January 21, 2014
Teamwork wins Horouta waka challenge
Horouta Waka Hoe underscored its dominance in waka ama, taking out the national sprint title for the third time in four years at the weekend.
The Manukau and Turangawaewae clubs took second and third spots in the week-long competition which attracted thousands of paddlers and spectators to Lake Karapiro.
Waka Ama New Zealand chief executive Lara Collins says it's a testament to the effort put in by the Horouta committee, and the internal competition it gets from fellow Gisborne club Mareikura.
"No one team can do it so they have to have midgets right through to 60 year olds performing. Making that happen across 200 paddlers is really a combined effort from everybody. They have a really competitive spirit, they paddle on the river, they just have a really awesome culture going on," she says.
Ms Collins says the turn-out was a testament to the rate at which the sport is growing, and the building of the country's first dedicated waka ama clubrooms on the Tamaki Estuary in Auckland will be another boost for kai hoe.
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