crossings, and look forward to making it a 4th in 2019! Brandi looks forward to returning to the Columbia Gorge this year for some epic conditions, she has placed 2nd, 3rd, and 3rd over the past few years. Paddling and the lifelong friendships she has made, with people who love to play and compete on the ocean, is her favourite. Brandi juggles a lot, she is a full time Firefighter, Real Estate Agent, Wife, Mother, and thank God paddling sure gets in the way of all of that!

Anella started paddling in high-school for the Kamehameha Schools under coaches Auntie Rosie Lum and Kelly Fey. These two women continue to inspire Anella to this day. Those days represented what it was to go fast, win, work hard, and have fun. That has always stuck with Anella, and continues to drive her passion for paddling and being on the ocean. She has been fortunate to have had a lot of great coaches over the years (Guy Wilding, Jim Beaton, Johnny Puakea, George Wilson, Pat Dolan, just to name a few…).

Anella has raced with the Outrigger Canoe Club on Oahu since age 18. She has been fortunate to be a part of winning crews that have raced abroad, some of which include:  various Catalina races, Tahiti World Sprints in 2018, World Sprints in Windsor 2022, and Hawaiki Nui 2022 Women’s Champions. She has also been able to compete in various local Hawaii 6-man regatta and distance races over the past 20+ years. Winning the Senior women’s Macfarlane Regatta race three years in a row, steered by fellow Team Rider Jimmy Austin in 2018, 2019 and 2022, was another highlight of her paddling career 

Yet another highlight of her paddling career was placing top 5 women OC1 overall in the Molokai to Oahu Solo in 2023 (the top 5 women that year were all in their 40s)!

She enjoys competing in the Kanaka Ikaika and PA’A Hawaii OC1 races. These races are always a good challenge, and provide another way to get out on the ocean and have fun.  

In her spare time, her other favorite thing to do is surf! If ocean conditions aren’t the best, you’ll find her at the Wai Kai Wave Pool in Kapolei, where she gets her surfing fix in.

Corn-fed and Midwestern raised, Grace fell in love with the water from summers spent on Canandaigua Lake in upstate New York. She found her groove and competitive edge when she joined her swim team in high school. After college, she moved to Oceanside, California and discovered the existence of Outrigger, beginning her novice year in 2016. She quickly fell in love with the community of the sport, along with a shared love of water, sunshine, hard work and healthy competition. She went on to start competing in the local SoCal OC1 races, borrowing anyone’s canoe who was kind enough to lend to her. 

She competed in the V6 IVF World Distance Championships in Australia in 2019, took a close second in the Catalina Crossing in 2020 and helped score a win with Dana Outrigger for the crossing in 2021.

Grace enjoys chasing fellow Team Rider, Brandi, around during workouts, who always pushes her to be better. They took 3rd place together in the 2022 Wild Buffalo Relay. During the day, Grace enjoys working for a non-profit that trains Service dogs for people with disabilities. Grace can’t wait to see where paddling takes her next and who she will meet!

Mia was born on the North Shore of Oahu and moved to Honolulu at a young age, where she was raised enjoying the beach and ocean sports on a regular basis, thus developing a passion for the ocean and it's challenging sports.

Mia started canoe paddling when she was 10 years old at the Outrigger Canoe Club, where she learned to steer and compete in Hawaii's regatta racing. At 14, she was introduced to OC-1 paddling and a year later was racing in every Oahu OC-1 race held, finished top 10 in the prestigious Te Aito race in Tahiti at 15, and 5th in the World Distance Championships in Samoa.

Mia is a member of the Ka Lahui Kai Racing team. She has travelled to Tahiti twice to race in the Vodafone Channel Race, and in 2024 Mia's KLK team won the Catalina Crossing by and impressive 15 minutes, and the Na Wahine O Ke Kai by over 8 minutes.

Mia enjoys the long distance paddling and has crossed the Ka'iwi channel multiple times in OC-6 training runs. She has competed in the Maui to Molokai race in an OC-1 the past two years, and competed in The Gorge Downwind Championships in an OC-1, placing consistently as the top junior finisher in most races. When she's not paddling, Mia also has a passion for surfing and gets in the water to surf various breaks as often as possible!

Mia is grateful for the coaching and support of Johnny, opportunities from Team Puakea to compete and continue to learn, and for the aloha of the paddling community! She looks forward to many more racing opportunities and ocean adventures in her future!

