KIEFFER REKINDLES SURFSKI SPARK WITH SECOND GORGE TITLE
Austin Kieffer is known around the world as one of surfski’s most passionate paddlers.
The American has been at the forefront of international racing for the past decade, earning unanimous admiration for his infectious personality as much as his impressive ability.
But after a difficult run through 2023, Kieffer admits that seemingly eternal enthusiasm had started to wane.
In fact, he wondered whether he wanted to continue elite racing at all.
“Last year was a really tough one for me, in the sense that I felt I was excited about paddling again and excited to get back into it, but there was a lot of change in my personal life that lead to me having, without doubt, the worst racing year of my life.” Kieffer told The Paddler.
“I had the worst finish of my life at the Gorge, ending up sixth, and then had a few of the worst finishes I’ve had in Australia at the Shaw and Partners WA Race Week after getting sick.
“I banked the second-worst result of my life in a hot and flat Doctor, and then finished it all off with a really disappointing result at the ICF Ocean Racing World Championships, despite the incredible conditions.
“All of that saw me come into this year doubting racing and feeling a little burnt out from racing. I felt like I had trained hard last year and had nothing to show for it.
“But this year, I’ve really just fallen back in love with paddling. The training has been going well and I’ve been enjoying it, and my life has settled in a wonderful way.”
“The Gorge was the last major goal and race for me this year. I’m just over the moon to have been able to finish it on a high.”
That high saw Kieffer raise the Gorge Downwind Championships’s famous hammer trophy aloft once again.
Although this year’s race was missing the depth of elite paddlers it’s been accustomed to, the now San Diego local was on high alert with the entry of Pat Dolan.
“Pat is an incredible athlete and I was so thrilled he came from Hawaii this year,” he says.
“We’ve had some incredible battles over the years, and I feel like there’s been a history of him winning in Hawaii and me winning in other places, but last year he took me to the sword and beat me on the Gorge.
“He set the record for the OC1 Molokai crossing earlier this year and had an amazing battle with Cory Hill in the Molokai Challenge on the surfski. I knew he was going to be fit coming in.
“So I was thrilled to have another opportunity to race him again this year.”
709 paddlers across all craft lined up for the Gorge this year, with the majority on outriggers.
All eyes were on Kieffer and Dolan when the surfski field shot off the line, however it was a pair of Australians who set the early pace – Trent Martin and Kent Jenkinson.
“They were going so fast,” Kieffer recalls. “But watching them start and watching their cadence, knowing how long this race is and how little you sometimes gain going ballistic, I was happy to let them go.
“Pat took a line that I wasn’t necessarily convinced was the right one. He swung pretty wide in the first third of the race.
“It actually put him, in my mind, behind me. And I didn’t see him until much later in the race.”
Kieffer caught Martin and Jenkinson around two kilometres into the race, and was content to settle into his own rhythm from there on.
“I just felt really, really comfortable and felt like the race was mine to lose at that point.
“The conditions were filled in, but they weren’t incredible. So I was holding back for the first third or first half of the race, then started to put a bit more pressure on the race into the second-half.
“From there, I thought, ‘People are behind me, I’m just going to race my own race and focus on surfing to the best of my ability, stay within myself and leave something in the tank.’”
Kieffer recalls he felt quite comfortable in achieving that.
So you can imagine his surprise when he looked over his shoulder with around two kilometres to go and saw Dolan sitting a few runs behind him.
“I was surfing in the middle of the river, which in hindsight, I should’ve taken a more aggressive line in the shallows, and Pat took full advantage of that,” he says. “He came out of nowhere.
“I had a bit of a jump-scare where my heart rate and adrenaline spiked because I thought I was by myself… but now Pat was right there.”
“Luckily I had a bit of extra juice and was able to fully put the throttle down from there to the finish… but gosh, it gave me a good scare.
“That’s exactly where he passed me the year prior. I was glad to be able to turn the tables on him.”
Kieffer crossed the line in a time of 1 hour, 31 minutes and 41 seconds to win the Gorge Downwind Championships for a second time.
Dolan (1:32:05) finished just 24 seconds behind him, with Jenkinson (1:34:30), Nate Errez (1:35:29) and Martin (1:36:24) making up the top five male surfski finishers.
To view the full results of the 2024 Gorge Downwind Championships, click here.
Kieffer won his first title at the Gorge in 2021, at a time the majority of international paddlers were unable to attend due to travel restrictions implemented because of COVID.
Speaking to The Paddler after that race, Kieffer said he felt “like a champion with an asterisk.”
Asked whether this victory overwrites that feeling, he gave a reflective answer.
“I feel very strongly about that sentiment from 2021, despite it being maybe my best or second-best executed Gorge,” he says.
“I don’t know if it was the lack of stress or what, but I felt like I executed an incredibly great race back then. The conditions were also wonderful.
“But it still felt pretty hollow to me because everyone was limited in being able to attend.
“This year was a small flavour of that for me. Would I have loved more athletes to have been able to attend this year? Yeah, for sure. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t miss getting to race more international athletes.”
“But it was still an incredible week and such an enjoyable event.”
The result that brought him the most joy was that of close friend and protege, Ana Swetish.
Not only did the 22 year-old claim her second victory at the Gorge following a disrupted year that saw her undergo ankle surgery, but she also crossed the line in third place behind Kieffer and Dolan.
“I’m really glad I get to speak to this, because for me, it was the standout highlight of the Gorge this year,” Kieffer beams.
“What she did was truly miraculous. Looking back at the way she prepared for the race, built up to it and recovered from ankle surgery late last year… she was so laser-focused.
“Ana and I have always joked that we have a race-within-a-race. I’m trying to beat her by more than a 10% buffer, and she was always trying to get under that, which in the past had been around eight or nine minutes.
“For her to be just two and a half minutes back, it is staggering. It’s absolutely insane. I tip my hat with the ultimate respect to her as an athlete.”
“Up until this point, I’ve always viewed myself as one of the best surfers at the Gorge, if not the best. Kenny Rice deserves that title as well.
“But the crown most certainly goes to Ana now after that performance. There is no question that no one in the world can surf the waves at the Gorge better than she can right now.”
