Makoura College was the only Wairarapa school involved at the national secondary schools Waka Ama championships at Lake Tikitapu, Rotorua, last week and did the province proud with its efforts in both the 250m and 500m events.
Competing in the girls under-19 division with a team whose ages ranged from 14to 17, Makoura made the championship semifinals over 250m and the plate semis over 500m, performances which coach Sydney Cunningham said had the paddlers vowing to return next year and go at least one step further.
The closure of their main training base, Henley Lake, during their training build-up hampered Makoura's preparation for the nationals but the girls managed to maintain their fitness with dry-land routines and travelling to Kahutara for paddling.
As it happened, the under-19 girls division was the most popular at the Rotorua event with Makoura doing battle with 53 other teams from all over the country.
With most of her paddlers having been introduced to the sport only this season Cunningham's primary objective was to give them experience.
Makoura finished their 250m heat in a time of 1m 20.06s, good enough to have them taking on the big guns in the championship semifinals, the only team from the Wellington region to get that far. There the intensity and pace noticeably picked up and while Makoura slashed 9s off their heat time they were unable to reach the finals.
In the 500m races they ended up third across the finish line and were promoted to second when time penalties were assessed, Makoura being the only team in their heat not to suffer any of those.
From there it was a nervous wait to see which of the semifinals they would make and they ended up in the plate section. They again improved their time from heats by a whopping 29s, being third and just missing out on making the plate final.
