Top NZ women waka ama paddlers in Gisborne

Concentration is written on Gisborne waka ama paddler Pharyn Callis’s face during time trials at a selection camp for next year’s Va’a World Sprint Championships. Pictures by Paul Rickard

SOME of New Zealand’s top female waka ama paddlers met in Gisborne at the weekend for final selection trials for the Va’a World Sprint Championships. The championships will be held on Australia’s Sunshine Coast in May.

Paddlers selected from an elite waka ama training camp held in Gisborne in October were subjected to another selection process over the weekend. A series of paddler combinations were run to find the fastest.

“It was tough,” New Zealand elite women’s coach Kiwi Campbell said.

“We have some strong paddlers from around the country. We had to go through individual, and combined individual, time trials. Then we ran more time trials.”

The elite seniors were joined by junior development squads, who were really strong as well, Campbell said.

“They are good little sprinters.”

Juniors who make the final cut will be combined with senior paddlers in the W12 race. This entails 12 paddlers in a 500-metre sprint.

The final selection will be announced at the waka ama sprint nationals at Lake Karapiro next month.