19 seconds. 32 miles. And a soundtrack that never quit.
Some athletes grow into the Ka'iwi Channel. Toa Pere grew up in it. Raised in Haleiwa on Oahu's North Shore — his father a former stock paddleboard record holder, his mother a two-time M2O team champion — Toa became the youngest person ever to solo cross the Channel of Bones at just 14, back in 2023.
Last Sunday at the Molokai 2 Oahu Paddleboard World Championships, he came back and put himself on the podium. Second place in stock prone, 5:03:30 across 32 miles of open ocean — just 19 seconds behind winner Harrison Stone after more than five hours of racing. In a channel that decides world titles by the width of a swell, that's about as close as it gets.
The soundtrack that carried him
There are no lane lines out there. No walls, no crowd noise, no timeouts. Just you, the swell, and whatever you brought with you to keep the rhythm alive.
Toa says it was the music that carried him through the toughest stretches of the crossing — soundtracked by the Florence Camo TRI 2. Open-ear bone conduction kept his playlist up front and the ocean all around. A Beyond Waterproof build shrugged off five hours of salt, swell, and sun. And a secure fit stayed locked from first stroke to last, through every mile of chop.
Hit play to hear Toa break down race day — the dark miles in the middle, and the mindset that got him to the podium.
Below, Above & Beyond
A teenager on a world-championship podium, 19 seconds off the win, in the toughest crossing in paddling. That's beyond the usual — and it's exactly what we build for. Congratulations, Toa. The channel knows your name now.
The kit that crossed with him → www.h2oaudio.com
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THE CHANNEL OF BONES CROWNED ITS 2026 CHAMPIONS