Local colleges in Dragon Boat Festival

By Frank Neill

Two crews from Newlands College and two from Karori’s Samuel Marsden Collegiate will compete in this year’s Wellington Dragon Boat Festival.

The festival will take place at the Whairepo Lagoon on Wellington’s waterfront on 4 and 5 March.

Newlands College has entered two mixed teams, one with year 12 students and the other with year 13.

Both Samuel Marsden’s crews are girls. One boat will comprise year 12 students and the other year 13 students.

This continues a long tradition of the two schools competing in the festival.

Samuel Marsden has been competing in the event for more than 25 years. The college also competed in the World Dragon Boat Festival held in Wellington in 1998.

Newlands College also has a long history in the event, going back to the 1990s.

This year’s festival marks the biggest turnout in the past 10 years, with teams from across the country and around the globe taking part in the exciting high-adrenaline action.

Each canoe-like boat will have 20 paddlers, one drummer (stroke caller), and one sweep (who steers the boat).

As one of the fastest growing water sports, dragon boating highlights teamwork, speed, strength and endurance.

“We are thrilled to see such a strong turnout for this year’s festival,” the festival manager Annika Green says.

“It is such an iconic event for Te Whanganui-a-Tara.

“Each year the harbour comes alive with thousands of spectators cheering on competitors, taking in our beautiful scenery, and enjoying the festivities of the event.

“From social to championship grades, our participants put in hundreds of hours training for this event – in the gym and on the water multiple times a week.

“We can’t wait to celebrate their incredible efforts alongside friends and wh au.”

A free event, the Dragon Boat Festival will feature an array of food trucks, DJs and spot prizes.

In its 39th year, the Wellington Dragon Boat Festival will celebrate its milestone 40th anniversary next summer. For more information visit dragonboatfestival.org.nz.

In doing so, Heath set a new personal best of 52.73 metres. This was just 41 centimetres short of Alex’s winning throw of 53.14 metres.

Heath is a fast improving athlete. For example, he finished fourth in last year’s New Zealand Track and Field Championships held in Hastings with a throw of

47.84 metres.

His new personal best of 52.73 metres is almost five metres longer.

Paralympic champion Lisa Adams proved the star of the Sola Power Throwers Meet. Competing in the women’s Para shot put, she won the event with a put of 15.18 metres – her longest throw for two years. The reigning world and Paralympic F37 shot put champion, Lisa will compete in the New Zealand Track and Field Championships in Wellington in March and the World Para Athletics Championship in Paris in July.