HONOLULU — Like every other women senior race during the 2023 Na Ohana O Na Hui Waa regatta season, Varina Anantiad watched her daughter’s back.
The steersperson in the rear spot of Manu O Ke Kai’s special koa wood canoe had a direct line of sight on Kahanu Anantiad’s stroke in seat No. 3. Beyond, the waters were calm and clear of competitors. The family-led team’s runaway victory at Keehi Lagoon on Saturday was emblematic of Manu O Ke Kai’s fifth straight Hui Waa championship regatta title.
“I really think it’s an honor. Not all the time can you paddle with your daughter, because of the age difference,” Varina Anantiad said.
She is 46 to Kahanu’s 23. Kahanu, like her siblings, was raised in the club scene. Her father, Ama, competed for Manu’s victorious men 50 team Saturday.
“Every single race that I’ve been racing, she’s been the steersman for,” Kahanu Anantiad said. “So that’s really special, too, to be sharing something like that with your family.”
The Haleiwa-based club tallied 191 points, winning 18 of the 39 events it entered. Na Keiki O Ka Mo‘i, competing in Division AA for middle-sized clubs this year, was runner-up with 116 points from 28 events. Kaneohe, also in AA, took third overall with 85 points from 26 races.
Manu’s women’s senior crew — the other members are Jenna Kiejko, Jacquelyn Reed, Lili Taliulu and Bree Thuston — swept all seven Hui Waa regattas this year; Saturday’s margin of victory for their 14-minute, 5.85-second mark on the 1.5-mile course was nearly a minute.
They have to remind themselves there’s a bigger goal — the Hawaiian Canoe Racing Association state championship in Hilo Bay on Aug. 5.
“If there’s not a club on the other side of us, then you have to mentally push each other,” Varina Anantiad said. “We each have to have the same goal of, ‘Let’s get the time, let’s get the time.’ And pretty much a lot of our crew members, that’s what’s on our mind.”
Said Kahanu Anantiad, “We’ve been in range. I know OHCRA pulled really fast times last weekend.”
Manu was also victorious in the men senior race, clocking a 12:23.47 for a winning margin of 36 seconds over runner-up Alapa Hoe.
Na Keiki O Ka Mo‘i formerly went toe to toe with Manu in Division AAA, but elected to drop down this year because of fewer paddlers, especially among its men’s crews. That was a first in a long while, coach Lisa Ka‘aekuahiwi said. But the club still managed to win five races and was runner-up in nine more to take Division AA comfortably.
“That’s validating for our decision to stay in the AA,” Ka‘aekuahiwi said. “If next year we end up going to AAA, Manu is always going to be a force to be reckoned with — always. I don’t ever doubt that they wouldn’t. But this was kind of a slower start for us this year.”
She said her club would be selective with the crews it sends over to the state regatta, with mostly keiki crews making the trip this time.
Kaneohe fended off Lokahi for overall third place by a mere point. Lokahi earned six golds, but Kaneohe's 10 silvers kept it in the hunt. A runner-up finish for Kaneohe in the final event of the day, mixed men and women, was the decider. Kaneohe and Lokahi also went 1-2 in the men sophomore race as a swing result.
“Our kids did really good today,” said Kaneohe sophomore steersman Keoni Anderson. “Some hiccups here and there, but other than that we’re having a great day.
“Our open crews, we’re trying to push as hard as we can, but man, Manu O Ke Kai, they’re tough,” he added. “They’re tough.”
Lahui O Koolauloa won Division A for clubs entered in one to 14 events by scoring 35, edging Ka Mamalahoe’s 33 by eking ahead with a fourth-place finish in the final scoring event of the day, mixed men and women.
Full Hui Waa championship regatta results are here. OHCRA’s championship regatta is Sunday at Keehi.
Brian McInnis covers the state's sports scene for Spectrum News Hawaii. He can be reached at brian.mcinnis@charter.com.