Patrick Dolan flew 5,000 miles from Hawaii to Massachusetts and won the 2026 USA COR National Championships on a grueling open water course against a stacked field of athletes. Five days later, Austin Kieffer won the showcase race at the Gorge Downwind Championships paddlesports festival in the biggest conditions the event has ever seen, finishing within twenty seconds of the 2018 course record set by Kenny Rice. July was indeed a headline month for the top paddlers competing at the highest level — however just as striking was the fleet chasing them, where some of the fastest paddlers on the water are still in the Junior age group. Let’s dig in!
Up first, 2026 National Championships. Produced by the Cape Ann Rowing Club, the Blackburn Challenge is regarded as the “Boston Marathon” of ocean racing: forty years old, nearly twenty miles of open water, and nowhere for a paddler to hide. Similar to 2025’s partnership with the Gorge festival, USA COR National Championships was scored as a meta-category within the larger Blackburn race, and open only to current ACA members. As the first National Championships category finisher, Patrick Dolan claimed the national title he had traveled so many miles to contest, earning a shiny new A26 classification in the process.
Three more ACA athletes brought national-caliber speed and title hopes of their own, pressing Dolan for more than two and a half hours as they worked their way around the island to the finish. Jesse Lishchuk (B26) took second, and proceeded to win national titles in the K1 1000m and the K1 5K at the U.S. Sprint Championships three weeks later. ACA member Lachlan Harkness (B26, Under-18) had come straight from the ICF Junior and Under-23 Canoe Sprint World Championships in Nova Scotia the weekend before, where he represented New Zealand and reached the K1 1000m B-final and won the K2 500m B-final with his partner, Oliver Hutchinson. Young gun Nathan Grocholski Jr. (B26, Under-23), a Hawaiian upstart already stacking wins, showcased his talents by taking fourth in the category.
Five days later, the Gorge assembled a deep, fast field and presented people with the roughest conditions in the event’s history. The wind blew 25 and gusted to 40, the waves were huge, and 141 surfski paddlers finished the course all the same. Austin Kieffer (A26) won overall, twenty seconds off the 2018 course record. International paddlers Davey Brand (RSA) and Victor Doux (FRA) rounded out the podium, with ACA members Taj Crellin (A26, Under-23) and Wilson Reavley (A26) taking fourth and fifth, respectively.
Behind that lead group, the next generation was right in the thick of it. The fastest of the Under-18 juniors was Ryan Lee (A26, Under-18), followed by Tristan Gifford (B26, Under-18), Sam Rhodes (B26, Under-18), and Andrew Mao (B26, Under-18), sprint club racers all inside the top twenty-five. The women’s race went to Zoe Norcross-Nu’u, with Under-23 athletes Ava Crellin (E26) and Abby Scoggins (E26) taking second and third. Clearly, the future is bright for the USA surfski community.
Zooming out to the full-season view, the American Canoe Association‘s USA COR National Series has crossed the halfway mark for 2026. At present, Wilson Reavley (A26) leads the men at 1,832, with Austin Kieffer (A26) second at 1,712 and 2024 National Series champion Dave Jensen (B26) third at 1,423. Behind them, ACA Ocean Racing Committee chair Matt Drayer (D26) currently holds fourth with 1250, Ryan Lee (A26, Under-18) sits fifth at 1,112, and Nate Errez (A26), the 2025 National Series champion, sixth at 1,071.
The women’s National Series title race is the closer one, and its leader is an Under-23. Just twenty-two points cover the top three: Ava Crellin (E26, Under-23) at 575, Elena Wolgamot (C26) at 569, and Julia Strother (E26) at 553, any of them a good day away from the lead. Ana Swetish (A25), who won both the 2024 and 2025 National Series, sits fourth with 406 points while also training for a new career as a firefighter.
With so much action now in the rearview mirror you might be thinking the competitive season is over, however rest assured that is far from the case. The USA Surfski Race Calendar features nearly 70 domestic races happening all over the country in the second half of this year. In addition we have Paddle Worldwide’s World Cup Fortaleza (September) and World Championships Spain (October) competitions to look forward to. Paddlers interested in representing the USA at international competitions should contact the ACA Ocean Racing Committee as soon as possible.
On the fence about participating in a race? Remember, when it comes to USA COR National Series competitions, every paddler makes the field stronger, and a stronger field means more points and higher classifications for everyone who finishes, whether it’s your Tuesday-night local series or a big weekend race. In addition, the fifty-two ACA members who earned new classifications in July are carrying them back to their home race scenes around the country, increasing point potentials even further. So register for a race, grab your paddle, and head to the beach! We’ll see you on the water soon.
