CAMBRIDGE NEWS | 1
FRIDAY JANUARY 17, 2020
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JANUARY 17, 2020
Paddle power
The Under-16 men’s team, Horouta, from Gisborne, show their style on the water at Karapiro. Lake Karapiro has been buzzing this week, with the 31st annual Te Wānanga o Aotearoa National Waka Ama Sprint Championships bringing a record 3850 paddlers from around the country to its waters, aged five to 82. The first Waka Ama Sprint Nationals was
held at Lake Karapiro in 1990, with 17 clubs and 43 teams taking part. This year’s event has 2168 race entries from 68 clubs take part in 406 races across a range of distances and age divisions. There has been a 42 percent increase in the number of paddlers over the
past five years. Waka Ama New Zealand CEO Lara Collins said the growing numbers had necessitated extending the 2020 event by a day, taking it from January 12-18. Competition started with around 700
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youngsters aged 6-10 racing across 34 races, and 2154 paddlers, all under the age of 16, took to the water on day two. About 150 volunteers are helping out with the event, which is expected to draw more than 10,000 visitors to Mighty River Domain.