MITCHELL CLAIMS 10TH WORLD TITLE IN HAWAII CAPPING DECADE OF PADDLEBOARDING PERFECTION
Honolulu, Hawaii - The weight of the Hawaiian Islands
lifted from Jamie Mitchell's shoulders today when he crossed the finish line
of the 32-mile Molokai-to-Oahu world championship race in record time,
claiming his 10th consecutive world paddleboard title. Mitchell, 34,
(Queensland, Australia) shaved eight minutes off the course record that he
posted back in 2007, clocking a new fastest time of 4 hours, 30 minutes and
41 seconds.
"I feel like the weight of the entire Hawaiian Island chain has lifted from
me," said a pumped up Mitchell at the finish. "It's done."
It was an emotional and relieving victory that bookended a decade of
perfection for Mitchell. It also puts him on par with fellow Quiksilver
teammate Kelly Slater, a 10-time world champion of surfing and one of the
only human beings on the planet who can comprehend the dedication and
commitment such a sporting feat demands. Slater was among the first to
praise Jamie's accomplishment today:
"Jamie has set a bar that few, if any, athletes have set in their careers,"
said Slater. "Ten straight years of doing anything is impressive. To beat
the world's best paddlers time and again in treacherous, unpredictable
conditions is inspiring and unbelievable."
Conditions for today's race were tough and somewhat chaotic with
cross-diagonal swells of up to six feet. Relatively weak trade winds didn't
offer much assistance, but an incoming tide made the course surprisingly
fast.
"Epic!" said Mitchell. "I can't believe it was that fast. Conditions weren't
that great, but the current was good. Sometimes the wind felt like it was
barely blowing at all. It was pretty hard, you had to work for the (wave)
runs. Even though the wind wasn't that great, thankfully it never got really
ugly like it can get. I actually got some of my longest glides in that last
six miles, which is usually the worst. I didn't realize how fast it was
until they told me the time."
Mitchell may never be beaten, announcing today that this would likely be his
last Molokai crossing as we know it; it's time to retire the magical "green
machine" paddleboard that has taken him to the past five world titles.
"Go out at the top," said Mitchell with a smile. "It's time for a new
challenge. I've worked hard to get this. Ten years is a long time. It's time
to chase something new."
But before tackling his next 'Everest', it's time to finally take his new
wife Jocelyn on the honeymoon that has been on hold for three months while
he pursued his 10th world title. After that, he will lend his support to
Slater as head of water safety at the upcoming Quiksilver Pro New York,
September 1-15.
Mitchell is one of the world's leading watermen and star athlete of the
Quiksilver Waterman Collection team. In addition to being the 10X world
paddleboard champion, he is also a decorated big-wave rider, tow-in surfer,
and stand-up paddler.