The Whanganui River Outrigger Canoe Club want to find more paddlers who can experience the same success as their doubles teams like Tonnianne Robinson and Shaniqka Jones.
The Whanganui River Outrigger Canoe Club want to find more paddlers who can experience the same success as their doubles teams like Tonnianne Robinson and Shaniqka Jones.
When the Whanganui River Outrigger Canoe Club contingent went to Napier for their first major competition, they won double gold at the Te Wānanga o Aotearoa Long Distance Nationals.
Now, a fortnight later, the club is calling on more locals to join them as they set their sights on sprintracing to qualify more boats for the world championships in Tahiti next year.
Club Captain Howard Hyland believes the club's existing paddlers could make an impact in the open women's, J19 womens and J16 grades if they can find some more interest Whanganui sports people with the same work ethic.
In Napier on October 13-15, Rachel Kingi and Nikki Crawford won gold in the Open Women's long distance doubles.
"They've been travelling to Otaki twice a week after finding there weren't enough women in Whanganui to make a full squad of W6 paddlers," said Hyland.
As a former New Zealand coach, Hyland believes Whanganui needs more female athletes who want to apply or learn the skills of waka ama and says the club's advanced training program will enable them to deliver.
"Both our sets of gold winning long distance doubles were unstoppable.
"I can't see why a full contingent of paddlers couldn't repeat that success with teams of six in the sprints" Hyland said.
"Whanganui has a proud tradition of sporting excellence.
"We are renowned internationally for our commitment to any initiative around the awa, so joining us now is probably the opportunity any number of paddlers would be keen on."
"I think our city is ready to step up against the best in the region, the nation, and the world."
As well as Kingi and Crawford, J19 paddlers Tonnianne Robinson and Shaniqka Jones also won long distance doubles gold at the nationals, only to find themselves at a similar crossroads.
Their current W6 team - the Whanganui River Queens - will include paddlers aged from fourteen to eighteen years of age by next year, so older athletes would be welcome.
"They just won't be as competitive as they want to be, either nationally or internationally with such a wide span of ages in the team," said Hyland.
