SWETISH SMASHES GLASS CEILING WITH VICTORY AT THE GORGE
She’s the Queen of Hood River, having mastered its twists and turns while rising up the ranks of the United States of America’s surfski scene.
But when Ana Swetish crossed the line to claim victory at the Gorge Downwind Championships on the weekend, her immediate reaction was one of disbelief.
“Honestly, I was shocked that I finished that far up,” Swetish admits.
“There were a lot of fast men there, so to finish third overall I was stunned. I didn’t really believe it at first.”
Those around her were not so surprised.
After bursting into racing as a 16 year-old, finishing third at the 2018 edition of the Gorge ahead of several international stars, Swetish now stands as one of the world’s leading women’s downwind paddlers.
On America’s domestic circuit, though, her results haven’t been bound by gender.
She’s claimed multiple line honour victories on the competitive Vortex Series, and her surfing skills are near-unmatched.
Still, this performance was a considerable step-up.
Swetish emerged from a hard-fought battle with former World Champion Danielle Richards to win the women’s title, only to realise just how close she came to men’s champion and close friend, Austin Kieffer.
“When I got off the water and checked the results, I thought they were wrong,” Swetish recalls.
“I said to Austin, ‘According to the results right now, I only finished 2 minutes and 20 seconds behind you, I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s an error in there.’ But we checked the GPS later and it was spot-on.”
“In the race, I was definitely thinking that there were a few guys who I would have loved to beat,” she laughs.
“Just close friends who I have shared some battles with and I wanted to get them on the day. That was another motivating factor for me in the race and I was stoked that I was able to make it happen.
“It’s always weird with the different starts, so sometimes you make up races in your head to keep on going.”
She’s quick to clarify that those races-within-races aren’t fuelled by a desire to prove anything to anyone.
Instead, the now 22 year-old credits those same male paddlers she’s desperate to beat with bringing out her best.
“The Bellingham community, and the whole Pacific North-West too, have always been so supportive of me,” she says.
“We’ll talk shit and I’m sure they’d love to beat me, but they’re always the first to congratulate me when I do get one over them and do well.”
“It’s super special and important to me, the community here. All of the guys who have my back all of the time and are always the first ones to say something when I do well. I love it.”
When she lined up to race, her foremost focus was simply trying to reclaim the women’s crown.
Swetish captured her first title in 2021, but jokes that “there’s an asterisk next to it” because of the restriction on travel at the time, due to COVID.
After finishing second in the two years since, she again faced a formidable challenge in Danielle Richards – one of few elite paddlers Swetish had never defeated.
The pair flew off the line, but on a day of lighter wind that wasn’t quite hitting the top of the course, the race was always going to be a grind.
“We were going pretty hard and trading waves for maybe the first five kilometres or so,” she recalls.
“Then it got a bit smaller and a bit more technical, and I think my knowledge of the river helped me out a little bit there, as I put a little bit of time on her there.
“I was trying not to look back. I just kept telling myself she was only one wave back and I had to keep pushing hard. I felt motivated knowing she was close the whole time.”
Swetish would claim victory in a time of 1 hour, 34 minutes and five seconds, around two minutes ahead of Richards (1:36:16).
Australian Montannah Murray (1:43:26) rounded out the top three.
To view the full results of the 2024 Gorge Downwind Championships, click here.
Austin Kieffer claimed the men’s title, as well as line honours, in a time of 1 hour, 31 minutes and 41 seconds.
That was just 24 seconds ahead of Hawaiian Pat Dolan (1:32:05), fresh off an impressive second-place finish at the Molokai Challenge, with Australian Kent Jenkinson (1:34:30) was the third male paddler home.
“I was so excited,” Swetish says. “Dani is such an incredible paddler and I have so much respect for her and everything she’s achieved in this sport.
“To get her on the day was super exciting, but I was just stoked to line up next to her again.
“It’s one of my favourite things about the sport, that no matter how tight the competition is on the water and how much we want to win, we’re all great friends at the end of the day.”
“When I heard Dani was coming out, I was excited to race her but I was more excited to get to hang out and spend some time mountain biking with her and [husband] Cody, and the rest of the people who made it out this year. It was a really good time.”
The win also provides Swetish with a needed shot of confidence.
“Last year was really hard for me,” she reflects. “I had a rough trip to Australia last year, where I just never felt good in any of those races.
“I felt like I’ve made a lot of gains this season, but I hadn’t had a race to prove it yet.
“Racing the guys around here is awesome and I felt super great in all of those events, but being able to line up against someone like Dani and compete was super cool and it makes me excited for the rest of the season too.”
For Swetish, that all builds to the 2024 ICF Ocean Racing World Championships in Madeira, held at the start of October.
“I won’t make it to Australia this year, so that’s my last big one this season. I’m hoping to put a lot of training in for that and give it my best shot.”
