Our last Friday here in Oahu began with a little bit of an adventure while trying to find a different pool that we have been training at. We ventured to Punahou High School which may have only been right down the road, but with construction and no one knowing exactly where to go, it took a little bit of time to get there. Our first short course practice in a long time went very well and we worked on our underwaters and sprinting.
After practice, we went to breakfast and then split ways. Some of us stayed at the hotel to get some much needed rest and time out of the sun, some went to Waikiki to spend time at the beach, and some had to go finish their shopping for Secret Santa later that night. A small group of us went to the North Shore to watch the final day of the Pipemasters Surf competition.
Pipemasters is the final competition of the surfing Triple Crown and the final day brought in enormous crowds. The waves were the largest of the competition and the surfing was top notch. This was the first surfing competition I have ever seen and I have to say that this is the most amazing thing I have ever seen a human do, not to mention just how attractive the surfers themselves are. Watching the competition was a lot of fun, as we stood knee-deep in the water amazed by the surfers shooting out of pipes from the waves. I spent a lot of time attempting to take pictures with them and managed to get a few. The crowd favorite had to be Gabriel Medina from Brazil. He won the world championship of surfing and the Brazilians who came to watch went crazy and carried him off the beach! The other major contender was Julian Wilson from Australia. He faced off with Medina for the Pipemasters Championship in an epic showdown with near perfect scores that ended up with Wilson winning by .42! With this victory, Wilson won the Triple Crown and the Pipemasters Championship.
After watching an amazing day of surfing, we began the journey back from the North Shore. We drove through the amazing Hawaiian countryside watching out the windows as pineapple plantations, amazing beaches, and dense jungles flashed by outside. We took a wrong turn on the way back, but it turned out to be a blessing in disguise. We drove through the mountains and got to see the most amazing views on the entire island!
When we went to practice that night, Coach Lexi was coaching solo, so she used Timo ’17 to help her coach sprint group. The distance group did an infamous training trip set of 6x900s, but they actually got out of practice earlier than the other two groups. We ended practice with a team cheer and shout outs to those who have been working exceptionally hard in practice.
After dinner, we finished the day with a team tradition of Secret Santa. Everyone on the team draws the name of another teammate and gets them a typically funny gag gift. The night was filled with laughter and team bonding. Afterwards the Chanukah celebrations continued before everyone headed to bed to rest up for practice in the morning.
Caroline Filan ‘18
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