Help Mike rep USA at Samoa 2023 Distance Champs

Hi, my name is Mike Prestridge and I have earned the USA Outrigger Racing Canoe Association (ORCA) Men V1 Master 60 spot to represent the United States at the International Va'a Federation (IVF) World Distance Championships this summer. The 2023 Samoa (I had to look at Google Map -- Samoa is just this side of Fiji, New Zealand and Australia!) competition will be held August 11-17. I am thrilled and excited about the opportunity to go and proudly wear the USA colors and uniform!

I started paddling outrigger canoes about 5 years ago, first on a 4-man surf canoe "Bold As Love" with my good friend Rocky McKinnon. Through those experiences, I met an Offshore Outrigger Canoe Club member, Mark Carnahan and he encouraged me to come check out 6-man outrigger racing canoes -- as a long-time surfer and stand-up paddleboarder, I was instantly hooked on this new open ocean challenge and have been enjoying team racing with Offshore since. Although, I have to say, there is still nothing as thrilling as dropping in, then turning on solid waves in a surf canoe... if you know, you know. Hope to get back to the Buffalo Big Board Classic again soon!

As paddlers know, it is a constant learning curve to improve your paddling ability: developing your stroke, building your conditioning, becoming comfortable in different conditions, and getting timing down, especially with your teammates in a V6 canoe. Fortunately our club has some ARE V1 canoes and after spending a little bit of time on them, I dedicated myself to training and racing V1's starting in Fall of 2021. Many thanks to Mark, our Coach Kevin Olds, my friends at ARE Outrigger World including Joey Alvarez, Nephi "Mana" Tehiva, Hoa "Coco" Nui, along with so many other paddlers that I am fortunate to know -- what an incredibly friendly and supportive paddle family and community we are blessed to have! Thanks Oliver Tabamo for the use of your ARE Marara for the races!

This year's Va'a California Series of 3 races put on by Kelly Schwartz and Ryan Cameron with Newport Aquatic Center (NAC) was eye-opening as the top Tahitian paddlers joined in the grueling fun, along with SoCal's elite paddlers and many others from all over. The 2nd race also served as the USA ORCA National Qualifier, and I was fortunate to be awarded the Men V1 Master 60 lane assignment and the opportunity to represent the USA. The event is completely self supported and just over 2 months away. I truly appreciate any help you can offer so that I can achieve this goal/dream of competing for the United States against what is sure to be a highly competitive International field at the 2023 IVF World Distance Championships, Samoa!

Aloha and Salamat (Thanks)!!

Mike

P.S. We are currently racing in the SoCal Outrigger Racing Association (SCORA) V6 Iron Season through mid-June, although I am still getting some V1 time on the water. Heavy V1 training will resume in just a couple of weeks after the Iron Champs, as I continue to prepare for Samoa...