Danny Ching Edges Slater Trout, Shae Foudy Tie-Breaks Candice Appleby to Win the Tommy Bahama Pier Paddle in Santa Monica (Updated)

June 12, 2016

by Christopher Parker (@wheresbossman)

Danny Ching Edges Slater Trout, Shae Foudy Tie-Breaks Candice Appleby to Win the Tommy Bahama Pier Paddle in Santa Monica (Updated)

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Danny Ching has triumphantly returned to the racing scene after a brief hiatus, claiming the Tommy Bahama Paddleboard Race and Ocean Festival at Santa Monica Pier on Saturday after edging out Slater Trout and a strong field in a day of highly-entertaining racing.

Danny started the day strong, finishing the 5.5 mile distance race one minute ahead of runner-up Chase Kosterlitz and third-placed Slater Trout, however he still needed a solid result in the afternoon PaddleCross (surf race) to claim the overall title that was based on combined results.

In a fast-paced, heavily-stacked PaddleCross final, Mo Freitas and Slater took off like rockets at the start, but were soon joined by Noa Hopper, Danny and several more in the closely-contested, short, sharp two lap sprint.

With small waves testing the paddlers’ skill and strategy (and providing the crowd with plenty of entertainment), the race came down to a three-man sprint up the sand, with Slater going full on beast mode to charge across the line and claim a big win, with Noa and Danny in a photo finish for second.

It was a huge performance from Noa, however Danny edged out his 404 team mate by the narrowest of margins right on the line, which actually proved to be a crucial result; If Danny had have finished third in the sprint, he and Slater would have tied on the overall points and Slater would have won on a countback (the PaddleCross result was the tie-breaker).

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The clip above shows the exciting finish between the top three, who crossed just seconds ahead of a very impressive Giorgio Gomez, Slater’s Infinity team mate who claimed 3rd overall to continue his rapid rise through the racing ranks, Bullet Obra, Mo, and Fernando Stalla.

But it was Danny’s day, with the 404 front man returning to the top of the podium in his first race since the Carolina Cup back in April (in the meantime he’s been busy welcoming his first child into the world with wife Leah).

Outside of the overall top three (Danny, Slater, Giorgio) it was Mo, Chase, Noa, Bullet and Fernando, with promising SoCal junior prospects Tyler Bashor and Nick Scheel rounding out the top 10.

It was also great to see Brazilian Jonas Leteiri return to California for more racing experience. Despite his physical disadvantage, Jonas chose to race in the elite division against many of the world’s best guys, which was inspiring to see.

Oh and a special shout out to Brennan Rose, who pulled off the move of the day with a stylish and skillful “run-and-jump” start to the PaddleCross. You can see the video of it down below in the insta-reactions.

Noa Hopper leading his Team 404 boss Danny Ching around the buoy (photo: Santa Monica Pier)

The women’s event was similarly tight, with defending champ Shae Foudy and Candice Appleby involved in a tug-of-war that lasted all day.

Candice gained the early ground, comfortably winning the distance race ahead of Shae and a trio of talented juniors in Kali’a Alexiou, Jade Howson and Lexi Alston. But with the PaddleCross being the tie-breaker, the overall event title was kept alive right down til the final moments.

(It was a rather busy day for Candice: She was also runner-up in the prone PaddleCross race behind the prone distance race winner and ISA silver medalist Carter Graves; Jack Bark and Aussie Nick Malcom split the wins in the men’s prone races.)

In a fast-paced final, Shae, Candice and Lexi set the pace, before the reigning champ made the best of the small waves to pull ahead on the final stretch, triumphantly crossing the line and earning the bulk of the prize money. With $15,000 on the entire event, the winners enjoyed a solid payday at Santa Monica Pier on Saturday.

Candice held off Lexi in the battle for second, which left her tied with Shae on points at the end of the event. However with the PaddleCross being the tie-breaker result, Shae was crowned the Pier Paddle grand champion for the second year in a row, earning another big win for Team Riviera.

Lexi, the 14-year-old who has just returned home following an experience-building stint on the EuroTour, edged out her fellow SoCal rising stars Kali’a and Jade after the trio were tied for points.

