By Taylor Phillips
Sports Editor
Mira Costa alumni Ryland Hart, who graduated in 2019, paddled his way to second place in the International Va’a Federation (IVF) Individual World Distance Championships in Mooloolaba, Australia on Aug. 11-15.
The IVF is the international association for outrigger canoeing that was created in 1981 by three different racing associations from around the world.
Hart started paddling when he was five years old and, according to Hart, immediately created a strong bond with the water. Ever since then, he has continued to paddle with various paddle teams around the South Bay, including Lanakila Outrigger Canoe Club.
“I love [paddling] because of the connection I have with the water and the sense of freedom you get when you are out in the open ocean riding big swells,” Hart said.
Hart qualified for the USA team after competing in a national race in Newport Beach in January of 2019. The race consisted of 30 competitors from across the country who competed for the sole spot in his division on the USA team.
“Most of the paddlers at the competition were from Southern California,” Hart said. “When the first outrigger paddling [group] came to the mainland from Polynesia, they started in Southern California. My home club, Lanakila Outrigger Canoe Club, was the first club created in California.”
Hart made it through the national qualifying race, and then competed against his coach, Danny Ching, for a spot on the team. Hart beat Ching and won first place overall. Once he qualified, he traveled with Team USA to Mooloolaba, Australia, where he competed alongside some of his teammates of eight years, inluding members of his club team and of the Costa team. One of his teammates on Team USA was Mira Costa alumni, Blake Rohrbach.
“I only had to qualify for the USA team through a race [at Newport Beach],” Hart said. “There were no qualifications for the [IVF] event because the United States already had a bid to race.”
The championship race consisted of two rectangularly shaped six-mile laps. Twenty-seven countries competed in the IVF Championships, and only 10 competitors raced in the World Individual Distance Championships.
“The first leg down [of the race] was down wind,” Hart said. “The second leg across was against side wind and the third leg was upwind.”
Hart trailed behind the leader of the race by 100 yards throughout the different legs of the race. In the last three miles, he managed to gain enough ground and catch up to the leader. Hart ended up winning second place, and was about two seconds behind the Tahitian racer Hitiroa Masingue, who placed first overall.
“It felt pretty amazing to represent my country and place so highly in this event,” Hart said. “Especially because I was able to catch up and only lost to first place by about two seconds.”
Hart is currently a freshman at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. He has various sponsors, including Toyota, Maui Jim, Virus and Hippostick. Hart is also a member of the Outrigger Ka Lahui Kai Open men’s paddle team, based in Honolulu, where he will continue his rowing career throughout college and later on in life. This team competes in various competions and races around the country and consists of racers from around the world. The team recently won first place overall at the Catalina Crossing race on Sept. 7-8.
“The Hawaiian Outrigger professional team asked me to join of their team,” Hart said. “I love being a part of the team because they have some of the best paddlers, and the team is opening up tons of new opportunites for me.”
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