Waka ama: Northlander joins uni crew for gold

Cara Berghan (front row, second from left) celebrates their win in the open mixed category of the annual Queen Lili'uokalani race in Kona, Hawaii.

A Northland university student has struck gold in the pristine tropical waters of Hawaii.

Months of gruelling winter training on the Waitemata Harbour has paid off for Kaitaia's Cara Berghan and her fellow University of Auckland waka ama paddlers, who have won gold in Hawaii.

The Faculty of Engineering's waka ama team battled tough conditions in open seas to win the open mixed category of the annual Queen Lili'uokalani race in Kona, Hawaii on September 5.

The prestigious event is considered the world's largest outrigger canoe race, this year attracting 12 international teams for its 45th edition. It is a flagship event and the largest gathering of long-distance waka ama paddlers in the world.

The Kiwi crew of three males and three females completed the 30km course in two hours and 25 minutes.

"The conditions were like nothing I had ever experienced in New Zealand, and in every moment I was in pain and excitement at the same time," said civil engineering student and veteran paddler Nona Taute Hohepa (Te Arawa, Tainui), 21, from Rotorua, who has been involved in waka ama for 15 years.

The University of Auckland also collected a gold medal in the mixed four-man canoe sprint relay, where they were required to flip the waka and perform a water changeover for the second leg of the relay. Overall the University of Auckland won two of the three race categories entered.

For 20-year-old Dallas Watene from Gisborne, who was part of the relay team, returning with a gold medal was particularly special as it was his first trip out of New Zealand, and the North Island.

"My family were extremely emotional and proud of me, and my mum was over the moon. We were surprised to win the sprint race as we didn't tailor our training towards it. Adrenaline was going and all of a sudden we were out in front, it didn't really sink in for quite a while that we had won gold," says Dallas, a computer systems engineering student.

The team, including two reserves, was made up of Billy Bowman (Helensville), Berghan, Watene, Georgia Naera (Rotorua), Josie Stevens (Mt Eden, Auckland), Taute-Hohepa, Shantelle Peters (Samoa) and Te Wera Hauraki Mihaere (Nelson).

The Faculty of Engineering's waka ama team won an all-expenses paid trip to Hawaii to compete in the prestigious event after winning the University's Great Waka Ama race in March, when they paddled a return 10km to Rangitoto Island, including a run to the summit.