April has been paddling SUP since 2011 and added a Puakea Outrigger to her quiver in 2016. She went from paddling a SUP with her paddle backwards in 2011 to becoming the East Coast SUP Surf Champion and the World Paddle Association Champion in 2014. Paddling for Salt Life and Hobie Stand Up Paddleboards the past 4 years, April maintained top finishes in major SUP races internationally, including the Carolina Cup, Pacific Paddle Games, and the Euro Tour. 2018 was really her first year Outrigger Racing - and she loved it! April has won the Graveyard at the Carolina Cup, had four 1st place finishes in the SoCal Winter Series, won the Wild Buffalo with my partner Jen Fratzke. She then tackled the Gorge Downwind Champs for the first time in 4th place - which is HANDS DOWN her favorite place/race to paddle (aside from obviously the Carolina Cup, which is her hometown race). In 2018, April also made the USA SUP and Paddleboard Team and represented our Country in China at the ISA World Championships as well as in Peru at the Pan American Surfing Games - where she took home a Gold Medal for the SUP Technical race. April looks forward to continuing to grow as a paddler in both disciplines, and has dreams of tackling some bigger mileage and bigger water (think Hawaiian races). But no matter where she paddles and competes, whether she is sitting down or standing, she loves meeting up and paddling with new and old friends! The paddle community is the most welcoming and encouraging group of people April has ever been a part of, and would have never found the success and healthy lifestyle she did without everyone she has met along the way. 

Growing up on Georgian Bay in Canada, Leanne has always been drawn to the water. Though not introduced to paddling until 1998, the water has always had a calming yet invigorating influence on her. Over the past 20+ years in competitive paddling, she has won numerous National titles (marathon canoe, outrigger, SUP, surfski) as well as several World Dragon Boat and Outrigger Sprint Championships with Team Canada, along with a win at Queen Lili, 4th at her first Na Wahine O Ke Kai, and never finishing lower than 4th at the World Outrigger Sprint and Distance Championships in V1 since 2008. You can regularly find Leanne on the podium at the Gorge Downwind Champs and various winter races throughout Southern California and Hawaii. 

When you meet Leanne, there is no doubt that she loves sharing her passion for paddling with others. She is happiest when helping others become more effective and efficient, recognizing their potential and striving to be their best. She does this in all avenues of her life: in her day job as a Special Education Teacher, as a role model in the Type 1 Diabetes community and as a leader in the Canadian Outrigger Racing Association.

With all the travelling, coaching and racing that Leanne has done, her favourite paddling experience has been helping with the development of the Kelowna Paddle Centre. The unique combination of outrigger, surfski and SUP programming, paddling excellence, social events and ohana has put Kelowna on the radar of many of the world's paddling elite. 

Joe’s love and respect for the ocean came at a pretty young age. His stoke and passion for canoe paddling started as a teenager in his hometown of Ewa Beach, on the southwest side of Oahu. Of all the sports and activities he grew up playing, the ocean kept calling and took over as his favorite playground. He was instantly hooked after his Uncle took him on his first Hawaii Kai run at 14. He then started competing in the High School Na Opio OC1 sprint series on Oahu, and eventually introduced paddling to his high school friends in order to form a 6man racing crew.

After high school, Joe enlisted into the U.S Coast Guard and got stationed near San Francisco, CA. Moving from Hawaii to a big city at 18 was a major adjustment, so he sought out canoe paddling and found San Francisco Outrigger Canoe Club. The folks at SFOCC made him feel right at home and they made a huge influence in the paddler and person he is today. In 2019, he moved down to Orange County, CA and has been a part of the Lanakila Outrigger Canoe Club in Redondo Beach, CA for the last couple years.

Paddling has given Joe a tremendous amount of joy over the years. It’s the best team and individual sport there is, in his opinion. Through competition, to catching ocean swells, to local races and international events, it’s offered so many thrills and accolades. As he continues to keep the glide going, his overall goal is to perpetuate the lifestyle and share the stoke like his family and friends did for him.

The first contact Kong had with paddling was back in 2015 when he joined the National University of Singapore Sprint Canoe varsity team, where he picked up flatwater canoeing under Coach Denes Szaszak. Paddling soon became his new-found passion and he took on team captaincy barely a year after he first set foot (or knee, to be exact) in the C1. It was also during his years with NUS that Kong discovered the world of ocean racing and its community on the outrigger canoe. To achieve his goal of paddling competitively at the international level, he has moved to within 15 minutes of cycling from the sea to clock in as much mileage as he can while balancing a full time job in the Singapore public service. Kong is currently training with the Singapore Paddle Club and is actively involved in helping budding paddlers like himself improve on the single craft. For him, the most rewarding part of the paddling lifestyle is the opportunity to connect with nature and the people who enjoy the same thrills of surfing the waters!