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Two Code 740 employees take bronze medal

In among the hustle and bustle of Pier 6, two world-class bronze medal champions earn their livings with Code 740. By day, one is a rigger and the other, a crane operator. Who could have possibly known that underneath their hardhats and safety shoes were two highly skilled and competitive athletes?

World Class Paddler - Al Atiz, Code 740 Rigger, prepares to take a practice run in Dyes Inlet.

Rigger Al Atiz and Crane Operator Cedric Tabanera are the heroes of our tale. When combined, these two athletes make up one third of a dynamic paddling force in the Outrigger Canoeing world. They showed their might in March, at the 2002 Va'a Sprint World Championships in Bora Bora, Tahiti, when they took the Bronze Medal in the 500 meter Senior Masters Men's Division. This was the first time a club from mainland USA, let alone the Pacific Northwest, had won a medal at the championships.

"We're really lucky to win the bronze. You're racing against the world, the best of the best," said Atiz with a smile.

Paddling is a very friendly, yet competitive, sport. During competitions, the shore is full of people chatting, laughing, and having fun. But on the water, a fierce battle ensues, where canoes can start ramming other canoes, according to Atiz. "When on shore, we're good friends, but once on the line and the whistle blows, you're the enemy."

Tabanera agreed, "When you're in a canoe it's competitive, dog eat dog!"

Bronze Medal Champ - Cedric Tabanera, Crane Operator, loves the sport.

The sport of paddling has an individual meaning for its participants. For Tabanera, paddling is about culture and family. "I'm not pure Hawaiian. My parents were born in Hawaii, I was born in Hawaii, but I don't have Hawaiian [ancestry] in me. Yet, it's still my culture and my family's culture. We paddle for the people."

For Atiz, paddling is about the sport. "You have to be really disciplined to do this sport. You've got to have `mana,' the inner spirit. You must have the determination and the competitiveness. It's a day to day thing, how you feel is how you paddle. If you're happy, then you paddle happy; sad and angry, then you paddle sad and angry. Either way, when you're done you're tired and satisfied."

Paddling is for the whole family. Atiz and Tabanera aren't the only paddlers in their families. "My daughter paddles with the women. I have four grandchildren that paddle, in separate age groups of course, but they still paddle," said Tabanera.

Both Tabanera and Atiz are seasoned athletes from Hawaii. They used to surf and participate in a variety of sports in the Aloha State, but interestingly enough, neither of them began paddling until they came to Silverdale. They both needed something to help keep them in shape all year long. Atiz has been paddling for nine years and Tabanera for six years.

"You just have to have a big heart," stressed Tabanera, "you just have to love it."

Story and photos by Kellie McNeil, Public Affairs Office