Police rafting: It's the long arms of the law

THRILLERS: The winning Bay of Plenty police district rafting team was Constable John Ewer (left), Constable Regan Mauheni, Detective Senior Sergeant Lindsay Pilbrow and Inspector Tim Anderson. PHOTO/BEN FRASER 280214BF10

Police from across the North Island swapped uniforms for lifejackets and handcuffs for paddles as they competed in their annual raft race.

The Kaituna River, used for the world whitewater rafting championships last spring, hosted 36 teams and 40 individual river surfers for the seventh year.

The Bay of Plenty District Headquarters team, based in Rotorua, were named champions after a thrilling set of heats throughout yesterday. They beat the Tauranga dog section, Whakatane police and a team from Counties Manukau.

"It was a hard-fought race," said event organiser Sergeant Aaron Holloway.

"They came out of the waterfall in second but overtook the leader and maintained that to the finish."

He said there was a moment of worry for the team as Rotorua police acting area commander Inspector Tim Anderson suffered a toe injury in the semifinal, but he was replaced by Detective Senior Sergeant Lindsay Pilbrow.

The other rafters in the winning team were Inspector Scott Fraser, Constable Regan Mauheni and Constable John Ewer.

The New Zealand Police Association Raft Race is one of the largest police sporting events in the country.

The races were held on a 1.2km stretch of the Kaituna River, which includes seven sets of grade 3 rapids with names such as The Abyss and Boiling Pot.

Teams entered the Kaituna River at Okere Falls and rafted over three waterfalls to reach the official start line below the Tutea Falls.

One member from each team stood on a metre-high rock and jumped into the river to swim to the raft to officially start the race.