Paddlers converge on Karapiro

VICTORY JOY: Intermediate boys' crew Tangata Hianga, of Horouta Waka Hoe Club, celebrate their W12 500 metres victory in the national waka ama sprint championships last year. Tangata Hianga won the W6 500m, W6 500m with turn and W12 500m finals. A Covid-affected late start to training has hampered the preparation of the club's intermediate teams for next week's championships but they have made big strides in recent weeks. Mareikura Waka Ama Club, too, have high hopes for their intermediate-grade paddlers. Picture by Garrick Cameron

Tairawhiti waka ama clubs will again feature at the national sprint championships on Lake Karapiro next week, although they have had to adjust to changes in the sporting landscape.

Horouta Waka Hoe Club will have 220 paddlers at the championships, which start on Sunday and end the following Saturday. They include 47 individual competitors and 34 six-place teams.

Preparations for the nationals took a while to “kick in”, club president Walton Walker said.

“We started late.

“It took a while for people to take in that the nationals were actually on before they got to the point of some serious paddling, let alone make themselves available for coaching children's teams.

“We have a huge number of teams — 34 is the most we've had for a while — but have we got the depth in terms of performance? We'll see.

“I've been impressed in the past two or three weeks with the amount of time being put in by the teams. The simulation day on Sunday probably made up for three or four practice sessions.

“I think we have had teams better prepared . . . they didn't have the constraint of Covid. Nevertheless, I don't doubt that come the day, these teams will pull out good performances at Karapiro.”

Walker said the club's intermediate paddlers (11 to 13 years) were probably the most affected by the disruption caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

“We didn't have any coaches when we had the registration day in August-September and didn't get any until towards the end of October,” he said.

“We'd normally be organised a long time before that. We had kids who went up the river to Mareikura because we didn't have any coaches for them. The intermediate age group is a critical phase in terms of waka ama development.”

A lot of the paddlers in the club's intermediate teams had just come out of the midget grade (taitamariki, six to 10 years).

“They look small but they are gutsy,” Walker said.

“The quality of coaching that has gone into them will be reflected in the results.”

He said Horouta had a lot of teams in the masters and senior masters divisions, with strength across both the men's and women's events, as well as the traditional powerhouse teams in the premier division — Kaiarahi Toa in the women's races and Woolley Kumaras in the men's.

Mareikura Waka Ama Club will have 20 teams competing at Karapiro — the biggest entry they have had in 10 years, says club stalwart Raipoia Brightwell.

“We've had a big influx,” she said.

“We've gone out to try to recruit new paddlers.”

In October they had four open days for youth.

“We have new equipment, which allows for growth, and we have got a few more coaches.

“This campaign is a success because we have been able to bring in people who are new to the sport.”

She was confident all the club's teams would do well, according to their experience and ability.

Even the new teams would have a good chance of going at least as far as semifinals, while she felt the experienced teams had good chances of being on the podium.

The most satisfying aspect of the build-up to the nationals had been the growth in the club, which was due to the preparation and planning around getting more paddlers into the sport and putting things in place.

Teams with chances of success included the midgets (taitamariki), intermediate girls and boys, and the Junior 16 and 19 men and Junior 16 women.

“We have a very good open men's team,” Brightwell said.

“They are all returning paddlers. They paddled when they were juniors and decided to come back as adults, and they're looking really good.”

She and Denise Tapp, both eligible for the golden masters division (60 years and over), are paddling for a Mareikura master women's team (40 to 49).

“We enjoy a challenge,” Brightwell said.

In the one-man events, Mareikura would be well represented in the intermediate boys and girls, and the J16 men and women, she said. Junior 16 paddler Jarrod Hill had done well to qualify for the J19 men's 250-metre dash, so could well be a contender in the J16 500m.