‘Para’ waka ama duo off to champs
A Waikato couple are showcasing their strength and determination as they gear up to compete on the waka ama world stage.
Wayne Trott, 59, and wife Christine Walters, 54, are two of the 12 paddlers from Aotearoa who left for London yesterday to compete in the 2022 IVF Va’a World Sprint Championships.
The pair live and breathe waka ama, which they say has offered a passion they feel empowered by.
Based in Raglan, Trott and Walters are proud to be a part of the adaptive or ‘‘Para’’ waka ama team, a squad which brings together athletes with disabilities.
‘‘It’s been really awesome, just in the respect of being disabled, and working with the adaptives,’’ said Walters. ‘‘With paddling, we’ve all got to do different things because our disabilities are so different, so you have to adapt to the way you paddle to suit your disability.’’
Thirty-four years ago, when they were in their 20s, the couple were travelling through Central Otago on their motorbike when it was hit by a car.
The accident was serious with both of them sustaining ‘‘lifechanging’’ injuries.
Trott lost half of one leg and Walter’s legs were severely impacted as well, but these were only the immediate injuries they each endured.
‘‘It smashed the motorbike in half, the motor was punched out of the bike . . . we were pretty lucky,’’ said Trott.
‘‘It was life-changing . . . I was in a wheelchair for up to two years, walking with aids, 13 operations, but I think because we had a young child, and he was 5 months old at the time, we had a direction and a focus,’’ Walters said.
Over the years, recurring pain and discomfort has unfortunately become part of their lives, but it hasn’t hindered them.
Trott was introduced to waka ama through a friend eight years ago and since then has gone on to compete in a range of competitions and waka ama meets, both short distance and long distance. Three years after, Walters also opted to join in as a paddler, and they’ve both relished the sport ever since.
But it’s the whānau connection among the waka ama community and para team which encourages them the most.
‘‘Waka ama has given us a lot,’’ said Trott.
‘‘It’s given us a connection with all the para people and the whānau within the waka ama community, they’re just such a nice group of people, very caring and loving.’’
Their waka ama team has been coached by one of the best in the sport.
Leading paddler and sportswoman Corrina Gage says since February their team has been training for the international competition.
In the mixed para waka ama team, there is a diversity of adaptive paddlers, some with cerebral palsy, spina bifida and others whose disabilities are the result of an accident of some type.
Gage said focusing on each individual paddler’s abilities and strengths was part of the process during their trainings.
‘‘I’m feeling good about the development of our para-squad, this journey that we’ve had leading up to departing for the world sprints has been a rollercoaster,’’ said Gage.
‘‘As individuals, because they have such a range of disabilities, as a coach . . . my job at that point is to optimise the mobility that each individual does have.
‘‘Despite their disabilities and despite being a para-crew, they are still athletes.’’
Trott and Walters have not only spent months preparing for the world champs but, like everyone in their team, they have had to fork out as much as they can to fund their trip which could reach close to $10,000 each.
The pair have been overwhelmed by the support from their local community in Raglan, waka ama club Whāingaroa Hoe Waka and Waka Ama New Zealand, which have helped with the costs.
They hope that para teams will continue to be sponsored, by corporate organisations especially, so their team can continue to paddle year-round and so other people can be inspired by the sport that’s inspired them.
In the meantime, they were eagerly anticipating their journey to London.
‘‘This sport helps us, so you put everything into it to do it,’’ said Trott.
‘‘You put in your heart and soul . . . you spend most of your time trying to be ‘normal’ and an able-person and then all of a sudden you’re able to just let yourself go, open up and just relax and be yourself,’’ said Walters.
The 2022 IVF Va’a World Sprint Club Championships will take place from Sunday, August 7 to Tuesday, August 16 at Lake Dorney, Buckinghamshire, England.