Every year in Kailua Kona, Hawaii, area businesses gather for the annual Kai ’Opua Businessmen’s Regatta, a quarter-mile sprint. CrossFit Kona, with a lot of former paddlers in its ranks, signed up a men’s and women’s team. Monty Enriquez, however, is not among the experienced.
“It’s going to be interesting to see how this goes,” the CrossFit Kona owner says with a wide smile.
At the start of the race, one team member snaps his paddle, and it turns out organizers placed the CrossFit Kona men in the wrong heat.
“They put us in with the Open guys (by) accident and we’re novices, so that was a good challenge, too,” Enriquez says.
The men go on to place third in the experienced division. Meanwhile, the CrossFit Kona women win the experienced division.
“They couldn’t believe how strong they felt,” Enriquez recounts. “They used to do it for recreation and be just gassed.”
Video by Carey Peterson.
4min 24sec
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Additional reading: From Rowing Indoors to Rowing on the Water by Judy Geer, published July 1, 2007.