Howard Hyland (left) and Peter Wilson are ready to take on the competition at the Waka Ama Sprint National Championships on Lake Karāpiro in Cambridge. Photo / Liz Wylie
Howard Hyland (left) and Peter Wilson are ready to take on the competition at the Waka Ama Sprint National Championships on Lake Karāpiro in Cambridge. Photo / Liz Wylie
Whanganui paddler Peter Wilson, 81, will have the distinction of being the oldest competitor at the annual Waka Ama Sprint National Championships on Lake Karāpiro in Cambridge - but his clubmate Howard Hyland thinks he should share the glory.
“He’s only a week older than me,” Hyland said.
“It’s notfair.”
Hyland and Wilson are members of Te Whanganui River Outrigger Canoe Club, which Hyland launched in 2016 after returning home from Whakatāne, where he had established the Tuatara Waka Ama Club, bringing a fleet of outrigger canoes with him.
“We have a men’s and a women’s team competing at the championships, and all the members are over 70,” he said.
Hyland said there would be competitors at the opposite end of the age spectrum competing in Cambridge this week.
“I believe the youngest paddler this year is five, so that shows you just how much of an all-age sport waka ama is,” he said.
“I started dragon boat racing in my mid-40s after being keen on other sports like rugby, and it has been incredible to see the growth of waka ama over the last 35 years. The national body is very professional and the competitions are honest and sincere.”
Teams from Whanganui clubs Ratana Paa Kaihoe Trust and Te Ringa Miti Tai Heke Whanganui Waka Ama Club will also compete at Lake Karāpiro, where the first championships were held in 1990.
Organisers are expecting big crowds of whānau and supporters at Lake Karāpiro this week. Photo / NZME
Waka Ama New Zealand chief executive Lara Collins said the 33rd championships, which started on Sunday and will end on Saturday, January 21, would provide a great opportunity for people to get together after many cancellations last summer.
“We are excited to bring our waka ama whānau together for the nationals, not only to race, but to be with everyone. It is going to be an awesome week,” Collins said.
Nearly 2700 paddlers from 63 clubs throughout Aotearoa, along with 17 corporate teams and international competitors from Fiji, will head to the Waipā District over the coming week.
“There are going to be huge crowds lakeside watching the regatta, with around 8000 expected during the week,” she said.
“There is a reduction in participation numbers as a result of the past few years of Covid but, regardless, the shores of Lake Karāpiro will be brimming with whānau happy to be back after the event was cancelled in 2022.”
Waka ama clubs will compete for national honours in single, six and 12-paddler teams over distances of 250 metres, 500m, 1000m and 1500m.
And Collins said spectators would be in for added excitement as teams competing in the six-paddler 1000m and 1500m classes would have to navigate their way through hairpin turns at the 250m mark.
“This year sees the addition of Master 75 and Master 80 race categories; there aren’t many sports that cater to these age groups, and it’s wonderful to have our koroua and kuia take part,” she said.
The addition means Wilson and Hyland will compete against each other for the first time, and both anticipate success.
“He’s a week older than me, so that should give me the advantage,” said Hyland.
Te Whanganui River Outrigger Canoe Club teams have previously returned from the championships with four gold medals, and the men said they were confident of bringing some home this year, too.
