Rotorua's Kyra Mita represents New Zealand in multiple sports

Rotorua's Kyra Mita is competing on the world stage in both white water rafting and waka ama. Photo / Ben Fraser

Having returned from the World Rafting Championships in Australia with an impressive haul of medals, you wouldn't blame Rotorua's Kyra Mita for taking a break.

That was not the case.

At the World Rafting Championships in May, the 17-year-old Rotorua Lakes High School student and her teammates competed in the under-23 division and claimed bronze in the sprint, silver in head-to-head, fourth in slalom - after losing a couple of paddlers overboard - and gold in the downriver discipline. They finished second overall behind Indonesia and ahead of the Australian under-19 team in third.

When she got home in May her focus immediately switched to training for the Waka Ama World Distance Championships in Australia in August where she will compete in the under-19 division.

In April, Kyra won the J19 women's individual race at the New Zealand Long Distance Nationals which qualified her to represent New Zealand at the world championships. She was also in the winning J19 women's six-person team and will compete with them at world champs as well.

She said she felt every emotion possible during the world championships and enjoyed finishing on a high with a win in downriver.

"[At the start of a race] I just try not to think about it too much. You focus on staying in time, that's the main thing. I'm one of the grunters, I sit in the middle and just paddle."

When it comes to waka ama, Kyra said she preferred longer distances and her training for world champs was going well. The individual race at world champs is 16km while the six-person race 24km.

"I train six days a week, usually twice a day. It's a mixture of going out on the water and working out in the gym," Mita said.

"I like team way better because it's fun paddling with other people."

She has been competing in waka ama for four years and said she had no trouble getting motivated.

"I enjoy meeting new people, learning new things about the sport and seeing new places."

Rotorua Lakes High School sports co-ordinator Lisa McFarlane said it was great to see an athlete who worked as hard as Kyra enjoy success.

"Qualifying for worlds, that was the big goal this year, she's done that so she did very well. She works really hard.

"In my role at school, I've noticed it's getting harder and harder just to get kids participating in sports now. It's very rare to find kids who are self-motivated and will get up and train twice a day, six days a week.

"I know a lot of our young girls at school who took up waka ama, Kyra's a bit of an idol with her paddling. It's good for them to have a positive role model."

Looking ahead to next year, Kyra's main goal will be to win at the New Zealand Waka Ama Sprint Championships so she can qualify for the World Sprint Championships in Hawaii.