Para athletes strike gold in waka ama
Two Taranaki athletes who turned to sport while in recovery from horrific injuries have won gold medals on the world stage.
Jo Beverland and Ben Hekenui competed in the waka ama (outrigger canoe) world championships in the United Kingdom in August, and got a sweep of medals.
They were joined by fellow Taranaki paddler Nathan Tuuta, who went along for the first time as the NZ Para Waka Ama elite squad’s co-manager.
‘‘Ben, Nathan and myself were individually very honoured to be representing our Taranaki waka ama whānau and the Taranaki area in general,’’ Beverland said.
‘‘I was also given the honour and asked to be a co-bearer of the New Zealand flag at the opening ceremony with one of our upcoming rangatahi paddlers, Hunter Hewson.’’
At the IVF Va’a World Sprint Championships, Beverland came away with gold in the 250m (VL3) single para women and 500m (VL3) single para women, silver in the 500m V12 mixed para, and bronze in the 500m V6 mixed para and 1000m turns V6 mixed para.
Hekenui, who has also played for the New Zealand wheelchair basketball team, won gold in the 500m V6 mixed para, and silver in the 500m V12 mixed para and 1000m turns V6 mixed para.
‘‘It felt amazing winning gold.
Lots of emotions came over me, mostly thoughts of all my family and friends and everyone that helped and supported me being there,’’ Beverland said.
Beverland has learned to walk again after being paralysed from the chest down, and Hekenui is a double amputee.
‘‘VL is the para classification you are given for the level of disability you have. V1, being the lowest, is assigned to paddlers with the highest level of disability, right up to VL4,’’ Beverland said.
The New Zealand team won 43 gold medals, 24 silvers and 22 bronzes. The event took place at Lake Dorney, a purpose-built rowing lake at the prestigious Eton College complex in Buckinghamshire.
During their time overseas, Beverland and Hekenui got some other travel in and took in the sights.
‘‘Some of us got a chance to do a one-day trip to Paris. Then we all had a one-day trip to London and took in some of the tourist sites there. Overall, we had an amazing time and thoroughly enjoyed the competition and meeting new people and other teams from around the world.’’