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Having been given a huge kickstart by the junior paddlers at the beginning of the National Sprint Champs on Lake Karapiro, Waiheke Waka Ama Club finished the competition 18th of the 69 clubs taking part.

Golds for the midget girls and under nine boys crews and a bronze for the club’s first foray into the combined W12 event were a stunning start to the week (and covered in last week’s Gulf News), and intermediate and senior crews had much to live up to.

Intermediate paddling started Monday morning.  First up, intermediate girls crew, Motu Girls, teamed up with another Auckland  team, Tui Tonga, and raced under the “AROCA” umbrella to compete in the W12 500m sprint.  Half of Waiheke’s team had never paddled before and the whole Tui Tonga team had only been paddling for a couple of months. The girls finished sixth in their heat.

Our intermediate girls then took on a fast heat of W6 500m paddlers, finishing 11th in their heat. The intermediate boys, Mako Tere, four of whom have never paddled before, placed seventh in their heat for W6 500m. Neither team progressed to the semi-finals.

Full story in this week’s Gulf News… Out Now!!!

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