It was a great turn out for the first long distance secondary school event with 20 schools and 150 athletes taking part in either one or all three races. Te Puru put on a show for everyone displaying its beautiful scenery and producing a very hot day. Special thanks to Te Aputa Tira Hoe for hosting and supplying such awesome volunteers to make the day so enjoyable. The sun was out, Ukuleles playing, crowds of parents on the shore and some entertaining racing for everyone to see. It truly was a spectacular site to see. Although racing was intense it was a very relaxed day thanks to everyone involved.

Race 1 started with all W1-W2 taking on the 4km course. 21 waka on the start line with a Le Mans start made it very entertaining and loud on the beach with parents cheering. One W1 flipped at the first turn but manged to flip it back up, bail out the water and carry on racing. Awesome work Celina. RBHS W2 were the first ones to the beach flying the ama high before running up the beach to the finish line.

Race 2 had 19 mixed and girls W6 teams doubling the number of boys teams in race 3. This race was very exciting with a sprint down the beach to the water and paddle as hard as you can to the first turn. It got very congested with Hauraki Plains mixed team flipping. Thanks to their coaches they were well drilled in correcting it. In no time they flipped it back and bailed the water out and finished the race. Well done Tokoroa high who only started paddling this year. They had a sprint finish just edging out John Paul College to the beach, but it was the run to the finish line that gave John Paul the win and Tokoroa finishing 1 second behind.

Race 3 had just the eight teams on the line making it a lot easier to get to the first turn and no teams had any trouble. The boys showed their sprinting skills as RBHS, Manurewa and Kelston took off from the start. RBHS finished with a 1min lead over Kelston while Huntly college came back to beat Manurewa by 6 seconds.

Thanks to Te Puru School for the venue and great prize giving in the hall. Again thanks to newly formed club Te Aputa Tira Hoe [email protected] contact them if you wish to thank them and their great volunteers. Hauraki Trust for supplying the food and water for the athletes and volunteers. The safety boat drivers who had a long day in the sun keep everyone safe. For all the Waikato schools that wish to thank their team coaches and managers you can go to this link and nominate them for all their hard work. http://www.sportwaikato.org.nz/programmes/community-development/sport-maker.aspx

There are many races coming up with TPOTI Club regionals on 5th December. I have attached the information about next years Secondary school sprint regionals in Te Awamutu next year 12th March along with some photos from the day. For more you can visit https://www.facebook.com/wakaama

Please see attached for full results