Ku‘ulei Smith steered two of Kapa‘a High School’s paddling crews to a championship Saturday to cap off a successful season. The 17-year-old senior sat in the sixth seat to steer the Varsity Girls crew to a first-place finish with a
Ku‘ulei Smith steered two of Kapa‘a High School’s paddling crews to a championship Saturday to cap off a successful season.
The 17-year-old senior sat in the sixth seat to steer the Varsity Girls crew to a first-place finish with a time of 3:58.23 — rolling past the finish line well ahead of their competitors. She then finished the afternoon with another commanding win, this time with the Varsity Mixed crew which finished with a time of 3:54.69.
By doing so, she achieved the goal she set for herself as she entered her final season paddling for the Warriors.
“I just wanted to sweep these events and finish off the season,” she said.
The Warriors had dominated all four weeks of Kaua‘i Interscholastic Federation competition, sweeping all of the major events each week. Winning the KIF Saturday was a nice finish to all the Warriors’ hard work.
Smith’s fondness for the sport came at an early age. She comes from a long line of paddlers for clubs on Kaua‘i and O‘ahu.
“She’s a beautiful steers person,” said her mother and coach Kaulana Smith, who admitted that she sometimes pushes Ku‘ulei harder than the others. “She gets it worse from me but she toughs it out so I got to give credit where credit’s due.”
Her finesse in the boat may be smooth now, but Smith remembers it wasn’t always that way.
“I started paddling when I was 11 years old,” she said. “Learning how to hold the paddle was the hardest thing, for me. You have to point up the paddle and you have to learn to switch at the right time. There’s a whole lot of body technique involved.”
She’s paddled with several women’s crews and has completed many long- and short-distance races in the last six years, including the Pali and Queen’s races. So how’s her form now?
“I’m still working on it,” she said. “I think some of the best paddlers are always working at it though. It takes a lot of time to get it right.”
However, she is comfortable sitting in any of the seats she’s placed in. There’s the first seat which sets the pace of the crew. There’s the second seat which follows the first to keep the rhythm going.
The third, fourth and fifth seats are the powerhouses that keep the canoe going.
Then there’s the sixth seat, which she sat in over the weekend.
“I’m comfortable in any seat, really,” she said. “I just go where ever the coach puts me in. I’m not really competitive about it.”
For Smith, there’s much more to canoe paddling.
“I don’t do it for the competition. I do it because I enjoy it,” she said. “I know my ancestors did it. It’s more a part of my culture.”
In fact, she and her family stay very connected to culture and heritage. Canoe paddling and the Hokule‘a voyages date back many, many years and Smith and her family try to do their part to preserve that culture.
“If they’re not canoe paddling, they’re either into Hokule‘a or in the taro patches,” she said.
Smith grew up going to a Hawaiian emergence school and speaks fluent Hawaiian. She also enjoys spending time with her family in the taro patches and volunteering to clean up the islands with the Hawai‘i Youth Conservation Corp.
“I want to help conserve the land and the Hawaiian culture,” she said.
Upon graduation from Kapa‘a High School, Smith said she wants to continue to preserve the Hawaiian culture by going on to study marine biology at either the University of Hawai‘i at Manoa or Hilo.
“My tutu always said the future is in the water,” she said, explaining her decision to major in marine biology instead of Hawaiian studies.
It’s an interesting change but still connects her to the water.
For now, the First Hawaiian/Hawaii High School Athletic Association State Canoe Paddling Championships on O‘ahu is in her future.
But for these championships, there is no split division — Division 1 or 2 — as many of the other HHSAA sports have.
This means Kapa‘a will be up against the larger schools from the state.
“I have a lot of faith in my girls to get it done,” she said.
The state championships are scheduled for Feb. 29 at Ke‘ehi Lagoon.
Ku‘ulei Smith
Age: 17
Family: Parents Kale and Kaulana Smith, three siblings
Hometown: Anahola
Clubs paddled for: Hanalei, Pu‘uwai and Kapa‘a High School
Sports: Paddling, track, softball and cross country
Outside the canoe: “Chores,” she joked. “But I usually go up to O‘ahu every weekend for (softball or paddling) competitions.”
Always wanted to: “I’ve always wanted to learn how to play the piano and the slack-key guitar.”
