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Pietermaritzburg - This weekend, five-time world champion paddler, Hank McGregor will face off against the world’s best to defend his title at the Molokai Surfski World Championships in Hawaii on May 30, 2015.
In 2014, McGregor won the title in 3:35:17, just 33 seconds ahead of defending champ, Clint Robinson from Australia.
Known as the ‘ultimate Ironman’, the Molokai Challenge is a gruelling test of paddling skill, strength and endurance, and a healthy dose of ocean surfing knowledge, as paddlers take on the 53km course across the Kaiwi channel, between the island of Molokai and Oahu - one of the roughest ocean channels in the world.
This year, McGregor will take on the Molokai Championship’s foremost victors of the past 5 years including Australia’s Clint Robinson and South Africa’s, Oscar Chalupsky. Also competing are South Africa’s former World Series Champion, Dawid Mocke, and current I.C.F World Champion, Sean Rice.
His intense training for the Molokai this year has given McGregor handfuls of podium wins, adding to his already long list of achievements. Kicking of his winning streak was the 2015 SA K1 River Championships plus the 2015 FNB Varsity College Marine Surfski Series title for the second year running.
McGregor then went on to claim his sixth STIHL Umkomaas Canoe Marathon win with racing partner and 2015 Dusi Canoe Marathon winner, Andrew Birkett. The champion paddler then cruised to victory at Bay Union Surfski Series.
In recognition of his illustrious career, McGregor was awarded ‘KZN’s Paddler of the Year’ in March and was declared ‘Sportsman of the Year’ at the World Paddle Awards’ in Germany in May.
