Thousands will take to the water for the waka ama championship

Aotearoa Waka Ama Sprint Nationals start on January 14 on Lake Karapiro. Photo / Supplied

The biggest event in te ao waka ama Aotearoa is coming.

From Sunday, January 14, thousands of competitors, representing clubs from the far, far north to the deepest south, will gather on the shores of Karāpiro for seven days of exciting racing across 12 divisions, from Taitamariki (6 years old) to the Master 80 division.

The 2024 National Sprint Championships will be broadcast on Whakaata Māori with live coverage from 9am Monday, January 15.

Teams compete over 250m, 500m, 1000m and 1500m distances with races for single paddlers, teams of six and teams of 12.

The first three days of the event feature tamariki and rangatahi aged from 6-16.

Billy Bellass, Rihari Harris, Nopera Baker, Tiaaki Pirini, Isaiah Ngamanu-Korewha, Jackson Rogers at the Australian waka ama competition

There are finals on each day of racing, with the main finals held on Saturday, January 20. The hotly contested corporate challenge races will be held on Friday, January 19.

Paddlers in the J16 Divisions and above will also be competing for places in the Aotearoa team to compete at the IVF Va’a World Club Sprint Championships to be held in Hilo, Hawai’i later in the year

The National Waka Ama Sprint Championships have been held annually – except 2022 – since 1990. At the first event there were 43 teams competing from 17 clubs.

More than 10,000 spectators across the week will add to the excitement of the event, with dozens of vendors, service providers and pakihi Māori serving everything from kai to sportswear and rongoa Māori.