An interview with Noa Ginella 

Words & photo: Dom Moore

In one of the greatest examples of ‘show up and blow up’ in recent years, then 16 year old Hawaiian waterman Noa Ginella dominated last year’s First Ascent Paddle Sprint at the Teva Mountain Games in Colorado. It was Noa’s first time river paddling, he stormed home 17 second ahead of the pack, but it’s just one of his many notable competition results. I spent a couple of days with Noa on Oahu’s North Shore to dig into the backstory of this remarkable athlete.

(This feature originally appeared in the Summer 2011 issue of SUP International. Print and digital subscriptions for readers worldwide are available HERE.)

A good swell is running along the North Shore of Oahu this morning and Noa’s dad Sean picks me up from Ted’s Bakery at Sunset Beach. A few minutes later, we’re sat in the Ginella house whilst Noa bustles around the kitchen preparing coffee and bagels for everyone. I find it interesting that the lad would be up at this time, much less making morning snacks. The trade wind is filling in but I’m frothing to get in the water so Noa obligingly takes me off to a quiet break whilst Sean and his golf-pro buddy seize the chance for 18 holes at Turtle Bay.

Noa jumps on his 9’ C4 Batwing Swallow, I’ve selected a slightly more stable platform from the family equipment shed and after tricky access over slippery lava we’re paddling across a choppy lagoon to a distant break. After about a minute, I notice Noa slowing his stroke whilst I’m slogging away a couple of meters behind. I’m quietly aware that he’s operating in a higher gear than me without much exertion. Noa turns and says, “See the white-water out there and that rock? OK that’s where we’re headed for. There’s not much of a channel so you want to watch you don’t get caught out”. Noa opens up his stroke and I’m dust; yep this lad is fast. After I make it out from getting nuked on the inside we come to rest in an empty line-up with a fast, walling wave spinning down the line from a very specific take of spot. I go for a couple and don’t make it in; Noa’s into his third wave already and then explains the specifics of taking off on a spot like this. I take it all in and realise the lad’s taught me a neat little trick that I hadn’t picked up in fifteen years of surfing. I had originally planned to ask Noa about his competitive paddling but I soon learn he is a little reticent to talk about his achievements (YouTube ‘Noa Ginella GMV’ for the most humble interview you’ll ever see) though he did tell me about the Oahu to Molokai prone paddle event where he was physically sick during the race but earned the honour of the youngest ever competitor to complete the race. “You’re drinking so much water out there, one of those Camelback bladders every twenty minutes. I got sick, I had a seasick patch on but I was not feeling well because on top of the water you’re eating stuff and you’re lying on it”. I silently reflect that 32 miles in a choppy boat is bad enough, never mind propelling yourself that distance, for over six hours… So are the Ginella’s genetic freaks then? Quite possibly. Noa and his elder brother John (19) possess the sinewy strength that a life growing up by the ocean brings, but Noa capitalises on his heritage with some brutalising, self-starting exercise regimes. “I do ten-mile downwind runs to Haleiwa on the paddle board, and then I’m paddling back into the wind to get home.

The training is just a summer time thing so that when you get into the winter season (and waves) you can paddle fast”. It’s one of the reasons why Noa free dives too, to get the lungs ready for the Aleutian lows, “It helps your mind because you know you can (absorb poundings and) stay down longer.” In summer, Noa and John take the ski out into deep water and jump off; Noa once came up spitting blood because his ears wouldn’t equalise, “I only got down about 40ft that day”.

The other reason for the diving is to hunt. If the disciplined training sessions speak to Noa’s ambition and drive, then his hunting exploits show that it’s tempered with great patience and understanding of the ocean. He’s into all types of fishing; trawling lures behind a SUP, throw-net, spear fishing. Noa’s greatest catches are respectfully immortalised in his gyotaku fish art before he shares them at the BBQ.

Noa explains that he’s shared fishing time with big-wave hell-man Mark Healey. “We learned a lot from Mark Healey. We watched him in the water, watched what he does to attract the fish, scratching the bottom to attract them, shooting another one to release blood…he shot some 40lb Onos the other day”. The swell is building and some overhead screamers are reeling through, I feel vindicated when Noa generously congratulates me on a good ‘un; he’s clearly got this place wired, so when did he start surfing? “I was young enough that I don’t remember my first wave. I started stand-up a couple of years back, my dad got me a stand-up and all my neighbours were paddling so I started doing it”. As well as a his 9’0, Noa has a quiver of boards comprising a couple of shortboards, an Alia which he crafted himself, a tow board, and a barrel threading gun; basically whatever’s going on, he’s set himself up with the gear to be ‘on it’. “Usually, I surf everyday and feel bad if I don’t go in, but there was a time I broke my knuckle and didn’t surf for two months. They gave me a cast with fabric so I couldn’t do anything, I tried to chill but it was lame. I just did… whatever..! I’ve had a glimpse of the no-surfing life, and it was no good”.  A couple of serious looking characters paddle out and our critical spot becomes a little busy. Back on shore we start to run through some questions but I then I think why treat this like I’m talking to Noa at a trade show? Far better then, for me to just absorb the fun that permeates the Ginella household and see the respect and, I guess Aloha would be the word, that Noa has for his family as he helps with various chores and for his many friends as they drop by to build their ‘fire boats’ in preparation of the neighbourhood’s New Year’s festivities.

I reflect that spending time with Noa is one big learning circle. You can see how he learns and listens to his parents, his mentors (who include the likes of ‘Uncle Brian Keaulana’) and how he is able to pass on knowledge and experience with humility at just 17 years of age. Noa may not realise it, (too modest, too busy having fun and training instead of navel gazing!) but his attitude just makes good things happen. Seems like the good guys can finish first after all. SUP

Noa’s mantelpiece, so far:

2010 Teva Mountain Games: 1st place SUP Sprint
2010 Battle of the Paddle Waikiki: 1st place SUP under-18’s
2010 Duke’s Oceanfest: SUP surf race, 1st place men’s open division.
2010 Oahu Junior Lifeguard Championships, North Shore: Won every event entered, the 1000m run, 200m swim, the run-swim-run and the paddleboard race. The Pipeline lifeguards jumped into the races to give him some competition, Noa took them down too.
2011 SUP world tour contest in big 8 to 12 ft Sunset: Took out the Tahitian champ and the Brazilian Champ. Earned no.13 rank on the tour after that event.
Aged 15, with buddy Kona Johnson, youngest team to complete the 32mile Molokai to Oahu paddle race.
Aged 16, tied the record for youngest ever solo stock paddleboard crossing, and winning the under-27’s division for the same race. 

“  Usually, I surf every day and feel bad if I don’t go in, but there was a time I broke my knuckle and didn’t surf for two months…I’ve had a glimpse of the no-surfing life, and it was not good ”