DISTANCE CHAMPIONS: The Tairawhiti-dominated J19 women's Aotearoa team won the IVF Va'a world distance title for their age group. They are (from left): Khobi Paretoa, Gaibreill Wainohu, Kyra Mita, Kelsey Teneti, Makayla Timoti, Rangi-Riana Williams and Ariata Kutia. Picture supplied
WAKA AMA
A TAIRAWHITI-dominated J19 women’s waka ama crew overcame difficult conditions and tough competition to win gold at the world long-distance championships in the sea off Mooloolaba on Australia’s Sunshine Coast.
Junior women’s crew Hinetoa qualified under the Horouta Waka Hoe Club banner at the Waka Ama New Zealand national distance championships in Auckland in April, and competed as the Aotearoa representatives in Australia.
They held off a strong challenge from the Tahitian team in conditions that sometimes required crew members to protect the ama (outrigger) by paddling on the ama side of the boat for extended periods to ensure the craft did not flip.
Another Horouta paddler, Kathy Sheldrake, won gold as a member of a master 70 women’s team drawn from around the North Island.
Mareikura Canoe Club paddler Beverley Murray won bronze as a member of a master 60 women’s team, also drawn from several centres.
National elite women’s sprint coach Kiwi Campbell, who coached the J19 men’s and women’s teams representing Aotearoa at the distance championships, said both crews paddled a good race.
“The girls started a canoe-length behind everyone else because of the penalties if you cross the line early or interfere with anyone’s race,” she said.
'. . . early on, they took control of the race'“But very early on, they took control of the race.
“The conditions on the day of the J19 women’s race were the hardest of the week. They had to deal with a lot of side-chop and winds up around 22 knots. And they had a strong challenge from Tahiti, who were really strong at this event.
“We respect all the teams we are up against, but Tahiti came out especially strong and stuck to us for most of the race. The speed of their stroke was really quick . . . you don’t often see that from Tahiti. They were aggressive over the whole race and put a lot of pressure on our girls.
“Every time our girls got a gain, Tahiti punched back and attacked.
“Our girls’ ama came up off the water four or five times and they had to paddle on the left (ama side) to hold the pressure on the ama. The ama can lift when you have a side swell and strong cross winds.
“It wasn’t until the last kilometre that our girls really put on the pressure and broke away.”
Sprint nationals on horizon Their time for the 24-kilometre race was 2 hours 27 minutes 09.5 seconds — 1:52.9 faster than the crew representing Tahiti and over nine minutes faster than third-placed Hawaii.
The six who paddled were (in order, from the front): Rangi-Riana Williams (Horouta), Ariata Kutia (Hor), Kelsey Teneti (Hor), Makayla Timoti (Rotorua), Kyra Mita (Rot) and Gaibreill Wainohu (Hor). Khobi Paretoa (Rot) was the reserve.
Aotearoa were defending J19 champions from the last distance world champs, in 2017, but the only member of this year’s team in that squad was Kyra Mita, who was a reserve two years ago.
Campbell said the team at this year’s champs were relatively young. All but Makayla Timoti would be eligible for the next distance championships, in Samoa in 2021.
Goals include world champs in Hawaii next year and the 2022 world sprint champs in LondonGoals for the future included the national sprint champs in January, the world champs in Hawaii later that year and, in 2022, the world sprint champs in London.
The J19 men’s team, who raced two days after the J19 women, qualified as Horouta crew Baby Heli’s but carried the Aotearoa name into the world champs.
“They raced a beautiful race,” Campbell said.
“It’s just unfortunate it didn’t reflect in results.”
She said the other teams set a hot early pace and the Aotearoa team stayed with it at first. But most of the paddlers in the other teams were older and bigger, and that told in the end. Aotearoa finished last of the five entries, but the first four completed the 24km race in under two hours . . . excellent going for J19 paddlers. The Aotearoa J19 men’s time was 2:01:37.5. They finished 7:53.4 after the winners, from Tahiti.
“We had the youngest paddlers in the event,” Campbell said.
