Pohaku back on tour and back on the podium

Sent from Spirit of CAN. team rider Pohaku Kekaualua

Aloha, or should I say buenos dias. This braddah Hatu coming to you folks from Punta Colorada, Oaxaca, Mexico. I am currently in the Punta Colorada Bodyboarding Pro 2022 Aug 6-7. Beside it being extremely hot this place is so epic. Waves are so much fun, the bodyboarding community is alive a strong here, its amazing to see the amount of support!!!

Day 1 of competition i was recovering from food poisoning from the night before,“mantozumas revenge” as my mom called it. I didint do so well in the Mens Pro as I was exhausted from being sick all night. It was horrible, and I was feeling like giving up. But then started to feel a little better later that evening, thank you to my super supportive and helpful girlfriend, Olivia Gegen

Day 2 I had the DropKnee or Jackstance division. I was feeling so much better and the waves were more manageable, so I took to the water for my 1st heat. Winning with an 8.17 I was super stoked. The water here is so hot I came out exhausted again but my gf was able to poor some cold water on my head and helped stay hydrated and well fed.

Heat 2 “semi finals” was a little harder. As they say “the cream rises to the top” so the farther you make it the hard the competition gets. I was in last place for the first half of the heat. I found two good rides that got me a combined score of 8.36. That was just enough to sneak me back into first place!!!

Heat 3 “finals” is the first final heat I have made since the local DropKnee event in Antofagasta, Chile in 2018. I was up against two very good local Mexicanos and my good friend and fellow rider from Hawaii Mack Crilley. I was just way to stoked to even have made it to the finals i pretty much forgot it was a competition and just went IN on having fun with it. I was in 1st for a little then Macky came in with two heavy scores and pushed me into second. I couldn't catch up with the wave lull and time against me, so I finished in second place.

I have to say, all the challenges that I had to over come for this contest were hard but “the problem is not the problem, how i react to the problem is the problem.” So that being said I took the Spirit of CAN. And I made the best out of all the situations given. When life gives you lemons you take them and make it to the finals!!! So stoked of this event, now we hang out in Mexico for a few days and celebrate Olivia’s birthday, return home for 2 weeks and then off to Portugal for the Sintra Pro at praia Grande!!! Cheeeeeeheeeeeee!!!