More than 1500 tauira (students) take part in secondary school waka ama champs in Rotorua

Tauranga Girls' College students in action at the Secondary School Waka Ama Nationals on Blue Lake in Rotorua.

Teen waka ama paddlers have their sights set on further glory, after the high school champs in Rotorua.

More than 1500 tauira from across the motu paddled on Blue Lake for the first time since 2021.

Hamilton Boys’ High School dominated in the top ranking category for the Under-19s coming first in their six seated 250 metre and 500m sprints.

It was Year 13 Rico Kelton’s second time competing at the secondary nationals and being able to win two races with his team was a rewarding moment.

“I could tell the boys were feeling super proud, yeah the energy was there and the boys were just super happy. It was very tight, all boys could tell by the other schools that they were coming after us. You could tell the pressure was there but we just stuck to our game plan and then hoped for the best,” Kelton said.

The right mindset was the key, he said.

“We pretty much started off the water, telling all the boys to bring their A-game and we wouldn’t mix and mingle with those other schools, we’d just stay under our tent and focus, relax and get ready for our races.”

Winners at 2023 Secondary School Waka Ama Nationals.

He was now trying to find a club so he could compete at the Waka Ama national sprint champs next year.

Maia Campbell, 16, the current world champion for Under-16 and 19 sprints, has his sights set on the next month’s long-distance champs.

The Tai Rāwhiti teen, who is the son of Kiwi Campbell - one of the biggest names in Waka Ama - won his first 250m sprint last week.

But Cyclone Gabrielle made training difficult.

“We had to go to Rotorua and train over there for about a week or so, so it helped with our long-distance training also. So it was something very different, it was real hard too ‘cause most of the roads were closed,” Campbell said.

He now had his sights set on competing in the National Long Distance Championships alongside his Gisborne club Horouta and individually.

But because Tai Rāwhiti was still in recovery mode after the cyclone, he was flying offshore for his training.

“I do plan on qualifying and going to Samoa, that is my main goal and my main priority. I’ll be going to Tahiti to train over there for about two weeks and do a campaign there with some good coaches,” Campbell said.

Tauranga Girls' College students competing.

It was also the first time Te-Iringa Murray, from Tauranga Girls’ College, had competed at nationals.

She and her team won the Under-16 250m sprint on a double-hulled 12-seated waka.

“We were just happy. It was a happy surprise ‘cause when we went to nationals we weren’t getting really good results and then we came here and got really good results,” Murray said.

It was a tight race too, they won by only one second against Ruamata from Rotorua.

“Not talking a lot on the boat so then you can listen and stuff, I don’t want to come second I want to come first so keep pushing.”

Waka Ama NZ chief executive Lara Collins said despite the rough conditions, the competition across the past week had been tight.

“It was a little bit chilly on Wednesday and Thursday just four degrees and quite windy days which made it challenging but also quite exciting on the water. So there was lots of excitement, lots of good racing, close racing and happy people everywhere on the land and the water,” Collins said.

Many of the teams were now looking to the long-distance championships in August.