Wooldridge earns her first individual distance gold

RACE-WINNING FORM: Katrina Wooldridge on her way to victory in the race for master 70 women in the Waka Ama New Zealand Long Distance Nationals held in the Bay of Islands off Waitangi at the weekend. Waka Ama NZ picture

Katrina Wooldridge steers clear of mountains these days but she heads towards rough seas with joy in her heart.

Wooldridge, 72, used to enjoy climbing mountains, but she says that with arthritis and hip replacement in her medical history, mountaineering becomes senseless. Paddling outrigger canoes, on the other hand, is just the ticket.

Last Friday she won the W1 race for master 70 women in the Waka Ama New Zealand Long Distance Nationals in a time of 58 minutes 22 seconds for the eight-kilometre course in the Bay of Islands off Waitangi.

She was the only paddler of the four in her division to go under an hour. The second placegetter, Jan Blythe of Te Tai o Aorere, completed the course in one hour 11 seconds.

This was Wooldridge's first individual gold medal at the long distance nationals, although she had won gold with a W6 team in the golden master (60 to 69) division.

On Saturday, like many of the individual competitors at the long distance nationals, she took part in a W6 race for her club, Self Storage Gisborne Horouta Waka Hoe. She steered the waka for the Hineteuru golden master women's team. They finished seventh of nine teams in 1:50:29 for the 16 kilometres.

Wooldridge has been paddling waka ama since 2007.

“Raipoia (Brightwell, of Mareikura Waka Ama Club) was doing a taster session, and then she said that Vicki Flavell took people out on waka ama to learn about paddling,” she said.

Soon Wooldridge was paddling in teams with Vicki Flavell, Bub Apelu and others; she's been to Rarotonga to paddle; and for the past few years she's organised social paddling to give people a chance to have a go.

“I've always been an outdoor person and I've always loved water,” she said.

“I liked the look of the waka, and at first I liked it much more as part of a team. When you're starting, one-man waka are not very easy.

“I really enjoy paddling in a team, and going out to sea is the best. I love the waves and the rough water. And I love the long, change races where you jump in and out of the water between the waka and an accompanying boat.”

During Friday's individual race she had a pretty good idea she was doing well because she was keeping up with a lot of youngsters whose race was being run alongside hers.

Normally she paddles five or six times a week in a single-seater, does the social paddling and trains with a team. Finding time for paddling is no problem; she's been retired since she was 65.

Having grown up in the southeast of England, in Canterbury, she worked in Africa, then returned to England to live in Chester, near the border with northern Wales.

Wooldridge came to New Zealand at the start of 2005 to take up a one-year contract in Kaikoura to teach secondary school students with behavioural difficulties, and in 2006 she came to Gisborne and worked at the Carnarvon Street activity centre for high school students having difficulty with school life.

As the waka ama focus shifts from endurance to sprint events with the approach of summer, Katrina Wooldridge can look forward to an expanded pool of paddlers aged 70 and over, who might have the numbers for one or two teams at the sprint nationals on Lake Karapiro in January.

Results with Gisborne connections from the long distance waka ama nationals at Waitangi —

Race 1 — Master men W1 (rudderless) 16 kilometres: David Apelu (Horouta) 1:45:00, 16th.

Senior master men W1 (rudderless) 16km: John Moetara (Horouta) 1:45:03, 17th.

Master women W1 (ruddered) 16km: Hiria Rolleston (Mareikura) 1:44:05, 3rd.

Golden master mixed W2, 8km: Team Aston (Gordon and Mihi Aston, Horouta) 46:25, 2nd.

Junior 19 women W2, 8km: Marei Wardens 3 (Cheidan Moetara and Salome Tamale, Mareikura) 52:12, 2nd.

Master women W2, 16km: Waka CrossFit Wahine (Rebecca Hoani and Vesna Radonich, Horouta) 1:32:00, 2nd.

Race 2 — Junior 19 women W1 (rudderless) 8km: Cheidan Moetara (Horouta) 53:54, 8th; Hine Te-Mauriora Niwa-Apelu (Mareikura) 1:00:35, 13th.

Master 70 women W1 (rudderless) 8km: Katrina Wooldridge (Horouta) 58:22, 1st.

Master women W1 (rudderless) 16km: Vesna Radonich (Horouta) 1:46:18, 5th; Kara Te Whata-Maynard (Horouta) 1:58:31, 11th; Wendy Andrews (Horouta) DNF.

Senior master women W1 (rudderless) 16km: Jan Dixon (Mareikura) 1:48:31, 6th.

Race 3 — Junior 16 mixed W6, 8km: Marei Wardens (Mareikura) 42:46, 1st.

Short course open mixed W6 (non-medal event) 8km: Hinemoana (Horouta) 44:38, 5th.

Race 4 — Golden master women W6, 16km: Hinewaiariki (Horouta) 1:37:52, 1st; Hineteuru (Horouta) 1:50:29, 7th.

Master women W6, 24km: Hiwa I Te Rangi (Mareikura) 2:27:56, 6th.

Junior 16 women W1 (rudderless) 8km: Marnie Toloa (Horouta) 49:48, 2nd; Ella August (Mareikura) 57:49, 10th; Salome Tamale (Mareikura) 1:02:08, 15th.

Junior 16 men W2, 8km: Marei Wardens 1 (Kyros August and Jackson Robin-Smith, Mareikura) 48:31, 1st.

Race 5 — Junior 16 men W1 (rudderless) 8km: Jack Gifford (Mareikura) 55:35, 10th; Rory Gifford (Mareikura) 1:04:19, 15th.

Junior 16 women W2, 8km: Marnie and Cheidan (Marnie Toloa and Cheidan Moetara, Horouta) 52:46, 3rd; Marei Wardens 2 (Ella August and Piper Barbarich, Mareikura) 59:12, 6th.

Race 6 — Open men W6, 24km: Wolfpac (Horouta) 2:19:37, 13th.

Golden master men W6, 16km: Hawea (Horouta) 1.29.38, 5th.