Paddleboarding Makes Waves of Fun

Junior lifeguards, veteran paddlers, and competitors from as far away as Australia flocked to Redondo Beach to compete in the 2010 Hennessey's US Paddleboard Championships earlier this month.

The event featured bare-hands paddleboarding done in the prone position (alternated with kneeling by some competitors) and paddling done standing up on specialized paddleboards.

While the advanced competitors stole the show purely based on performance, the youthful exuberance of first time racers carried the day.

"I was really excited; I didn't know I was a paddler--it was kind of a surprise," Zoe Colomer said, bewildered and grinning after winning her first heat.

Legendary local paddleboard builder, Joe Bark, not only had a lot of his boards in the race, but has a 16-year-old son who placed fourth in the adult stock board division.

"He just had me paddling from an early age. I used to be all mad at him for making me do it, tired and cold," explained Jack Bark, who paddles two or three times a week for training.  "A couple years ago I started doing good in races...It's been like my own thing now, I like to do it."

The event drew 166 competitors from around the world.

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