“Kelsey Teneti was the youngest girl, at 15, and Mairangi Campbell was the youngest boy, at 14. Of the six members of the J19 men’s crew, only Darius Apanui-Nepe will be too old for the age group at the next world distance championships in 2021.
“Some will be eligible for the one after that, in 2023.
“We’re really proud of the effort they put in, and have faith that these boys will make their mark.”
Sheldrake's 'dial-up' 70-plus team won their 16km race in 1.45.35.0The members of the Aotearoa master 70 women’s team for whom Kathy Sheldrake paddled were drawn from Gisborne, Whangarei, Auckland (two), Mt Maunganui and Wellington.
She paddled in the No.2 seat (second from the front).
“Katja Hildebrandt, who coaches a lot of teams in Auckland, rang me after the sprint nationals this year and said she was putting this team together and would like me to join them,” said Sheldrake, a Horouta club member.
“I’d never heard the expression ‘dial-up team’, but I know what it means now — a team assembled on the phone. Katja paddled at No.4. We only had six, so we were lucky no one got sick.”
They raced under the Waitakere Outrigger Canoe Club name at the long-distance nationals and — like the rest of the New Zealand entries — as Aotearoa at the world champs.
The race distance for the 70-plus age group was 16 kilometres — two circuits of a course. Conditions were relatively calm on the first circuit but the wind got up and the swells grew on the second.
“We had a really good start and as we were going we could hear the other teams’ calls,” Sheldrake said.
“Their calls became more and more distant, until we couldn’t hear them, and we knew we just had to keep going to make sure of the win.”
Their time was 1:45:35.0, nearly three minutes better than the second-placed Australian representatives and over eight minutes better than third-placed Hawaii.
The IVF (International Va’a Federation) Va’a World Distance Championships were first held in 2017 and are held every second year. This was the first time age groups other than J19, open and masters were available in the long-distance format. Around 800 paddlers from 24 countries took part.
“They are putting together their sprint team now,” Sheldrake said.
“I can’t commit to all the training sessions at this time so I might not be able to be selected.”
It had been a “bit of a haul” to make the once-a-month get-togethers to prepare for the distance champs — two in Auckland, one in Mt Maunganui and one to take part in an ocean race — to go with the training in home waters, but it had been worth it.
Beverley Murray's master 60 team won bronzeMareikura club member Beverley Murray was steerer for a master 60 women’s team who had qualified under the banner of Tauranga Moana Outrigger Canoe Club but were made up of two paddlers from Auckland, two from Tauranga, one from Wellington and Murray herself.
They took bronze in a time of 2:28:00.2 for the 24km, just over seven minutes behind winners Australia and about 3:20 behind runners-up Canada.
Finishing out of the medals were Mareikura paddlers Raipoia Brightwell, steerer for a team who qualified under the Ruamata club name in the master 50 women’s division, and Brian Wilson, who joined three paddlers from Whanganui, one paddler from Nelson and another from Christchurch in the master 70 men’s division.
Brightwell said her crew’s race started five minutes after the J19 women’s event, and conditions were “horrible right the way through” the 24km.
“We were third going into the last lap but were overtaken by Canada and Australia.”
They finished fifth in 2:35:07.6, about 20 seconds behind fourth-placed Australia.
Wilson’s crew finished a distant last in their four-waka 16km race, in a time of 1:43:07.1, over 18 minutes behind third-placed Australia.
“Three of us had the flu, one so bad he was in bed two days before the competition,” Wilson said.
“We thought that seeing we were there, we’d better go in the race.
“I’d been on an overseas trip and had only four weeks to prepare for the champs, and when you are crook as well . . . I wouldn’t do it under those circumstances again.
“I like to have a proper preparation to make sure we are up to the level required for that racing.”
Wilson, a former champion master surf lifesaving competitor, has moderate to severe arthritis in his left shoulder. But, just short of his 70th birthday, he is not prepared to give up on competitive watersport yet. He has asked about stem cell treatment and been told to provide up-to-date X-rays to see if it is worth doing.
“I thought I might give it a crack,” he said.
Paddlers’ attention now turns to preparation for the 2020 national sprint championships at Lake Karapiro in the third week of January, when qualification for the world sprint championships in Hawaii will be determined.