Current New Zealand champion for Senior Master Women Yvonne Rogers will be coaching for the Hei Matau Paddlers and racing with the Ruamata Waka Ama Club at this nationals. She has been participating in the sport for the last 15 years.
"I just love how everybody comes together in waka ama, it's a real whanau sport.
"Seeing the young ones coming up and those who are racing until they are 70. There's practically no age limit."
She will compete in the Master Woman Sixes and for the Senior Master Women's in the singles.
"We've been training three to four times a week. While everyone else was filling up on Christmas pudding, we have been busy training. There's really tough competition across all of the divisions."
She said it was a great time of year to be part of the sport.
Yvonne Rogers at the 2017 Waka Ama National Championships. Photo / Supplied
"We will camp out at Karapiro for the week. It's a great chance to catch up with old friends and to meet new ones. Nationals are just fabulous, we love it."
Waka Ama New Zealand chief executive Lara Collins said this year's event promised to be full of excitement.
"This year in July, Tahiti are hosting the World Club Sprint Championships and many teams taking part this week at Karapiro are trying to qualify to represent their club and New Zealand at that event, so the racing will be intense.
"We have similar numbers to last year with 3300 paddlers competing. We've got crews coming from all over the country from as far north as Kaitaia down to Wakatipu in the South Island.
"There will be huge crowds lakeside watching the regatta. With around 10,000 expected during the week."
Collins said waka ama was a sport like no other, with its inclusive nature bringing together paddlers of all ages and ethnicities.
"It's a sport for all sorts of people from all walks of life. This week 2100 of the paddlers are under the age of 19 and 1200 of those are aged under 13.
"Our youngest paddler competing this week is 5 and our oldest paddler will turn 80 this year."
She said waka ama was probably the only sport where grandmothers, grandfathers, mums, dads and their children could come together to race competitively.
"That's what makes it so special and unique – it's very competitive but the focus is on fun and whanau, too."
Waka ama paddlers race over distances including 500m, 1500m and marathon races of 30 to 75km.
The ama, or outrigger, on the left-hand side balances the waka or canoe, helping it to slice through the water with every stroke.
At the sprint championships, clubs will compete for national honours in one, six and 12-paddler teams over distances of 250m, 500m, 1000m and 1500m.
Spectators are also in for added excitement as teams competing in the six-paddler 1000m and 1500m classes have to navigate their way through hairpin turns at the 250m mark.
Male and female crews will compete for national honours in the Midget (under 10), Intermediate (11-13), Junior U16, Junior U19, Open, Master (40), Senior Master (50), Golden Master (60), and Masters 70 age divisions.
Last year's winner of the 2017 National Waka Ama club points' trophy for overall performances throughout the regatta was Horouta Waka Hoe from Gisborne.
The club will be back in 2018 seeking to defend its title, one it has won six times in the trophy's seven-year history.
