2009 Hawaii High School Canoe Paddling State Championship - Maui

While on Maui I had chance to shoot the 2009 Hawaii High School Canoe Paddling State Championship. The Hawaii State High School Association has also been kind enough to present a small gallery of my images on their site.

This event has historically been held on Oahu, so this was pretty exciting for the Maui teams and provided them with a lot of home town support, with local canoe clubs providing the canoes.

The lighting at midday and distance to the canoes limited the quality of the action shots, but I really enjoyed shooting the candid portraits, friends, family and support teams. As a former/inactive whitewater and sea kayaker I could really appreciate what these eight-person teams were going through, particularly the boys and girls that paddled their own class and then had to turnaround and paddle the mixed events.

For those that are use to just seeing traditional Texas sports photography I hope you find these image enjoyable....and if you are visiting my site from Hawaii, Mahalo!, I had a great time.

Additional coverage by The Maui News and photos by Amanda Cowan:
1) http://www.mauinews.com/page/content.detail/id/514611.html?nav=1
2) http://www.mauinews.com/page/content.detail/id/514611.html

Race Results may be found here: http://www.sportshigh.com/sports/canoe_paddling/tournament/2009 edit