PPP Episode 33: Starting a Surfski Journey in Middle Age with Greg Greene

Peak Paddle Performance Podcast

In this podcast I sit down with one of the many dear friends I’ve met through Surfski Paddling. Greg Greene and I first crossed paths when we battled it out in my first surski race ever in Duluth, Minnesota. Although 20 years my senior Greg managed to take me at the line and despite that first encounter we’ve been great friends ever since.

I wanted to bring Greg onto the podcast because he exemplifies what the surfski journey is all about. Starting the sport in his late 40s and in a town without a surfski community, he also represents a large portion of surfski paddlers in the US.

While I want to say that Greg’s story is that of the “average paddler” as you’ll find out, he has had some incredible experiences that make him both the envy and an inspiration for us all.

In this podcast we cover the following and much more:

• Attempting to paddle his first surfski, the Speedster
• Moving into a Huki and really taking off in the sport
• Doing the big races in the US including US Surfski Champs, The Gorge Downwind, and Chattajack
• A trip to Tarifa to work with Boyan the Zen Master of Surf
• Learning what intense surfski paddling is all about at the Mocke Brother’s Downwind Camp in Capetown
• Bringing it all together with the 2019 Molokai World Championship (hint : it almost didn’t happen)
• Getting diagnosed with A-fib after 30 years of high intensity training and racing
• Views on paddling as an aging athlete approaching 64

I hope you enjoy this discussion as much as I did!