“This event wouldn’t be possible without the support and hard work of our Te Waiariki Purea Trust whānau organising the event logistics — ngā mihi nui ki a koutou katoa,” Collins said.
“Waka Ama NZ would like to acknowledge all kura, staff, and waka ama whānau travelling near and far to attend this year’s event, especially all those with additional challenges due to recent weather events.”
This year marks 21 years since the first schools nationals, in Ōrākei in 2002.
Veteran paddler, coach and administrator Turanga Kerr told teaomaori.news the standard of waka ama has improved markedly in that time.
“I ahau i te kura ko tā tō mātou kaiwhakahaere he ‘haere ki te mahi kia 10 o ēnei, kia rima o ērā, tōna tikanga ka kōtahi me te hāwhe hāora te roa, a hei āpōpō ka haere ki te oma. Heoi, i ēnei rā kei ia kaihoe tōna ake mahere kia eke panuku rātou i ngā mea takitahi, takiono i ā rātou ake mahi hauora kia kite i ngā hua pai o te whakapakari tinana.” (”When I was at school our coach would just say to us ‘Go and do this, do 10 of these, five of those’ and after about an hour and a half we would be finished and maybe go for a run the next day. But these days each paddler has their own schedule, their own plan to achieve success in singles and teams races and to maximise the benefits of all their hard work.”)
The competition began with a pōhiri at 8am, with racing scheduled to begin at 10am.
Coverage of the races will be available on Whakaata Māori YouTube channel.
Full list of schools entered here.
– Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ on Air
