Local competes in Paddleboard Championships

Mark Spagnulo paddling from Molokai to Oahu during the Paddleboard World Championships in Hawaii.

A Bloomfield native recently won a third place medal in the grueling 32-mile Molokai to Oahu Paddleboard World Championships in Hawaii.

Mark Spagnuolo, 38, a Bloomfield High School graduate and swimming champion, placed third in the 30-39 age group, in the July 30 race, which took place about a week before the wildfires on Maui, which is south of both Molokai and Oahu.

Spagnuolo, who attended Fairview Elementary School and the middle school, graduated from BHS in 2003.

At that time, the high school did not have a swimming team, he said last week in a telephone interview. So he swam unattached and won the Essex County Championships in the 100-meter breaststroke; placed third in the conference championships; and finished eighth in the state championships his senior year.

The BHS swimming team was eventually formed as a coed club in 2005 and became full-fledged high school boys and girls swim teams in 2022, according to retired BHS teacher Lenore Imhof, who established and coached the team.

Following graduation, Spagnuolo attended Rowan University where he swam all four years, captaining in his senior year. He majored in communications with a focus on radio, TV and film.

He subsequently interned as a production assistant at Madison Square Garden and was later hired as a producer for MSG Varsity Sports which produces programming of high school athletics. He then became a photographer for MSG.

“They were looking for someone to take photos of a track meet,” he said. “I had my camera and became a photographer for a few years.”

After graduating from college, Spagnuolo moved to Belmar and became a lifeguard. He remained one for 15 years, but also opened a restaurant named Hoagitos.

“With my brother-in-law, I opened it up on the Asbury Park boardwalk,” he said. “We closed that one and opened up two more. We’re opening a third.”

He married in April 2011, having met his future wife, Emma, at a 2008 lifeguard party. They have two daughters, Madeline, 7, and Lily, 5.

A paddleboard is essentially a surfboard which propels a rider lying prone while paddling with their hands or standing up and using a paddle. Spagnuolo’s interest in paddleboarding was whetted when he became involved with lifeguard competitions and a colleague won a 26-mile paddleboard race that started at the Brooklyn Bridge and finished at the Chelsea Piers.

“It was intriguing and I wanted to challenge myself,” he said. “I got a used board in 2014. It was 18 and one-half feet.”

He said the race between Molokai and Oahu is across arguably the most treacherous channel in the Pacific. It took him over seven hours and 20 minutes to complete the crossing. The racers got off the line at 8 a.m.

“At least 26 paddle boards were on the starting line,” he said. “The race is also done as a relay, but this was a solo race. Escort boats are used for both races and every paddler has to have their own escort boat. You won’t be allowed to race without a boat.”

A paddler will also be disqualified for not staying with their boat during the race or if they touch the boat. The competition was a pretty expensive endeavor, too, he said, figuring in travel, the escort boat and its captain. Spagnuolo was accompanied by his wife and daughters.

During the race, he said the current pushed him north and he had to fight strenuously to get back on course.

“I became seasick,” he said. “That’s something that’s never happened before.”

He first tried paddleboard racing in 2014 – a 26-mile stint around Manhattan Island – and again in 2015 when he competed in the Cape to Cape Paddle – a 17-mile outing
from Cape Henlopen, Delaware, to Cape May.

“It’s a great race,” Spagnuolo said of the Delaware Bay challenge. “But COVID caused it to go away.”

He trains year-round and his regime includes swimming, weight lifting, paddling, lifeguard boat rowing and cardio workouts.

His father, Al, who once owned The Town Pub on Broad Street, started what is now the Tom Fleming Sunset Classic, a five-mile road race and Bloomfield sports staple held in June. It had its 35th running this year.

As for his Hawaiian paddle board finish, Spagnoulo said he received a medal and custom art print of the poster advertising the event. He also competes in the 22-mile Dean Cancer Foundation charity race around Absecon Island, the barrier island on which Atlantic City is located. The race is held in June.

“No one does this stuff for money,” Spagnuolo said.