TODD'S SERIOUS SIDE PAYS DIVIDENDS WITH NATIONAL TITLE WIN

Coffs Harbour, December 10, 2011: Sunshine Coast paddler Todd Cohen's decision to take some of the fun out of his favourite sport has paid dividends with his win in the Australian Outrigger Canoe Racing Association's 25km OC1 Australian Marathon title win in Coffs Harbour today.

Cohen backed himself as the fittest paddler in what organisers described as the strongest field ever assembled in a National championship with the cream of Australia's paddlers joined by a host of Hawaiians and Californians.

 The strongly built Mooloolaba outrigger canoe paddler joined 300 of Australia's finest outrigger and ski paddlers as they steered their craft our through some treacherous surf at the southern end of Woolgoolga Beach just to get to the start line off the southern point.

They then faced a thankless 25 kilometre paddle south to the Coffs Harbour Jetty with hardly any assistance from the ocean or the conditions.

The 1.5m waves at Woolgoolga created havoc with some of the less experienced surf paddlers finding the big sets somewhat daunting with paddlers wiping out with backshoots often the order of the day.

Once they cleared the break they faced a tough, unrelenting paddle that certainly did them no favours.

Cohen, who has dominated OC1 racing all season with four previous wins, chalked up his first major National title in the Coffs Harbour race proving too strong for three-time winner Greg Long (Currumbin, Gold Coast) and Molokai Champion Danny Ching (California) with two another Currumbin paddlers Aaron Bitmead fourth and Currumbin's defending champion Travis Grant fifth.

The women's OC1 podium saw the extraordinary 45-year-old Bulimba "ironwoman"  Robyn Saultry take first place from former National Champion Amanda Ozolins with Hawaii's 2004 Olympic kayaker Lauren Bartlett third.

Saultry is devoting 2011 to motivate older athletes and the fitness fanatic, who adds international triathlons to her outrigger competitions and five swimming gold medals at the Pan Pacific Masters Games, has been has been a type one diabetic for the past 15 years.

Ozolins has also won numerous national titles in both sprint and marathon racing in OC1 canoes and placed sixth in the 2008 Molokai Solo, where she paddled the 65km Molokai crossing on her own against a top international field.

In the International Canoe Federation World Ocean Ski Series race, doubling as the East  Coast Challenge, it was another Sunshine Coaster, Kurrawa SLSC lifesaver Ben Allen who took the honours from Northcliffe Ironman Cory Hill with another Sunshine Coaster Paul Green taking third.

Allen, sixth in the world class field  behind Tim Jacobs in Hong Kong two weeks ago, scored a well-deserved victory, breaking away from Hill with four kilometres to go.

For Cohen, the win in Coffs Harbour capped off his best ever season.

Cohen admitted he changed from racing OC1 as a "fun sport" 12 months ago to "getting serious" after finishing second to Grant in last year's race.

"This is the first time I have really trained seriously and I have put in 10-12 weeks of hard work on the water and it has certainly paid dividends," said Cohen.

"I was afraid to take the fun out of it but knew if I was going to start winning races consistently, then I would have to train hard and I have learnt a lot about preparation and the big thing was believing I could win it.

"I knew it was going to be a hard slog right from the start. It was flat and with hardly any assistance at all and it was always going to be won by the guy who had done the work and I just had to back myself.

"The tactics were not to let anyone get too big a break and when Greg Long took off and led for the first 30 minutes I knew in the back of my mind that he hadn't had the best lead up with his work commitments so I kept the pressure on him.

"I knew if I kept him in my sights he would hopefully drop off the pace and I would be ready to pounce and actually Greg did a great job to hang on for second.

"There was certainly no backing off, it was always going to hurt all the way and I just didn't want it to come down to a sprint finish at the end so I went for it in the back half of the race.

"I have to admit I had been feeling a bit flat coming into this race and I wasn't all that confident but in the end all the hard training paid dividends."

For Ben Allen it was a case of paddling into unchartered waters, in more ways than one.

Allen admitted he was "paddling blind" for most of the way with visibility almost down to zero with the rainy, silky conditions causing havoc for most paddlers.

"There were times when you struggled to distinguish between the water the horizon and the headlands," said Allen, a 35-year paddling plumber.

"I had never paddled on this course before so it was really difficult to get your bearings.

"Between the visibility, hardly any assistance and trying shake Cory (Hill) off, made it a very tough paddle in deed.

"I just kept going and managed to drop Cory with around four kilometres to go and I was pleased to see the opening into the harbour.

"But it was great to see so many good paddlers make the trip to Coffs Harbour for what is becoming a very popular sport."

OUTRIGGERS

Australian Outrigger Canoe Racing Association (AOCRA) National Marathon OC1 25KM Championships, Coffs Harbour: Men - Todd Cohen (Sunshine Coast) Greg Long (Gold Coast), Danny Ching (California). Women - Robyn Saultry (Bulimba), Amanda Ozolins (Mooloolaba), Lauren Bartlett (Hawaii).

OCEAN SKIS

International Canoe Federation 25KM ICF World Ocean Ski Series race/East Coast Challenge, Coffs Harbour: Ben Allen (Sunshine Coast) Cory Hill (Gold Coast) Paul Green (Sunshine Coast).

SUNDAY

8AM Junior races

10AM 10KM DOWNWIND SUP RACE INCLUDING
OC1/OC2 NATIONAL SHORT COURSE RACE
ICF/EAST COAST OCEAN SKI CHAMPIONSHIPS 10KM DASH

1PM SUP SPRINTS DASH FOR CASH BOARDS SUPPLIED