Team ends three-year reign at the top

TOP SCHOOL: Rotorua Boys' High School paddlers warm up ahead of racing at the Te Wananga o Aotearoa National Secondary School Waka Ama Championships in Rotorua this week. PHOTO/STEPHEN PARKER

A SPORTING dynasty which will long be remembered at Rotorua Boys' High School has finally come to an end, but not without a final triumph on the national stage.

A group of six boys from the school - Manaaki Te Kowhai, Kaipo Brown, Matangireia Yates-Francis, Te Maiora Rurehe, Tihema Ned and Tipene James - have dominated high school waka ama racing during the past three years.

Five of the boys will leave Boys' High at the end of this year, marking an end of an era for the six-man crew.

This week they competed at the National Secondary School Waka Ama Championships on Tikitapu (Blue Lake) for the last time as a team.

They won two major titles yesterday in the W6 (six-person) events, to go alongside a long list of gold medals they've won over the years at the secondary school nationals.

Manaaki, 17, said it was quite sad to have raced his last secondary school nationals but he was proud of his team. He said winning the last race of the day and event yesterday, the under-19 boys' W6 250m final, was a great feeling.

"I looked over my shoulder after about 220m and we had a good, three-seat lead on them, and that was when I knew we had done enough to get home and win gold," he said. "It felt great, it is not something you can describe."

Manaaki also won a gold medal as a solo paddler on Tuesday but said he felt prouder about the team title. "I prefer the team gold because everyone on the boat is so happy, and you are all exhausted for each other."

Rotorua Boys' High School's younger team, the W6 under-16 crew, also won gold yesterday in their 250m final, proving there is plenty of talent coming through at the school.

"All the teams [at our school] train together and push each other along," Manaaki said. "It is great to see the new, younger ones coming through and doing well."

While the Boys' High under-19 team have raced their last major event for the school, the boys will represent local club Hei Matau Paddlers at the world champs in Australia next month. Manaaki said they had been training since the end of last season, without a break, to prepare for the world champs.

Other Rotorua schools also picked up medals at the Te Wananga o Aotearoa National Secondary School Waka Ama Championships including Rotorua Girls' High School, Ruamata, and Rotorua Lakes High School.

The four-day competition is one of the largest secondary school sports events in New Zealand, second only to rowing's Maadi Cup.