With the average age in the elite women’s race probably hovering somewhere around 16 or 17, the future of the sport looks very bright, particularly in Southern California where the junior girls are setting new standards every week.

Team Riviera’s Shae Foudy on her way to victory in the PaddleCross, which gave her the overall Pier Paddle title for the second year in a row (photo: Santa Monica Pier)

Despite the unseasonably overcast conditions, it looks and sounds like it was another excellent year for the Pier Paddle, with a stellar lineup and strong crowd enjoying the beach festival beside the iconic pier. Congrats to Brennan, Barrett, Vela and all the crew for pulling off a great event.

Speaking of sounds, the crowd was treated to a performance by “King of Surf Guitar” Dick Dale at the after party, with the iconic Santa Monica Pier providing an amazing backdrop for the day’s festivities.

The Tommy Bahama Pier Paddle definitely looks like one of the funnest race on the calendar, so pencil it in on your 2017 schedule. But while it’s a modern spectacle these days, the event is steeped in history, with Santa Monica Pier hosting some of California’s very first paddleboard races way back in the 1940s.

In the meantime, here are the full results from the elite showdown, plus a stack of cool pics from throughout the day — apart from the SUP racing, the Pier Paddle also features prone paddling, swimming and dory races.

2016 Tommy Bahama Pier Paddle – ELITE RESULTS

Note: These are the elite divisions only; click here for the full results
LD = Long Distance (5.5 mile)
PC = PaddleCross (surf race)
WR = World Rankings
Overall results based on LD + PC
(PaddleCross was the tie-breaker)

ELITE WOMEN

#	Athlete	LD	LD	PC	PC	Total	WR
1	Shae Foudy	1:16:52	17	0:04:45	19	36	30.00
2	Candice Appleby	1:14:48	19	0:04:58	17	36	22.50
3	Lexi Alston	1:23:04	11	0:05:04	15	26	18.00
4	Jade Howson	1:22:16	13	0:05:14	13	26	15.00
5	Kali`a Alexiou	1:19:36	15	0:05:20	11	26	12.75
6	Genna Flinkman	1:35:36	3	0:05:31	9	12	10.50
7	Alyson Fromm	1:26:23	9	0:06:37	3	12	9.00
8	Karen Jacobson	n/a	-	0:06:28	7	7	7.50
9	Erika Benitez	1:27:54	7	n/a	-	7	6.75
10	Malaya Ring	n/a	-	0:06:34	5	5	6.00
11	Kristin Thomas	1:30:38	5	n/a	-	5	5.40
12	Alejandra Brito	1:43:25	1	0:07:24	1	2	4.80

ELITE MEN

#	Athlete	LD	LD	PC	Total	WR
1	Danny Ching	1:06:17	19	17	36	30.00
2	Slater Trout	1:07:17	15	19	34	22.50
3	Giorgio Gomez	1:07:38	11	13	24	18.00
4	Mo Freitas	1:07:38	13	9	22	15.00
5	Chase Kosterlitz	1:07:08	17	5	22	12.75
6	Noa Hopper	1:10:44	5	15	20	10.50
7	Bullet Obra	1:08:04	9	11	20	9.00
8	Fernando Stalla	1:09:08	7	7	14	7.50
9	Tyler Bashor	1:17:14	0	3	3	6.75
10	Nick Scheel	1:13:19	3	0	3	6.00
11	Chance Fielder	1:14:00	1	0	1	5.40
12	Brennan Rose		0	0	0	4.80
13	Jedd Hasay		0	0	0	4.50
14	Elijah Schoenig		0	0	0	4.20
15	Daniel Russell	1:18:48	0	0	0	3.90
16	Taylor Rambo	1:17:50	0	0	0	3.60
17	Patrick Cleveland	1:20:25	0	0	0	3.30
18	Trevor Bashor		0	0	0	3.00
19	Byron Kurt	1:15:41	0	0	0	2.70
20	Mark Miyamoto		0	0	0	2.40
21	Karl Ring	1:15:13	0	0	0	2.25
22	Rodney Ellis	1:16:38	0	0	0	2.10
23	Dave Boehne	1:20:03	0	0	0	1.95
24	Jonas Letieri	1:35:18	0	0	0	1.80