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A couple of weeks ago, in the latter stages of a Millers Run, I was beginning to relax as I approached the entrance to Fish Hoek bay when a shape appeared from behind in a burst of spray - I took violent avoiding action as Alexa Lombard came storming down the face of a wave, almost taking off the nose of my ski. Galvanized into action, I managed to stick with her, wave for wave... for about two minutes. But the slim blond figure finally took a wave that I missed and she disappeared rapidly a couple of hundred metres ahead.
 Alexa - 2008
Where are you from?
I was born in Zimbabwe but my family left the country shortly afterwards and I was brought up in Fish Hoek.
How old are you?
28
What weight/height?
52kg/1.64m (114lb/5'4")
How long have you been paddling?
Over ten years.
How long have you been paddling surfski?
Started in surfski, moved to canoeing in winter.
How did you get into surfski paddling?
Surflifesaving; I was a Nipper - did some surfing - in Fish Hoek, if you like the water, that's what you do!
What ski do you use?
Fenn Mako6 . I was using a Millennium - then used Pete's carbon Mako6 for the Durban World Cup. The weight made a radical difference. The boats (all skis) just don't fit - so as long as it's light.
The Mako6 is much more stable - when the runs are really big, you can do what you like without worrying about stability.
If you could have a ski made for you, what would you ask for?
Shorter and less volume - it would be great to have a ski where the nose & tail are be in the water at the same time!
What paddle do you use?
Orca Finn - more forgiving than the Bracsa. It doesn't have as big a bite, but pulls enough water.
What are you best surfski results?
2007 Durban World Cup; had a great season in 2007 in the Cape Town Discovery Men's Health series.
 Alexa at the finish of the 2007 Durban World Cup (Pic: Gameplan Media)
What's your favorite win/race?
Silver medal at World Marathon Champs in 2005 in Perth, Australia. In K2 - 36km. In the K1: 6th place last year in Hungary.
I had one really good berg - 18th overall in 2005 out of about 300.
Have you raced surfski overseas?
Nothing in the surfski; in canoe done nine world marathon champs - one every year. Not this year because of Molokai.
Has Pete been coaching you or do you do your own thing?
Not really - he manages the program; sometimes we disagree and he normally wins; we've worked well together forever. We do have our arguments!
 Pete and Alexa Cole at Boulders Beach, Cape Town - Nov 2007
How do think more women can be brought more into the sport? (Out of the 400+ respondents to our recent survey, 95% were men!)
Make them a boat they can handle! These big things you can hardly get down to the beach. I wish you could put some of these big guys like Oscar into a girl's body for a day...
What attracted you to Molokai?
It's a surfski race that I felt might suit me; my downwind paddling is much better than on the flat or into the wind. Whenever I paddle with Pete/Dawid, we benchmark the results - and it looks like I do better in downwind.
How has the training gone?
OK until the other day! I probably haven't done the long distance; done lots of downwind. Hopefully it's a strong wind in Hawaii. (Editor: "Ok until the other day" - Alexa was with a group of paddlers doing a 30km downwind when the wind suddenly increased to gale force and swung offshore. The paddlers had to paddle into the wind to land on a beach on the desolate coastline of the Cape Point Nature Reserve.)
You're a marathon specialist, right? (Silver medalist in K2 at Perth World Champs with Donia Kamstra). Does this help with your approach to a long race like Molokai? How?
I know what the distance feels like; the only thing I don't know is chasing runs for four hours. (The 36km canoe marathons usually last around 2:20.) But I feel mentally prepared for sure.
Assuming "classic" Molokai weather i.e. a good 20-30kt tailwind, what time are you hoping for in the race?
I don't know - haven't done it before! But (assuming ideal conditions) I'm hoping for about 4 hours.
Have you ever raced Katie Pocock? (Katie's rudder was damaged at the start of the 2007 Durban World Cup and she was forced to retire, leaving Alexa to win.)
No - I didn't see her in Durban.
Where's your strength in surfski paddling i.e. what conditions do you favour? Upwind/downwind/flat.
Downwind - definitely not flat water - and not into the wind! Best of a bad bunch is downwind...!
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Huki has a surfski, the Huki S1 A, which is built for small paddlers but an older design. It is shorter with less volume. The women I know that own one really like it. Women here have the same complaint. We would like to see the manufacturers come up with something new for us. However untill more of us start surfskiing it would not make financial sense to them.
Kathleen