Waka ama: Rotorua Boys' HS take gold and silver at nationals (+video)

Rotorua Boys' High School U19 crew. PHOTO/ SUPPLIED

Rotorua Boys' High School have won a national title at the 2015 ActivePost Waka Ama Secondary School National Championships in Rotorua.

The huge regatta was held this week at Tikitapu (Blue Lake) with most finals held this morning. About 1450 paddlers from 97 schools took part over four days, in what organisers claim to be one of the largest secondary school sports events in New Zealand.

Rotorua Boys' won a gold medal and national title in the U19 Boys' W6 500m final, and a silver medal in the U16 Boys' W6 250m final.

The crew that won the gold medal for Boys' High started in one of the outside lanes in the final but managed to surprise most of their opposition by paddling to victory.

The gold medal winning crew included Manaaki Te Kowhai, Matangireia Yates Francis, Rawiri Manley, Tihema Ned, Tipene James and Tristan Taute-Collier.

The silver medal crew included Jesse Yates, Kaipo Brown, Regan Heurea, Tawharangi Taylor, Te Hautorua Pukepuke and Te Maiora Rurehe.

Two other Rotorua schools, Te Kura Kaupapa Maori o Ruamata and Te Kura Kaupapa Maori o Te Koutu, also made A finals today but finished outside the podium.

Races were held across two age divisions this week (U16 and U19) with events for W1 (one-person), W6 (six-person) and W12 (12-person) boats across distances of 250m and 500m.