‘That’ incident in this years Battle of the Paddle at Salt Creek has caused quite a rift in the stand up paddling community. Some say that competitive racing will always have a bit of rough and tumble associated with certain athletes, others think the behavior was unsportsmanlike and should have resulted in a disqualification for both paddlers. This week both Kai and Connor have published statements regarding the incident, so you can decide for yourself.

In his online interview about the Battle of the Paddle, Connor describes the battle between himself and Kai Lenny, which has been raging since the two were kids.

“For Kai and I, we’ve been battling ever since I remember my first contest in surfing, windsurfing, all of the above, especially since we grew up on the same island. It’s normal, but what we did on the weekend was pushing a little bit far. I haven’t done that on a raceboard, like ever, I mean going back and forth like that, tic for tac was going a little far, but that’s kind of what happens in a heated situation like that. “

“Him (Kai) jumping off his board is dirty racing, that’s 100% cheating. What I did was wrong, it’s not what you’re supposed to do, but it was one of those situations where he touched me, I touched him and then he touched a little bit harder and it escalated from there.”

“That kind of racing, I don’t think I could ever imagine doing that with anyone else. It’s only between Kai and I. You know he’s pushing me to the next level of racing, I’m pushing him to the next level of racing, and not only that day we were going tic for tac, that’s been our lives from day one.”

Later, perhaps in reply to Connors interview, Kai Lenny made the following statement when asked about that particular wave:

“He decided because I wasn’t bowing down to him that he would rather take me out of the race than paddle against me. That is just fact. You can look back to a couple of weeks previous at the Huntington Beach Pro when I was caught completely off guard and he pushed myself and Casper (Steinfath) off a wave so he could secure a win. So after that incident I told myself that if that ever happens again I am going to push back.”

“I reacted by turning back towards the chicane so I wouldn’t have to run from down the beach and then Connor popped a wheelie and turned, landing directly onto my board and I fell forward. If he is taking me down, I felt he should be coming with me. This did not affect anyone else besides the two of us.”

So was it just two mates having a little moment together, or the culmination of a life of rivalry and competition coming to a clash of carbon? Both stand up paddlers say they’re still mates and they’ll continue the friendly to and fro (with perhaps a little less vigor next time!).

You've read the statements, now you can decide for yourself whether it was sportsmanlike or not…

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