Paddle battle

More than 1950 students from 123 schools will take to the water at Rotorua’s Tikitapu aka Blue Lake from today to Friday, March 29, to battle it out for various titles at the 2019 National Secondary School Waka Ama Championships. Organisers estimated 200 more students than last year will take part in the event, where over 120 schools from the Far North to the top of the South Island. Schools will compete for national honours both individually, w1 (one person canoes) and also in W6 and W12 teams over distances of 250m and 500m. The event is hosted by Te Waiariki Purea Trust and will be part of the Rotorua Waka Festival, with the school teams also set to take part in a kapa haka Super 6 competition on the Thursday. It will also be the ninth consecutive year College Pao Pao from Moorea, Tahiti will be competing as an international contingent with one U16 boys and two U16 girls teams.