Beach sports – Aussie in Classic finish

After setting a record last year in the Catalina Classic Paddleboard race stock division (boards 12-feet and under), Queensland Australia lifeguard  Lachie Lansdown moved up to the unlimited division. Challenging conditions prevented him from setting another record in this year’s race on Sunday, Aug. 26, but he did finish first overall, becoming one of the few paddlers to have won both the stock and unlimited divisions. Second place finisher Patrick Shaughnessy, of Santa Cruz, and third place finisher Max First, of Manhattan Beach — a three-time Classic winner — kept the pressure on until the R10 buoy off of Palos Verdes. But from there, as First put it, “Lachie was an animal today,” First said. “He just never let up for a minute.” D. J. O’Brien, of Manhattan Beach, won the women’s division and San Diego lifeguard Costner McIntosh won the stock division.

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