Having fun on the water prevailed last week during the Secondary Schools Waka Ama championships.

Eleven teams and five individual W1 paddlers from Whakatāne and Kawerau districts took part in the biggest version of this event, held at Lake Tipitapu in Rotorua.

In total, there were more than 2200 paddlers between 12 and 18 years old from all over the motu, from Kaikohe all the way to the bottom of the South Island.

Local volunteer Peter Minten said the hype was affectionate and the engagement of all paddlers was great. “Every little success was celebrated as a big win, even in lower tier paddling classes.”

Whakatāne High School’s U19 Waka Princesses showed they have already closed the gap with New Zealand’s top U19 paddlers significantly. Finishing fourth in the W12 New Zealand final, with a team that included five U16 paddlers and just missing out on bronze medal, shows the future capabilities of the paddlers from this team.

The individual, W1, paddlers raced on Monday and Tuesday. Kaedyn and Awa Thrupp, and Ariki Roozendaal, all from Whakatāne High, Honore Ulufonua and Tamarangi Dodd, first-time participants from Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Te Orini ki Ngāti Awa, all paddled to their abilities with Kaedyn finishing 6^thin the U19 boys New Zealand final.

Both Te Wharekura o Rūātoki and Te Whata Tau o Putauaki entered with a U19 team and raced well. Rūātoki Kura Aka Matua showed some real grunt and paddled in the middle of the pack, just missing out on the final in their Te Takere class. Te Whata Tau continued to improve as the competition progressed.

Wednesday through until the finals on Friday, it was all W6 canoe races. The Whakatane High U19 boys were chased up by the Rūātoki U19 taitama into their final in the W6 500-metre turn race on Friday with Whakatane High finishing 2^nd and Ruatoki 7^th, less than 2 seconds off third place.

Mataatua Sports coordinator Hemi Wahapango said this showed how close the competition was throughout the week.

Whakatāne High’s U19 boys backed up the placing in the turn race with another silver in the 250m drag race and the Whakatāne High W12 U16 girls managed a silver ribbon in Te Takere final after shaking off some nerves from the heat the previous day.

Trident High School paddled in the girls U19 division and raced very well, making the semi-finals in Te Takere division and just missing out on the W6 500m final.

“For a team who only started training three weeks before the competition, they are showing some positive signs for the future,” Wahapango said.

He said their attendance at the event would not have been possible without plenty of support.

“A huge thanks must go out to the teachers, helpers, managers and coaches who were able to get all the rangatahi to Rotorua every day.

“We have set a platform for our region to grow and hope to be back next year bigger and better.”