Waka Ama

WAKA AMA 2020

WAKA AMA SUCCESS FOR OUR GIRLS

6 girls represented Pukekohe High School at the recent Junior Auckland Secondary Schools Waka Ama regatta on Saturday:

Keziah Tarapa

Aimee Tautari

Arianna Moana

Oralia Renata

Marissa Gallagher

Meleane Clarke We were also grateful to take three amazing volunteers who worked tirelessly in the loading bay:

Olivia Russek

Trinity O’Sullivan

Pono Pomare-Brown

The girls had 2 races. The first a 500m race including a turn, where they won their heat by 7 secs and headed into the championship final as the fastest qualifying team. The girls paddled hard to bring home a silver medal in their 500m championship final.

The second race was a 250m straight sprint where the team hit a head wind out in lane 4 and finished 4th place in their heat and 4th place in their plate final, missing out on a medal by milliseconds.

It was a glorious day for Waka Ama at our school bringing home our first set of Waka Ama medals.

Four teams trained for 2 months on the mighty Waikato River in preparation for the competition. Our teams featured paddlers new to waka ama alongside experienced veterans. All teams of six made it to the semifinals and three teams made it into the finals. Our Under 19 Mens team achieved our best result for the day, winning the plate final to feature in the prize giving at the end of the day.

Although the National Secondary School competition was cancelled, we had great hopes for our teams and look forward to the Junior Secondary School competition at the end of the year. We thank our local Waka Ama Club – Ngā Kaihoe o Te Puaha for the use of their waka, life jackets and paddles. We also thank the many whānau members who helped us with transport, catering and fundraising.

Nikki & Bruno Tarapa

Waka Ama Coach & Manager

Our waka ama season was greatly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic but not before we competed in the Auckland Secondary School Senior Waka Ama Sprint Regatta in February 2020.