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Download AudioAotearoa has topped the medal table at the IVF World Distance Championships in Apia, Samoa, with eight gold medals and a slew of silver and bronze.
International Va’a Federation president and Waka Ama New Zealand chief executive Lara Collins says temperatures over the 9 day event hovered around the 30-degree mark and calm seas meant paddlers got little help from swells or surf.
The medal haul made up for months of winter training.
“Twenty four medals is what we came home with. We’re just super, super proud of the kaihoe, and the teams and their management, and all their supporters – because everybody put in heaps of time training, and it’s pretty cold here,” Ms Collins says..
Tahiti collected 13 medals including 7 golds, Hawaii got 16 including 5 golds, Canada got 11 including 5 golds, and Australia got 5 golds and 3 bronze medals.
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