Eastern Bay Canoe Racing Club athletes have delivered a strong showing at the 2026 NZCT Canoe Sprint Championships, returning home from Lake Karapiro with a raft of medals and promising performances across multiple age groups.

The national regatta, which featured competitors from under-12 through to open grades, was shortened after severe weather forced organisers to condense three days of racing into just a day and a half. Despite the disruption, Eastern Bay paddlers rose to the challenge.

Among the standout results, Holly Rowland claimed gold in the U18 K4 200 metres and 500m events, while youngster Ryley White impressed with two gold medals in the junior men’s unlimited 200m and 500m races. Emily Benner also made her mark, securing bronze in the U12 100m in her first national championships.

In the open women’s grades, Jess Cleghorn and Hannah Baxter combined well to earn bronze in the K2 200m and K4 200m events. The pair also recorded a seventh placing in the K2 500m and finished fifth in the K4 500m. Individually, Cleghorn placed seventh in the K1 200m and fifth in the K1 500m, while Baxter finished eighth in the K1 200m.

Dame Lisa Carrington competed under the Eastern Bay banner, winning gold in the open women’s K2 500m and K4 500m events.

Coach Gary Waller said the results reflected the strength of a young and developing squad.

“There’s a bunch of youngsters coming through the ranks now who started with AIMS Games last year and are stepping up to national competition,” he said.

Waller highlighted the continued success of the Rowland siblings, along with Ryley White’s double gold performance and the improvement shown by Evan Faithful.

This was the first nationals for Noah, Pippa and Ryley White, and Henry and Emily Benner.

“They are all reasonably new paddlers, and they all did very well. Ryley earned two medals in the multi division, which is really successful. Just getting a real, nice strong core of kids coming through, which is going to be really promising for the future,” Waller said.

He said challenging weather conditions also limited opportunities for some competitors, with Piper Rowland only able to contest a small number of races.

Behind the results is a significant training commitment. Younger paddlers train up to four mornings a week, along with team boat sessions, while senior athletes train for most of the year.

Waller said he was grateful to the parents who supported the youngsters and got them to training.

Looking ahead, three of the club’s athletes – Dominic, Baxter and Cleghorn – have been selected to compete at the upcoming Asia Pacific Canoe Sprint Cup at Lake Tikitapu in Rotorua from May 1-3.

For Dominic, it marks his first international call-up.

“It’s an entry-level international event, and they’ve done well to be selected.”

The coach said he was hoping for some strong performances.

The club also acknowledged the support of Whakatāne New World, which provided vouchers to help fuel the team during the championships.

■ Results – Emily Benner: Bronze U12 100M,5th U12 500m; Dominic Rowland: Bronze U16 K1 500m; Holly Rowland, Gold U18 K4 200m, Gold U18 K4 500M, 5th U18 K1 500m, 6th U18 K1 100m; Ryley White: Gold Junior men unlimited 500m, Gold Junior men unlimited 200m; Jess Cleghorn: 7th Open woman K1 200m, 5th Open woman K1 500m; Hannah Baxter: 8th Open woman K1 200m; Jess Cleghorn and Hannah Baxter: 7th Open woman K2 500m, Bronze Open woman K2 200m, Bronze Open woman K4 200m, 5th Open woman K4 500m; Dame Lisa Carrington: Gold Open woman K2 500m, Gold Open woman K4 500m; Piper Rowland, Noah White, Henry Benner and Pippa White: 5th U14 K4 500m; Henry Benner and Noah White: 7th U14 K2 500m.