Small club hope training pays off

PADDLERS: The Hei Matau Paddlers under-16 W6 girls' team have been training hard ahead of the National Waka Ama Sprint Championships. Pictured (clockwise from back left) are Kelsheray Timihou, Katarina Havekamp, Hinehou Treanor, Eden Te Papa, Ray Timihou (coach), Makayla Timoti, and Kazshalei Korau. PHOTO/BEN FRASER

Rotorua's Hei Matau Paddlers may not be the biggest club in the area but they should pack plenty of punch at the waka ama nationals.

The 26th ActivePost National Waka Ama Sprint Championships are being held on Lake Karapiro next week, attracting 61 clubs and about 3000 paddlers from across the country and overseas.

The Hei Matau Paddlers club, from Rotorua, are taking four W6 (six-person) crews to the nationals including a girls' under-16 team, boys' under-16 team and two open men's teams.

Club coach Ray Timihou said they had been training for months.

"Our J16 girls have been training since April last year and the J16 boys have been off and on during the winter, but they have got together during the last couple of months and that has been the same with our open men's crews."

Timihou said the girls' crew - who would paddle under the team name Puutake Ake - were very young to be racing in the under-16 division.

"Our girls are all between 13 and 14 and are at the baby end of the J16 division," he said.

But he said they had won the regionals in the lead-up to the nationals and should make the final next week. He said both the boys and girls had lots of potential.

"It has been a long couple of months training these kids up so hopefully we can do the damage at the nationals," he said.

He said the men's crews were also looking good.

"The open men's team should stand on the podium and the J16 girls, they are young but they should make the final and have a chance at the podium."

He said their boys' team were up and down but could pull out some quick times if everything goes right.

He said because the club had two men's teams they were also entering in the W12 event.

There are three Rotorua clubs attending the nationals including Ruamata, Te Au Rere Waka Ama Club, and Hei Matau Paddlers.

At the championships, clubs will compete for national honours in one, six and 12-paddler teams over distances of 250m, 500m, 1000m and 1500m.

Waka Ama New Zealand chief executive Lara Collins said they had a record number of entries this year.

"We had record numbers last year and we've broken that record again this year with close to 3000 paddlers signed up to race. We've got crews coming from all over the country and even overseas, with three women's crews from Papua New Guinea coming for the first time to add international flavour alongside some Australian crews," she said. "There are going to be huge crowds lakeside watching the regatta."