Kiwi stars in film to inspire women

Waka ama legend Kiwi Campbell training on the river. Pictures by Paul Rickard

EIT student liaison officer and legendary waka ama paddler Kiwi Campbell is to feature in a documentary on inspirational New Zealand women. She shares her story with The Weekender . . . ?

By day Kiwi Campbell works as an EIT student liaison officer with schools and students up and down the East Coast from Wairoa to Ruatoria and including Gisborne.

Before and after hours she puts countless hours into her sport as one of New Zealand’s most acclaimed waka ama paddlers.

Kiwi, of Ngai Tuhoe, Te Whanau Apanui and Ngati Porou descent, is coach for New Zealand’s elite premier women paddlers, from whom she will select the team to compete in this year’s IVF World Sprint Championships, in Tahiti in July.

She mentors some of the junior teams and is also coach and lead paddler for Horouta’s Kaiarahi Toa women’s team, who cleaned up numerous titles at this year’s national waka ama sprint championships. In addition she amassed a few more medals in the individual events.

Among her national and international awards is one for Te Maru o Tumatauenga-Maori Sports Coach of the Year at the 2016 Maori Sports Awards, after her team won every race they competed in at the International Va’a Federation World Sprint Championships in Australia.

It’s all in a day’s work for Kiwi, who has been coaching waka ama teams since 2000 when she was 18.

Her day starts before 5am, with her paddlers hitting the water at 5.30am for an hour’s training. Then it’s back on the water after work, interspersed by cardio and cross-training to correct any weaknesses.

She is also heavily involved in administration of the sport and most weekends there are trips to training camps and competitions, and with the world event looming, the pace is hotting up.

Fortunately Kiwi’s husband Bruce Campbell and oldest son Mairangi, 13, are also in the running for national teams and their youngest son Maia has also been smitten — so it’s a shared passion.

Bruce is a national title holder and Mairangi’s team, the Baby Helis, made a clean sweep across their W6 races at this year’s nationals. Maia also won a gold in the W12 intermediate division

“It’s crazy busy — we sometimes have just toasties for dinner,” says Kiwi.

In addition to her sons, her twin nieces Cory and Kodi are also well on their way to enhancing the Campbell family legend and contributing to Horouta’s record as New Zealand’s top club.

To relax, which at this time of year is not often, Kiwi loves to do “absolutely nothing”. For a treat, she enjoys the occasional weekend cold beer.

It might be a frenetic lifestyle, but Kiwi loves it. She also wants to give back to something that has hugely benefited her life and that of her family.

“There’s people who have given their time to the sport and I want to repay that,” she says.

“I have a skill set that I can share and I want to give my time back to the community.”

EIT had been very supportive of her involvement and to the sport in general, she said.

Campus manager Wayne Spence said: “Kiwi is a natural motivator — she is inspirational for our students.”

Kiwi’s attributes and experiences will be featured in a new movie being produced this year by New Zealand film producer Chelsea Winstanley, on inspirational New Zealand women.

Winstanley produced, among other films, What We Do In the Shadows, with her husband Taka Waititi as co-director.