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May 18th, 2008 will see DeAnne Hemmens competing in the Molokai World Championships for the fifth time. I wrote to her husband Patrick to get some insider information on this avid ski paddler. This is what he told me...
 Deanne Hemmens with Lewis Laughlin: winners at the 2007 US Surfski Champs
DeAnne grew up in Southern California, where the only sport she did was high school swimming - she held 2 records in the 50 and 100m.
After following Patrick to South Africa she was introduced to Canoe paddling on Sandvlei (a small lake in Cape Town) where he was training for the 1987 Berg River Marathon.
Her first surfski paddle was off Fish Hoek beach. "I can still remember how terrified she was when we paddled a double to Muizenberg and rode some waves from about 1km out" said Patrick.
 DeAnne - 3rd overall at inaugural Culebra Challenge, Puerto Rico, 2006
Olympics, Goal and Dream Fulfilled
When Deanne got back to the USA she decided to train for the 1992 Barcelona Olympics where she was the alternate for the USA Olympic team narrowly missing the team.
She trained for another 4 years and represented the USA at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta where she stroked the women's K2 and K4.
DeAnne also competed for the USA at the Pan Am games in Cuba winning 2 bronze medals and receiving them from Castro (she even got a kiss on the cheek from him). Patrick couldn't go as he held a South African passport and South Africa was not (then) very friendly with Cuba .
She won a Gold and Silver at the Pan Am games in Argentina in 1995.
 DeAnne at the Wavechaser Northern California Champs in San Francisco 2006
Surfski Paddling
After her career in sprint she took up ski paddling which was Patrick's passion "after watching springbok rugby"!
Highlights include:
- - In 1997 DeAnne won a trip to New Zealand to compete in a major lifeguard event at Mount Monganue where she raced against the current surf lifesaving woman's world champions. DeAnne walked away with an easy win.
- - At age 34 she won every event at the Bud Light Ocean Festival winning Ocean Woman of the Year award. This includes all the lifeguard events swimming, beach flags, ski board and ironman.
- - Competing in 4 Molokai's, coming 2nd in 2006.
- - Winning 3 USA surfski championships
- - 3rd overall (1st woman) in the first Culebra Challenge in Puerto Rico.
- - 6th at the SA world cup in 2006 (with the slight handicap of having no steering!)
- - Winning the mixed doubles (with Patrick) at the 46km Scottburgh to Brighton race off Durban, South Africa.
- - 4th overall double (also with Patrick) at the 56km Cape Point Challenge in December 2007.
- - Too many lifeguard surfski, paddleboard and Iron man races to count.
She has also won every California state surfski champs she has entered. She has won the surfski at the National Lifeguard champs.
 DeAnne negotiates the nasty shorebreak at the 2006 SA World Cup in Durban
DeAnne will turn 44 this year, with 3 children and a full time job: "Ocean Paddlesports ".
"With all her commitments, it is very difficult for her to stay fit," said Patrick. "All I know is she loves ski paddling and has no other achievements to win. She would like to win Molokai, but this is a race against the ocean, not the other competitors... and we just don't get that kind of ocean... so it would be amazing if she could pull it off."
 DeAnne winning the 2007 US Surfski Champs
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